Prices of food items are on the rise and people are still struggling to survive the inflation. While the government has decided that the subsidies for chicken and eggs will go on, they had remained silent on other food items.
Recently, Perak state State Plantation, Agriculture and Food Industry Committee chairman, Razman Zakaria said that the state government will not provide subsidy for pork meat as it is not a staple food for all Malaysians.
He said that the state government has not received any complaints from consumers and pig farmers about the increase in the price of pork meat in the market.
Razman also said that the government did not consider subsidies for pork meat as it is not something that all Malaysians consume and that the self-sufficient rate for pig farmers in the state is not at a critical level.
“The reason why pork meat was not given subsidy, or the price was not controlled like chicken is because the food is not a staple for the whole nation,” he explained.
“Furthermore, the self-sufficient rate for pork meat production in the state has nearly reached about 300 per cent. It is not at a critical level and is not an issue,” he said in the State Legislative Assembly.
Razman was responding to an oral question by Keranji assemblyman Chong Zhemin and Pasir Pinji assemblyman Howard Lee on subsidies for the pork meat following claims of price hikes.
Chong pointed out that the price of a whole pig has increased from RM700 to RM1,200 in just 6 months.
Meanwhile, the remark from Razman has angered some Malaysians and they criticised the state government for practising double standards when it comes to pork. Many also said the state government shouldn’t have collected the taxes from business operators that sell pork meat.
On the other hand, some questioned the criteria for a food to be subsidised and pointed out the fact that beef is not consumed by all too.
Some netizens were also not surprised by the state government’s decision as it has always been like that.
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