How serious is the rice grain shortage in Malaysia?

Rice shortage threatens Asia
By HARI SUDColumn
Published: April 22, 2008
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, Three billion people in Asia are the rice guzzlers of the world and they are facing a supply shortage. Production at about 420 million tons a year has been static for the past four years. In this period about 100 million additional mouths have been added, which are putting a dent in the supply-demand chain.
Prices of rice have shot up 100 percent in the two years from 2005 to 2007. These have reached a level, like wheat prices -- which are 130 percent up -- that have made governments nervous. India has banned the export of most varieties of rice, except the high-end basmati rice, to conserve as much rice at home as possible. Other rice surplus countries have followed suit. They are scared of shortages at home and the unrest that follows shortages.

In Malaysia, the news of the shortage of "CORE RICE" has been under cover-up although the rice vendors all complaint about the shortage of supply by Bernas, the only authorised importer of rice and padi in Malaysia.

In Sibu, Bernas has been very secretic about the amount of stock of the commodity but the wholesalers of rice in town all complaint about the shortage of supply in town. Many said that the situation will worsen in the coming month although the authority said otherwise.

It is the responsibility of the governemnt to keep sufficient core rice, not the expensive rice, so that the poor can afford to put food on the table for their family. We will follow up the issue closely and reveal the truth to the people.

The Malaysian governmnet has recently announced that we need to import some 30% of the rice and yet in the state of Sarawak alone, hundred of thousands of hectare of land were left idle. Many had questioned how the RM40.00 billion allocated ,as announced by the PM,to the state would be utilised.

The government should make sure that the fund should be filtered down to the ordinary peoples instead of to the few selected cronies of the government. We had read news that the farmers are not benefitted even if the price of rice goes up as the middlemen were the ones benefitted. Like the palm oil, Sarawakian are not benefitted by the record CPO prices as only the gaint plantation groups benefitted. It is reported that the plantation gaints controlled more than 80% of the Sarawak's production. The ordinary people can't even afford to cultivate 10 acres of oil palm due to the lcack of land and fund while the gaints can always go to the banks for working capitals and government's assistance to get state lands in Sarawak.

David Wong

28-04-2008