KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has set up a food security task force to devise short-, medium- and long-term action plans to stabilise the supply of food in the state.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the state cabinet approved the task force during a meeting recently.
"The setting up of the task force is in line with the federal Agriculture and Food Security Ministry's prioritisation of food security," said Kitingan, who is also state agriculture, fisheries and food industry minister.
He said Sabah was ready to welcome back tourists from China.
He said the state had an adequate supply of seafood, which is popular with Chinese tourists, as Sabah had reached self-sufficiency for seafood.
He said this after delivering his ministry's 2023 message to staff at Wisma Pertanian here today.
"We are encouraging the industry to produce more seafood. The government has agreed not to impose any tax on them for six months."
He said he was satisfied with the ministry's performance last year, with the implementation of 92 per cent of planned initiatives despite the challenges.
Kitingan hoped the ministry would move forward now that there were more investors post-Covid-19 pandemic.
"As all agencies are operational now, we have welcomed RM30 billion in foreign direct investment to the state and more is expected to come in the next three years."
He said his ministry would organise a special course on artificial intelligence in March for some officers to keep up with global challenges.
On another matter, he said his ministry, through the Irrigation and Drainage Department, would focus on tackling flood issues in the state.
Kitingan said the state was facing financial constraints and could not achieve self-sufficiency for rice.
"The state lacks ploughing and harvesting machinery due to limited allocations.
"Even though we get an injection of allocations from the federal and state governments, it is still a long way for us to realise our wishes."