IPOH: Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah called on the government to give serious attention to the threat of food security as the situation of the world food safety is getting more critical.
Sultan Nazrin said every country needs to think of strategic ways to face the Covid-19 pandemic if it continues to spread further in future.
"The World Food Programme has warned that 41 million people in 43 countries are at risk of starvation compared to 27 million people in 2019.
"The rise in the risk of starvation was caused by the increase in prices of essential food items, in addition to conflicts, climate change and economic issues worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The worst state of starvation experienced by four countries - Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen which affected 600,000 people was due to war and the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.
Sultan Nazrin said this in his opening speech at the 14th state legislative assembly sitting in Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan here, today.
Sultan Nazrin said the United Nations pre-summit which took place in Rome last July, voiced concerns caused by the Covid-19 threat which curbed agricultural activities, likely lessening the amount of export from food producing countries that may choose to prioritise their domestic needs.
"Every country needs to think of strategic ways to face the Covid-19 pandemic if it continues to spread further in future. Our government needs to give serious attention to the threat of food security.
"The agriculture, livestock, and fishing sectors need to be very pro-active. Beyond that, they need to be more productive, increasing their yields by incorporating a new working culture and using more modern methods and mechanisms," the Sultan said.
On a separate note, Sultan Nazrin said efforts to increase the state's revenue via the identification of new sources in sectors with great potential is under way.
"It is estimated that 1,687,500 tons of non-radioactive rare earth element (NR-REE) can be found in Perak.
"The NR-REE is one of the more important minerals of the present and the future due to its extensive use in many high-tech industries, healthcare industries, and in the defence industries.
"Our government has started a pioneer project in mining NR-REE on 213.8 hectares of land. At the same time, our government has been cautious not to be too hasty in granting licenses for large scale mining of the NR-REE," he said.
Sultan Nazrin said people must heed the lessons of the past, as attested by the lingering decimation of Perak's landscapes wrought on by tin-mining, rendering grievous harm to the state and people of Perak.
"The health factors, the safety factors, the environmental factors and the long-term benefit of the state and its citizens should be prioritised and cannot be compromised.
"At the same time, Perak should not be content with being mere producers of raw materials. Instead, the raw materials should be complemented with downstream activities so that the returns have added value and will prompt creation of high-level job opportunities for the locals.
"The Menteri Besar Incorporated has taken steps to explore all avenues in establishing collaborations between scientists and experts to undertake research on this newly discovered mineral NR-REE, while the Perak State Development Corporation has pioneered efforts to develop the midstream and downstream industries," he said.
On vaccination, Sultan Nazrin said it was a preventive measure which acted as a defensive shield, increasing human immunity.
"Although Covid-19 is a young virus, it has shown that it has a strong degree of resistance and endurance. It can mutate and create newer variants of itself to combat our man-made vaccines.
"The Covid-19 National Immunisation Program is in fact, a huge step forward in raising the nation's immunity.
As of Tuesday, 1,118,358 people have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccines, while 797,317 have received their second dose, putting the fully vaccinated at 42.8 per cent of the total adult population in Perak.
"Our government is taking full initiative to achieve herd immunity by speeding up the vaccination rates.
"The vaccination programme has also been scaled-up and improved through outreach programmes which dispatch special teams to rural areas, approaching the rural society as well as the indigenous community," he said.