KOTA KINABALU: To be a major rice producing state, Sabah will have to develop the rice industry holistically.

Institute for Strategic and International Studies (Isis) senior fellow Dr Larry Wong said that there was a lot of talk about opening up new land or upgrading old padi fields but a lot of thought needed to be put into developing the industry as a whole.

"It is not just about opening up more land. The government will have to look at building the entire industry, a value chain and support industry such as milling companies, wholesalers, and others.

"There needs to be heavy investment in infrastructure such as roads to ease transportation problems. It needs to be an all-encompassing framework to support the rice planters," said Wong.

He was speaking at a press conference at the Isis forum on price hikes and community welfare, which was attended by representatives from government bodies, agencies and non-governmental organisations.
Isis director-general Dr Mahani Zainal Abidin said Sabah had the potential to be an economic powerhouse if managed properly.

"Sabah has a lot of potential, especially because of its strength in agriculture, fisheries and environment as well as vast land. If programmes are introduced and implemented properly, it can excel."

Mahani said there were calls at the forum to review government subsidies, which could spoil the people; improve government programmes and delivery systems for funds and assistance; and look into restructuring industries that operated a monopoly to make room for competition.