‘S’wak will face food shortage on Christmas if import stops’
KUCHING: Sarawak will face a food shortage come Christmas if the state now stops importing food, said Food Industries, Commodities and Regional Development Minister Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
He said this at a press conference yesterday when asked about food security in the state and whether Sarawak would have enough supply until Christmas if imports were to be discontinued.
“No. We still need to import a lot. Our rice (for instance), is only 38 per cent of the self-sufficiency level. We still need to import another 62 per cent,” he said.
He was speaking at a press conference after officiating at the Sarawak Farmers’ Organisation’s (PPNS) 37th Annual General Meeting here yesterday.
Dr Rundi said that while it may cost more to produce than to import, the state had no choice but to do so for the sake of its food security.
“For food security, there is no choice. You have to produce. What if Thailand and Vietnam do not want to sell their rice? What do we eat?
“The government has to provide land and so on, which is what we are doing, and we must have seed production, we must increase paddy production and so on.
“We have to balance our plan to see our food is secure for the future. In case anything happens in a year, we still have food supply,” he said.
On his hopes for the upcoming Budget 2023, Dr Rundi said it is always the ministry’s hope to have a better budget.
“It is always our hope for the federal government to be sensitive to our needs. We have planned and submitted our budget accordingly. We hope it (budget) will be able to help the low-income group and the underprivileged.
“We need help from the federal government in order for us to be able to transform Sarawak. By 2030, we hope to be a net exporter of food.
“It is a big challenge but nonetheless we will work towards that goal. We still need a lot of collective effort from all agencies – state and federal – to improve the lives and livelihood of the farming community in Sarawak,” he said.
Also present were his deputy ministers Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail and Martin Ben, National Farmers Organisation (Nafas) Datuk Zamri Yaakob, PPK Baram chairman Dennis Ngau, and others.