KUALA LUMPUR – Former agriculture and agro-based minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub took the government to task for being on the back foot in its attempt to resolve the persisting poultry shortage.
With the scarcity of poultry products, the former agriculture and agro-based minister has offered a couple of recommendations that can be adopted by the cabinet, which he said he would have implemented if he was still minister.
The first, he said, would be for the government to immediately review the taxation on imported agricultural products like chicken feed, by either reducing or subsidising it, and the second is to expedite the intake of foreign labours into the industry amid claims of manpower shortage.
“This issue (of poultry supply shortage and increase in chicken prices) has been around for so long, and they have been too slow to respond. I just don’t understand what the cabinet is doing,” he told The Vibes.
“The ministers must stop sleeping on the job. They must work overtime and seriously think about how to resolve the problem. The people are the ones affected by the shortage of chicken, seeing it is the cheapest source of protein for most Malaysians.
“This shortage is not an illusion, it is real. I went to the Chow Kit market on Tuesday, and chicken supplies ran out of stock as early as 10am. This is happening throughout the country. Why is it taking the government so long to solve the issue?”
Reports of shortage of local chicken supply as well as a spike in the price of animal feed, which are mostly imported, can be traced back to as early as last year, as countries globally enter into their economic recovery phase following two hard-hitting pandemic years.
Local farmers have been crying for government help since, but it was not until Monday when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob finally announced measures to address the problem.
Among the immediate initiatives are to ban all poultry exports until local supply and prices stabilise, abolishing approved permit (AP) requirement to import chickens, recognising more slaughterhouses overseas, facilitating the claim process for chicken subsidies among farmers, and to look at the possibility of using corns as an alternative to chicken feed.
Malaysia being one of the largest importers of corn, Salahuddin said, underlines the importance for the government to review the import tax imposed on such agricultural products.
“I admit, during Pakatan Harapan’s time in power, we did not address this issue of tax in time. I call on the government today to do so now. They must have a tax system that protects the farmers, and not burden them. They cannot just simply take piecemeal solutions.”
On the issue of labour shortage, the Pulai MP said it is incumbent of the administration to fast-track the intake of foreign workers in a bid to increase local chicken production, warning of an even bigger crisis if the matter is accelerated.
“Most of us Malaysians are not ‘kayangan’ (the elite) where we can afford to eat salmon every day.”
Separately, Salahuddin urged the government to look into and act on the longstanding issue of unscrupulous parties misusing government lands originally allocated for growing food, and instead turning them into lucrative oil palm plantations.
“I can confirm this has been ongoing for decades. Lands that are being awarded to cronies and politicians are being abused. There must be political will to put an end to this.” – The Vibes, May 27, 2022
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