KOTA KINABALU: Food supply in Sabah will be sufficient over the festive period, including Chinese New Year in January next year, says Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
Deputy Chief Minister and state Agriculture and Fishery Minister said that his ministry would continue its commitment to ensure food supply is stable throughout this period.
Early steps have been taken to ensure there are no shortages for essentials like eggs, meat, chicken, fish, fruits and vegetables, he said in a statement here on Thursday (Dec 22).
He added that based on information from the Sabah Veterinary Services Department, commodities like pork, poultry and eggs are enough to accommodate domestic needs despite a decline in production.
"Egg production is still under control at 2.7 million eggs per day for domestic consumption.
"There is some downtrend of chicken meat production between 10% to 15% as well as pork at about 30%.
"This year, chicken production is at 32 million birds annually with 90,000 slaughtered daily; while pigs are at 109,500 annually with 300 slaughtered daily.
"Supply is enough to accommodate our domestic needs," he explained.
Meanwhile on the fisheries sector, he said Sabah remains the only state where supplies are beyond the 100% self-sufficiency level (SSL) in comparison to population demands.
"The consumption of fish Sabah folks is estimated at 46.4 kg yearly.
"Meanwhile gross fish production in Sabah last year (2021) was recorded at 405,501.31 metric tonnes, an increase of 1.14% in production compared to the year before," he added.
Kitingan said that fish product operators in this state usually have their own cold-room storage to store excess catch in certain months and would use this stock when fish supply drops, especially during festive season.
He noted that December and March period is are monsoon seasons which can pose risks to fishermen going out at sea and commercial fishing vessels are expected to rest between three to five days during this festive period.
"There is no need to worry about food supply during the festive period (Christmas until Chinese New Year).
"Even if there is some price increase, it would not be out of the ordinary as this happens during every celebration and for a short period of time," added Kitingan.
