Bernas ordered to up local rice stockpile today
Daily Express (7/5/08): Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) has been instructed to raise by 9,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes the monthly supply of the Super Tempatan G15 (ST15) rice beginning Wednesday (today) to ensure adequate supply of this category of the staple food in the market.
Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who announced this in the Dewan Rakyat, allayed any fear of a shortage of the category of rice and advised the people not to panic and buy rice in large quantities.
"We have been given the assurance by Bernas on supply. The Government will also look into Bernas's role in terms of guaranteeing supply, stabilising prices and social responsibility.
"The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) has been asked to conduct a study on the effectiveness of Bernas. We will act after the study," he said when winding up debate on an emergency motion on rice tabled by Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) in the Dewan Rakyat.
He also said the Government had not approved an application by Bernas to raise the controlled price of ST15 rice, which is sold for between RM1.50 and RM1.80 per kg according to locality.
Mustapa said only 10 per cent of rice consumers used to eat the ST15 but the percentage has risen now because the prices of ST5 and ST10 had gone up, thus causing more people to zoom in on the ST15 (which has 15 per cent broken grains).
ST15 rice is also used by the noodle-making industry, thus raising demand in the market, he said.
He also said that as rice prices in Thailand and Vietnam had gone up while the price of ST15 remained controlled, there was a possibility that for the first time rice was being smuggled out of Malaysia.
Mustapa pointed out that the Government had allocated RM4 billion to raise food production, adding that RM2.5 billion had been set aside for his ministry.
He said RM803 million of the sum allocated to the Ministry would go towards raising padi production, fertiliser supply and opening up 100,000 new hectares for the crop.
Referring to enforcement against cheating on rice prices, which came up during the debate, he said four traders had been pulled up and they would be penalised.
"The Government has also discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inflation chaired by the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) several matters, such as safeguarding the interests of consumers especially the low-income earners, padi farmers, and the government's provision of subsidy," he said.
He also said that it was perhaps almost impossible to totally resolve the three-fold increase in the global prices of rice but something could be done to reduce the impact.
At the Parliament lobby later, Mustapa said the country now had a stockpile of 550,000 tonnes of rice, sufficient for three months, comprising Bernas stocks as per the privatisation agreement, padi which could be milled at any time, and stocks ready to be released.
He said the government had a strategy, yet to be finalised, to ensure that the ST15 rice was sold at a reasonable price for the benefit of low-income consumers.
On padi farmers, he said they stood to benefit from higher prices for padi and put pressure on prices.
He said the government did not propose to control prices of rice except the ST15 variety because this would give rise to other issues such as enforcement and interference with market forces.
Mustapa said the Ministry had asked the government to relax the tender regulations and procedures pertaining to purchase of fertiliser, essential items, machinery and pesticide to facilitate fast procurement.
He also said that the ministry would ensure that the procurement was free of irregularities or corruption.
Six MPs spoke during the debate on the motion. They are Datuk Paduka Ibrahim Ali (Independent-Pasir Mas), Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena), Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong), Datuk Ismail Kassim (BN-Arau), Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian). (Also in Bernama)
Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who announced this in the Dewan Rakyat, allayed any fear of a shortage of the category of rice and advised the people not to panic and buy rice in large quantities.
"We have been given the assurance by Bernas on supply. The Government will also look into Bernas's role in terms of guaranteeing supply, stabilising prices and social responsibility.
"The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) has been asked to conduct a study on the effectiveness of Bernas. We will act after the study," he said when winding up debate on an emergency motion on rice tabled by Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) in the Dewan Rakyat.
He also said the Government had not approved an application by Bernas to raise the controlled price of ST15 rice, which is sold for between RM1.50 and RM1.80 per kg according to locality.
Mustapa said only 10 per cent of rice consumers used to eat the ST15 but the percentage has risen now because the prices of ST5 and ST10 had gone up, thus causing more people to zoom in on the ST15 (which has 15 per cent broken grains).
ST15 rice is also used by the noodle-making industry, thus raising demand in the market, he said.
He also said that as rice prices in Thailand and Vietnam had gone up while the price of ST15 remained controlled, there was a possibility that for the first time rice was being smuggled out of Malaysia.
Mustapa pointed out that the Government had allocated RM4 billion to raise food production, adding that RM2.5 billion had been set aside for his ministry.
He said RM803 million of the sum allocated to the Ministry would go towards raising padi production, fertiliser supply and opening up 100,000 new hectares for the crop.
Referring to enforcement against cheating on rice prices, which came up during the debate, he said four traders had been pulled up and they would be penalised.
"The Government has also discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inflation chaired by the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) several matters, such as safeguarding the interests of consumers especially the low-income earners, padi farmers, and the government's provision of subsidy," he said.
He also said that it was perhaps almost impossible to totally resolve the three-fold increase in the global prices of rice but something could be done to reduce the impact.
At the Parliament lobby later, Mustapa said the country now had a stockpile of 550,000 tonnes of rice, sufficient for three months, comprising Bernas stocks as per the privatisation agreement, padi which could be milled at any time, and stocks ready to be released.
He said the government had a strategy, yet to be finalised, to ensure that the ST15 rice was sold at a reasonable price for the benefit of low-income consumers.
On padi farmers, he said they stood to benefit from higher prices for padi and put pressure on prices.
He said the government did not propose to control prices of rice except the ST15 variety because this would give rise to other issues such as enforcement and interference with market forces.
Mustapa said the Ministry had asked the government to relax the tender regulations and procedures pertaining to purchase of fertiliser, essential items, machinery and pesticide to facilitate fast procurement.
He also said that the ministry would ensure that the procurement was free of irregularities or corruption.
Six MPs spoke during the debate on the motion. They are Datuk Paduka Ibrahim Ali (Independent-Pasir Mas), Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena), Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong), Datuk Ismail Kassim (BN-Arau), Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian). (Also in Bernama)
0 comments:
Post a Comment