KUALA LUMPUR: The construction of Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) new building has been planned since 2011, said Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee. (pix)
He said the land swap method used for the construction of the project was implemented in accordance with the existing procurement procedures and obtained approval from the Cabinet.
“This process went through three prime ministers since 2011 and it is passed and signed only after the formation of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government,” he said during the winding-up debate of the Supply Bill 2021 at the committee level for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The matter was raised by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) during the debate session when he questioned the government’s priority, between constructing the new building worth RM220 million in Kelana Jaya which he described as a new ‘castle’, and helping farmers to market their products.
Kiandee said that the building would later provide an agrobazaar sales centre to market agricultural and agro-food products.
“FAMA’s functions and roles have been streamlined by implementing new marketing methods such as digitalisation and e-commerce.
“Farmers have been given guidance to produce goods relevant to the needs of the industry. FAMA will also continue to play an important role in helping to market the agro-food products,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said although there was a reduction in allocation for the Paddy Price Subsidy Scheme (SSHP) in the 2021 Budget, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had given an assurance to channel additional allocation when there was an increase in rice production.
Kiandee said that he had voiced concerns over the total allocation of RM570 million announced in the 2021 Budget compared to RM620 million allocated in the 2020 Budget, as it is feared to be insufficient to meet the production target of 1.9 million metric tonnes of rice next year.
“MAFI targets 1.9 million metric tonnes of rice to be produced next year and of course it will involve higher paddy price subsidy data and if you look at the allocation given it can only target about 1.5 million metric tonnes,” he said.
Meanwhile, the SSHP issue was raised by Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PH-Pokok Sena) and Tan Sri Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) who wanted to know whether the government has no confidence in the increase of rice yield next year based on the reduction of allocation for the scheme by RM50 million.
The Supply Bill 2021 for the ministry at the committee level was later passed by a majority vote after being debated by eight MPs, including Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (BN-Arau), Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Independent-Langkawi) and Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim (GPS-Batang Lupar). -Bernama
