MP: Set up Asean rice buffer stock |
Charles Santiago says the food and energy crisis is a crisis of liberalisation |
KLANG: Members of Asean should create common buffer stocks of important commodities and help each other weather the economic storm by selling them to each other at discounted rates.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said for a start, the government should look into organising a rice buffer with producers like Thailand and Vietnam.
Speaking at the People’s Forum: Mid-term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan on Monday, Santiago said: “These countries could sell rice at prices below the international market rate to Malaysia and other Asean countries.
“Likewise, Malaysia could also sell its oil and palm oil to other Asean countries at an affordable rate.”
He said an economic partnership as such could lead to a new approach in organising regionalism.
“Alternatively, an Asean buffer fund could be set up to help countries that face an emergency situation.
“The energy and food crisis is a ‘crisis of liberalisation’. This requires rethinking liberalisation or deregulation as an economic strategy in the food and agriculture sector.”
Santiago said: “A good example is Venezuela, which sells its oil to Ecuador and other countries below the international market price. Ecuador too, exports other products to Venezuela.”
He added that the mid-term review should also be bold enough to formulate a sustainable social safety net, a minimum wage and job security for Malaysian workers.
“The biggest challenge is to ensure good governance, accountability and transparency in the management of our resources.”
19 June, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Dear MP,
Thank you very much for all this comments and talks from water issues to now this rice and etc……
Sorry to say I am not too impressed of the things that your are doing from day one to now. I thought you are going to be the MP for us it Klang. Unfortunately most of the time I read of you saying things for the wrong reasons, which does not really impress me.
I think you have to buck up. Please don’t be a petty issue parliamentary minister. Those should be taken care by the elected representative of the area.
Come on, make a change and let Klang people see what you are really make of. We all know certain things take time but if there is no initiative meaning there will never going to be a change or progress.
Please……………………..
19 June, 2008 at 6:33 pm
By the way, don’t get me wrong. All your comments and talks are of good nature and points, but where are we going from there…..if you get my drift……….
21 June, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Hi Sunny,
I do not get you.
Could you please say clearly your expectations of a member of parliament? We are open for comment.
Yap
MP Asst.
21 June, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Hi Yap,
The expectation is simple…….do the work and work together with the Selangor government.
Everytime I read something from our MP, it is something of negative comments and opinion. Whereas we know the government it trying very hard to work things out, let me be short term or long term.
I am not saying that the comments are bad. They have points to it, but work it out internally with the team to come out with a solution.
Don’t shoot yourself on your foot my friend…..all of you are from the PR team and trying to make things happen. So do it.