KUCHING: Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has called on the authorities to focus on the current shortage of chickens and eggs in the market with a view to formulate an effective and long-term solution.
He said the shortage should not have been allowed to happen in the first place, pointing out that chickens and eggs are daily necessities for people besides both being the mainstay of raw materials needed by the food manufacturing industry.
“The government’s restrictive regulations on the rearing, processing and supply of chickens and eggs coupled with disallowing retailers to raise prices without authorisation to ease the burden on consumers have nonetheless impacted suppliers and their ability to compete and bring sufficient supply to market,” he said.
He said this had inadvertently destabilised the food supply chain and also caused a shortage for consumers who were now affected by insufficient supply in the market.
“We need to have an in-depth understanding and sound strategy to avoid this shortage, including delivering the promised incentives to the traders, instead of leaving them to fend for themselves.
“Under the pressure of Covid-19, with a weak economy and various instabilities, people are suffering. We need to do what we can to make adjustments and subsidies to help these livestock farmers, rather than forcing them to take their losses,” said the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president in a statement on Wednesday (Feb 9).
Tiong, who is also Dudong assemblyman, said these government agencies must go down to the ground to engage their stakeholders among the farmers and livestock rearers, understand their difficulties, and find a balance.
“No party needs to suffer losses unnecessarily and lead to panic buying and hoarding by consumers. Otherwise, we would see that the costs of raising and supplying livestock will be higher than the ceiling prices set by the government. To this end, no one would win,” he said.
He emphasised that the shortage of chicken and eggs was not deliberately caused by farms and related businesses.
He said in the face of soaring transportation costs of imported feed and other livestock costs, these businesses also had to endure government regulations that prohibit price increments.
“Many breeders have complained to me that they could no longer take the losses and would rather not sell or rear more livestock in order to stave off further losses,” he said.
He said setting a ceiling price and allowing all merchants who have obtained a temporary approved permit (AP) to import whole chickens not only failed to address the root causes of the problem but was also unfriendly to the industry as a whole.
He said there was also no control over how long the imported frozen chickens had been kept, adding that these kinds of half measures cannot achieve the goal of reducing the people’s burdens.
“No one can guarantee where the price of imported frozen chicken will increase in the future. If there is no supply of chicken, the supply of eggs will be affected. How will we deal with this? Without chickens, from where will we import eggs?
“We need to strive to achieve food self-sufficiency, instead of relying on food imports. Such imports are temporary solutions at best, and no one is willing to do business at a loss so it is imperative for us to formulate an effective long-term win-win solution,” said Tiong.
As such, he strongly urged the government to take this matter seriously and implement lasting solutions.
“I will also be reporting to the prime minister to discuss this issue so that the relevant departments handle the people’s livelihoods with more care and sincere actions,” he said.
