It is high time for the government to act swiftly on the food crisis that is currently faced by the nation. Where are the ministers that are supposed to create necessary policies to deal with the issue at hand? The rising cost of living has impacted Malaysians greatly. It is further exacerbated with the recent hike in prices of basic food items, particularly the poultry. It is clear as day that the nation will be facing a greater problem, food insecurity, should this matter continue.
A few days ago, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi announced that a cabinet meeting would be held promptly to address the issue of daily food supply, especially chicken. However, to this day, there are no updates to if any short-term or long-term measure has been adopted by the cabinet. Not to mention, the government seems to have little to no urgency to the issue. Considering the issue is a precursor to a bigger crisis, the government should be proactive in notifying the rakyats on the initiatives that they would employ to handle the subject matter. What is the use of meetings and discussions if no concrete plan is presented to the people? Furthermore, this is not the first time that such template answer has been given by the government when dealing with a specific national issue.
Moreover, in such times of crises, it seems that fellow ministers are busy prioritizing their “work” trips abroad rather than managing the current situation in their very own homeland. Ministers are advised to stay back and deal with the situation at hand.
As the global food crisis looms large, a cabinet minister should be appointed to be the sole spokesperson and on the frontline informing the nation on the next step in dealing with the issue. The same minister should lead a high-level inter-ministries task force to facilitate unified responses in achieving food security in our country. Malaysia has managed to handle the COVID-19 pandemic with a special task force, it is only appropriate for similar measures to be taken to deal with the food problem.