Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has hit back at PKR deputy president-elect Rafizi Ramli for describing their proposal of a national poultry board to cope with the rising price of chicken as a "joke".
"People want solutions to their problems. People don't care about the formula, particularly formula from Rafizi and Pakatan Harapan which government collapsed after only 22 months," he said in a statement on Facebook.
Rafizi had questioned if Umno's solution was to set up a board for every animal, adding that the ruling coalition will likely end up appointing politicians to head the boards and taxpayers will have to foot their salaries and allowances.
"He (Rafizi) said the proposal is a waste of money and would increase bureaucracy.
"But he is proposing the creation of an independent body to manage the risk of food supply disruption. Will that not also increase bureaucracy and in some way use taxpayers’ funds?" Zahid asked.
Accused of ‘spreading lies’
The Umno chief, who described Rafizi's counter-proposal as "self-contradictory", also accused the PKR leader of "spreading lies" in the past.
"Who still remembered? All kinds of formulas were offered for free toll, free education and various methods of better financial management but when Harapan became the government, all that was left were promises," he said.
In contrast, Zahid said Umno has always been consistent on matters of food security.
He reiterated that the National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol) should be activated to coordinate between ministries in order to provide assistance to the people.
He also stressed that Umno's proposal for a national poultry board should be taken into account by the Naccol.
Yesterday, Rafizi said the government should emulate the United State’s National Commission on Supplies and Shortages, an independent body tasked with building stockpiles to manage the risk of food supply disruption.
He added that there was a need to restructure various ministries so that the management of the food supply chain is not fragmented in order to allow for swift policy action. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.