SEREMBAN, Sept 10 — There is a need to set up rice mills in Negeri Sembilan to deal with the lack of local rice supply.

State Agriculture, Food Security and Cost of Living Committee chairman, Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias said the state government needs to step up efforts on the cultivation of paddy in districts such as Kuala Pilah, Jelebu, Jempol and also in Gemas as a long-term plan.

"I have asked for more food security programmes especially rice, and other essential goods such as sugar, cooking oil and so on in the next two to five years.

"We need to have sufficient food stocks, following that the state government sees the need of rice mills to produce rice for the people in the state at reasonable price,” he told reporters at the state level launching of 2023 Fit Malaysia Tour at Bandar Sri Sendayan here today.

The senior executive councillor said his committee will table a master plan on food security programme for the state with the involvement of departments and agencies as the initial action on food supply issue.

He said the planning involves basic food such as cooking oil, sugar, flour, meat and chicken as well as the rehabilitation of abandoned land and agricultural areas that require an injection of state government funds.

He said that the matter is also a key performance indicator (KPI) set for the heads of the department under his supervision.

"I don’t want to hear the complaints of the people in the state about lack of supply, excessive prices or quality of supply,” he said. — Bernama