KUALA LUMPUR: The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry has agreed to meet with affected egg and chicken farmers in Johor whose subsidy applications were rejected, the Parliament's Special Chamber heard on Wednesday (March 5).
Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup said that such sessions to engage with the farmers, as proposed by Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam), would help in ensuring better governance and transparency of subsidy delivery.
“Previously, we had implemented physical form submission for the subsidy applications, and when the farmers came to the offices, we would inform them about the application terms.
“Similarly, when we shifted to online forms, the same terms were displayed on the Veterinary Services Department’s (DVS) website.
"Nevertheless, I welcome the proposal to conduct an engagement session to further share about the application process and terms,” he said when responding to Dr Wee in the Special Chamber on Wednesday.
Dr Wee earlier said that he had received complaints from the Johor Small and Medium Poultry Farmers Association, claiming their subsidy applications were rejected by the ministry owing to some technical issues.
“Although we have managed to endure Covid-19 for several years, its impact on the economic chain is still felt by players in certain sectors, this includes the poultry farming sector.
“To balance the losses and financial burdens of the farmers, the government has agreed to provide special subsidies to those affected.
“However, until now, some have not received their subsidy payments, including 11 members of the Johor Poultry Farmers Association, who have been waiting for three years since their application,” he said.
Dr Wee said that they have collectively submitted 29 appeals to the ministry, yet they still had not received subsidy payments for the period of July 2022, amounting to more than RM2.01mil.
“This situation has indirectly affected their farm operations,” said Dr Wee.
“They have also been informed of various reasons for the rejection of their applications by the ministry, such as the farmers having changed their bank accounts, incomplete or late applications.
“However, the applicants deny this and insist that they have fully complied with the procedures set,” he said.
In response, Arthur said that these applications were rejected after failing to meet the additional conditions outlined in the chicken and egg subsidy guidelines, such as not using an Agrobank account, unsigned invoice summaries, and lack of a Commissioner of Oaths stamp.
“Furthermore, the number of chickens and sales period were not provided, and the applications were submitted late,” he said.
He added that only one out of the 11 farmers had submitted an appeal.
“The remaining 10 farmers did not submit appeals and were not considered as they did not comply with the additional conditions set.”
He also said that the subsidy application process has been improved through MySubsidi, which was introduced in May 2023.
He added that subsidy payments are credited to the applicant's account within 48 hours after approval.
“The subsidy programme has also been reviewed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to improve the governance of subsidy management following issues of fraudulent claims by applicants in 2023,” he said.
