KOTA KINABALU, Oct 7 — Subsidising imported white rice (BPI) in Sabah and Sarawak is to ensure the people always have access to sufficient supply of rice at a controlled price.

Deputy Agricultural and Food Security Minister Datuk Chan Foong Hin said the move was important due to the high demand for BPI in Sabah and Sarawak which, due to the low supply and production of BPI, has caused the price of the rice to soar.

The Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament said it’s quite difficult to obtain local white rice in the market currently as it is not the harvest season yet and, as such, the country has to rely on BPI.

"Wholesalers in Sabah, such as Sazarice and TKC, have agreed for BPI bought by retailers and supermarkets before October 5 to be sold at the new price.

"The wholesalers will bear the difference in costs,” he told reporters after carrying a survey of the BPI price at the Jalan Gaya Bataras supermarket here today.

The Federal Government agreed to give a subsidy of RM950 per tonne for BPI from October 5 in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan to enable the BPI to be obtained at a retail price of RM31 per 10-kilogramme (kg).

Chan also said that the Federal Government is striving to increase the production of local white rice, especially in Sabah, through the Large-Scale SMART Paddy Field (SBB SMART) Programme in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA) in Kota Belud.

He said that through the SBB programme, which is the public-private strategic collaboration with Paddyberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas), farmers will use modern equipment for paddy planting and rice production.

"However, the SBB programme has yet to be carried out on a big scale and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had recently stated that he is identifying 50 hectares of land in Sabah and Sarawak for the paddy planting,” he said.

He said the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, together with Sabah’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry (Maffi), is also planning to carry out joint development programmes to create a rice granary in the state.

Chan said that Sabah and Sarawak’s contribution in terms of overall rice production at the national level was still low at between three and four per cent.

Meanwhile, commenting on the conferment of the Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) award, which carries the Datuk title, this morning, Chan said he would leave it to his party DAP to take any action since the party’s policy does not allow any of its members to accept honours from heads of state and national governments.

"I felt like not easy to refuse it because I am a Sabahan. The award is from the state government, so I received it in good faith, just that I will now leave it to the party (DAP) to decide on this issue.

"We need to respect the decisions and the recommendations of the Sabah government, so I surrender myself to the party,” said the DAP Central Executive Committee member.

Chan was among 50 recipients of state medals and awards in conjunction with the 70th birthday of the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at Istana Seri Kinabalu here today. — Bernama