Government abolishes ST15 rice subsidies

KUALA LUMPUR: Subsidies for Super Tempatan 15% broken (ST15) rice have been abolished, following too much leakage in the programme.

The Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry's (MOA) Paddy and Rice Industry Division secretary, Samsuddin Ismail, in a statement Friday said research found that the rice meant for low-income Malaysians were also bought by non-Malaysians, among other problems.

"There have also been reports of places where the supply was insufficient but too much supply in other areas," he said.

He said although the Ministry had taken various actions including terminating the licences of the parties involved, the problems still persisted.

"For two months, we have been looking into a new mechanism which will ensure that assistance given will go to the targeted groups and truly benefit the very poor," he said.

Samsuddin said the distribution of ST15 rice, which began in 2008, was a temporary programme by the Government to ensure the very poor could afford to buy rice at the lowest price.

ST15 rice has slightly lower quality compared to the ST5 local rice bought by the majority of consumers. - Bernama