Where is the food?

The Economic Times (3/5/08) reported, Malaysia delays public projects to use money for food. Excerpts:

The Malaysian government will delay nonessential public projects and use the money instead to build up food stockpiles amid a global food crisis, the prime minister said on Saturday.

If measures are not taken now "it will be difficult later," Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.

He said a 4 billion ringgit ($1.3 billion; euro1 billion) plan announced recently to guarantee food supplies can be funded adequately only if money is diverted from non-urgent public projects.

MySinchew has this question to ask: Would RM4 billion be able to achieve 100% of self-sufficiency? The Second Finance Minister just said recently that the government needs RM6 billion to meet 90% of the domestic demand for grain.

When the government syphoned RM4.4 billion from oil subsidies (please refer Malaysiakini, Fuel hike: Najib no economist), Bernama reported the Prime Minister "has asked the people not to question the government's efforts to use the RM4.4 billion savings from the reduction in oil subsidy to improve the public transportation system".

Anybody sees any improvement in the public transportation system?

And now, with another RM4 billions announced recently to guarantee food supplies can be funded adequately, hopefully no one will ask, "where is the food?"

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