I am afraid Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is on that road when it comes to paddy, and he has every right to feel betrayed by the people he is trying to help and those had been tasked to right the wrongs of the past three decades.
THE Prime Minister has been bashed READ :on the issues of Bernas Madani by lesser men. The plan essitially is mix imported rice and local rice into one packaged brand called Beras Madani.
ANWAR Ibrahim has been accused of READ : of favouring the cartels by his political opponents inside and out side of the unity government, when this is far from the truth.
IT is for reasons such as this, that I have often said that Fahmi Fadzil is Anwar Ibrahim's biggest political liability and his lack of basic competence could cost the Prime Minister his job.
WHERE is the proof then, that the Bernas Madani is actually a concept that came from the bottom and at ground zero it actually has tremendous support?
THE concept to come up with a singular rice brand actually originated from Non Government Organisations involved in the paddy sector, sometime in 2023, when they called for the abolishment of the Super Spesial Tempatan (SST) dan Super Spesial Import (SSI) rice category.
DOES the plan have ground support? READ : Persatuan Beras Bumiputera Malaysia (BARIM) mengalu-alukan program ini supaya dapat meringankan beban.
SO what's the problem then? Well the PROBLEM is as long as BERNAS is in the picture, the Prime Minister's good intentions will end up in hell.
HOW can we say such a thing? Well let us examine the 2017 memorandum to the then Prime Minister Najib Razak by the Bumiputra Rice millers and wholesalers.
AMONG the sailent terms of the memorandum are as follows ;
1. Ada sebanyak 203 buah kilang-kilang Bumiputra yang menyertai Skim BERNAS sewaktu proses penswastaan tetapi kini hanya tinggal 20 buah sahaja yang masih beroperasi. Ini akibat daripada diskriminasi dan tekanan yang diberikan BERNAS terhadap kilang-kilang ini.
2.Sejak melaksanakan joint venture dengan pemborong-pemborong beras pada 2007/2008, BERNAS kini memonopoli sebagai pembeli padi terakhir, pengilang dan pemborong (melalui anak syarikat). Sebagai sebuah syarikat yang meletakkan keuntungan sebagai sasaran utama, sudah tentu membeli beras import dilihat lebih menguntungkan dan memproses padi tempatan diabaikan.
3. Beras tempatan pula sengaja dilonggokkan dan disimpan lama digudang, apabila sudah 'jadi lama' harganya turun. Apabila harga turun, ia dibeli oleh pemborong besar secara banyak dengan harga borong. Sudahlah untung dapat beras import, untung pulak beli beras tempatan harga diskaun. Beras tempatan ini peratus hancurnya adalah 15%, ia akan digredkan semula dan beras inilah yang dicampur dan dijual sebagai beras import
4. Sebenarnya di Malaysia hanya ada 8 pemborong besar yang mengusai hampir semua pasar raya dan kedai-kedai yang mana kesemuanya adalah anak syarikat BERNAS. Ini bermakna business BERNAS kini adalah membeli padi (sebagai pembeli padi terkahir), mengilang dan juga memborong (melalui anak syarikat).
YOU can find and read the entire memorandum which was signed among others by Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM), Persatuan Pemborong Beras Bumiputera Malaysia, Persatuan Pengilang Beras Melayu Malaysia, Badan Bertindak Pesawah MADA, dan Badan Bertindak Pesawah Malaysia by CLICKING HERE.
SO there you have it folks, the Bumiputra's who are 95 per cent of the paddy farmers, telling us in 2017, that local rice was being sold as imported rice, Bernas controls all the eight major rice wholesalers in the country, and Bernas also controls the major rice millers via joint ventures.
YET, we have BERNAS paid Board Member, who also happens to be the director general of the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry (MAFI) Padi and Rice Regulatory Division, who has an alternate view.
MEET Azman Mahmood, who has on record stated READ : Dakwaan bahawa stok beras tempatan disorok oleh pengilang dan pemborong disifatkan tidak logik.
YES, this is THE SAME Azman Mahmood, who jumped like a hawk and moved like a ninja barely 24 hours after READ : Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM) is prepared to conduct audits on licence holders involved in rice wholesale, export, import, rice mills, padi purchase, rice retailing and special approval for selling certified padi seeds to address cartel-related issues..
AZMAN Mahmood reaction via the Syed Mokthar owned Utusan Malaysia was READ : Tidak perlu audit 39,000 lesen padi, beras.
AS BERNAS stated last year,READ : HARGA Padi, BUKAN Utusan BERNAS
