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Chong Chieng JenAdvertisement
By Karen Bong
KUCHING, May 12: Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen today questioned what policy changes the Sarawak government would implement to ensure the success of paddy cultivation in the State, pointing to the RM950 million Agriculture National Key Economic Area (NKEA) of Malaysia’s Economic Programme for paddy cultivation in Batang Lupar project announced in 2013 which appeared to have failed to deliver its intended results.
Debating the Sarawak Paddy and Rice Board Bill, 2026 in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) today, Chong said the State’s rice self-sufficiency level remained far behind Peninsular Malaysia despite years of announcements and allocations for paddy development.
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“The facts, the figures, the statistics show that we are half the self-sufficiency level compared to West Malaysia. What has gone wrong? Something must have gone wrong,” he said.
Chong reminded the august House of an announcement made by the then Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture during the winding-up speech on Nov 27, 2013 regarding the NKEA EPP 11 Batang Lupar project.
He said the project involved developing about 5,100 hectares for double and single paddy cropping at a cost of RM950 million and was expected to benefit 5,167 farmers in Batang Lupar, covering areas from Entulang to Seduku as well as Lingga to Banting.
“Back in 2013, an allocation of RM950 million was announced in this very House for the development of paddy. What has become of that allocation and that development project?” he asked.
Describing the sum as “not small”, Chong said the allocation would be worth at least RM2 billion in today’s value.
He said the people in Lingga had high hopes when repeated announcements were made to turn Batang Lupar into Sarawak’s “jelapang padi” (paddy granary), but had instead faced repeated disappointment.
Referring to concerns raised earlier by Lingga assemblywoman Dayang Noorazah Awang Sohor during the debate, Chong said even she had expressed hope that the setting up of the Sarawak Paddy and Rice Board could finally bring tangible results to the area within her lifetime.
Chong also highlighted another major paddy development announcement made in 2015 involving a proposed 3,000-hectare paddy granary project in the Limbang river valley near the Brunei-Limbang border through cooperation between Sarawak and Brunei.
“Another announcement of 3,000 hectares of paddy cultivation has been announced. And what has become of that announcement?” he asked.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) lawmaker further questioned the feasibility of the State government’s latest target announced by Minister of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom to develop 14,000 hectares of paddy granaries by 2030 and increase Sarawak’s rice self-sufficiency level to 60 per cent.
Chong said Sarawak currently consumes about 450,000 metric tonnes of rice annually, while local production, including hill paddy, stood at only around 80,000 metric tonnes.
He calculated that to achieve the targeted self-sufficiency level, Sarawak would need to increase rice production by at least 190,000 metric tonnes within the next four years.
“If you do simple mathematics, 190,000 metric tonnes divided by 14,000 hectares, you need a production of 13.5 metric tonnes per hectare per year. Currently, our production efficiency level is around six to seven metric tonnes per hectare per year,” he said.
While acknowledging the minister’s reference to Hainan in China producing up to 15 metric tonnes per hectare annually, Chong cautioned against direct comparisons due to differences in climate, soil and planting conditions.
“Otherwise, I would suggest that let us be more realistic in our target in setting our self-sufficiency level for rice,” he said.
Chong stressed that his remarks were not intended to ridicule the government but to highlight past shortcomings so that they would not be repeated under the newly proposed board.
He questioned what policy shifts and implementation changes would be introduced by the new board, noting that it would still operate under the same ministry responsible for previous initiatives.
“The board will still be under the oversight or the control of the same ministry that failed a decade or two decades ago. So what policy change, shift, that will be made and implemented by the board, that is what we would like to know,” he said.
Chong added that support for the Bill would depend largely on the minister’s response to the issues raised, particularly regarding how the RM950 million allocation announced in 2013 had been utilised and why the intended targets were not achieved. — DayakDaily
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