Audit: RM190m Prihatin food security fund didn't reach targets

 

The 2021 Auditor-General's Report has found that although 78 percent of projects under the Food Security Fund Programme of the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) were successfully completed, the programme did not achieve its set objectives.

According to Series 2 of the report, the projects under the programme with an allocation of RM190 million could not be fully achieved as a portion of the 1,248 projects were still in the implementation phase or had not started until the end of 2021, and this affected the revenue production target.

The report said that procurement management as well as the use of less-than-satisfactory equipment also deprived the target group of fully benefitting from the programme.

The audit involved four agencies under the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry, namely the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority, the Farmers' Organisation Authority, the Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board and the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia.

The report also found that all the agencies did not achieve the targets for the production and receipt of incentives set during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

"In general, the achievement of the objectives of the Food Security Fund Programme under Prihatin, which is to ensure that the food supply remains secure and sufficient during the pandemic period, is difficult to determine.

"This is because the contribution of production under this programme is very small and insignificant to domestic production," according to the report.

The report recommended that the ministry monitor the implementation of the projects at all levels as well as ensure that the equipment supplied was used optimally.

The ministry and its agencies were also advised to set indicators to evaluate the achievement of the programme’s objectives including those implemented on an ad-hoc basis to ensure its effectiveness.

- Bernama