Give me 3 months, I'll bring back local white rice - Naccol official

Summary

• National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol) Task Force (Food Cluster) chairperson Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal urges the prime minister to let the council solve the local white rice shortage.

• He promises to resolve the matter in three months provided there is no interference from the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry and its agency, Kawalselia Padi dan Beras Negara.

• Syed Abu Hussin also alleges that irresponsible quarters are selling local white rice packaged as imported white rice to reap higher profits.

The National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol) wants the prime minister to empower it to deal with the shortage of local white rice.

“I will take responsibility for this. Just give me three months… Insya Allah… I will deliver,” said Naccol’s Food Cluster chairperson Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal.

“Let Naccol be in charge of paddy management, increasing its yield and managing rice supply,” he said at a press conference in Puchong, Selangor, today.

However, Syed Abu Hussin set one condition – there should be no interference from the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry and its agency, Kawalselia Padi dan Beras Negara.

“Just empower Naccol on this matter for the time being,” he added.

For the record, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim serves as the Naccol chairperson. The seven clusters under Naccol are housing, education, transportation, utilities, health, food, and income.

Syed Abu Hussin also accused Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu of failing to act on the shortage of local white rice.

“I’m very disappointed as we couldn’t resolve this problem for two years. The people are asking where has the local white rice gone.

“But nobody could answer it… perhaps, they deliberately don’t want to.

“As the task force special officer, I have asked Mohamad four times in Parliament to come to discuss the matter but the discussion never happened,” he lamented.

On Jan 15, Mohamad said his ministry was conducting a study on a proposal to allow the sale of mixed-grade rice in the local market.

He said this proposal was also supported by the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) as a potential solution to the rice supply issues in the country.

“At present, we are conducting a detailed study on whether to allow the sale of mixed-grade rice. If we decide against it, we must ensure that the supply of locally produced rice is sufficient.

“The current issue is that many manufacturers, including bumiputera manufacturers, complained they cannot sell rice at RM26 for a 10kg sack, as this was the price set in 2008,” Utusan Malaysia reported the minister as saying.

Deal with core problem

However, Syed Abu Hussin panned the minister’s proposal saying the idea is nothing new.

“The issue here is the shortage of local white rice. What is causing this? The reason is local white rice’s price is capped at RM26 while there is no ceiling price for imported white rice.

“So, some irresponsible quarters are taking advantage by selling local white rice as imported white rice at a higher price.

“Despite this, the ministry and Kawalselia Padi dan Beras Negara are not taking action against this cartel,” he claimed.

Syed Abu Hussin also chided Mohamad for saying the ministry will be studying the matter, stressing the solution is already available.

“The minister wants to conduct a detailed study… what more studies do you want to do?

“We already have a solution. The ministry and Kawalselia Padi dan Beras Negara just have to act on it,” he said.

It should be noted that on Nov 9, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh said Anwar will expose the rice and paddy cartel which has been profiting from people’s misery while monopolising the food item.

However, the prime minister has yet to make any announcement to date.

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