BALIK PULAU – Pakatan Harapan will ask the government to annually allocate an additional RM5 million worth of soft loans to help farmers whose produce were affected by Covid-19 and climate change.
The appeal will be made in a meeting between a Pakatan Harapan delegation and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz on Wednesday.
“The delegation will underscore the need to allocate more funding to transform the agriculture sector into a productive one for the economy.
“We need to transform our agriculture from a net importer sector to an exporter of produce from vegetables to fruits and fisheries. We have the potential, but we need more allocation from the authorities,” Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin told reporters here.
Malaysia, according to the former deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister, has an annual food import bill of RM50 billion, an outflow of funds to purchase agriculture produce which is also growing pricier globally.
He said he believes turning around the farming sector will lead to lower living costs, with multiplier effects to the economy that would be, and create more job opportunities and entrepreneurs for the country.
Besides annual grants to fisheries, crops, and specialised husbandry, Sim said that RM5 million is needed annually to help farmers overcome the losses they have incurred due to the pandemic and rough weather like flooding or drought.
The task of turning agriculture into an export-driven sector is magnanimous and achievable if the government puts more effort into it, Sim said, adding that youth can also be enticed to consider ploughing the land as something trendy and beneficial.
“The Malaysia Plan has a development budget of RM360 billion, and I hope more can be channelled towards the farming sector.” – The Vibes, September 25, 2021
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