KUALA LUMPUR: The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry said its checks showed that the rice and other food items found dumped at a garbage disposal area in Kuala Krau, Pahang, were unfit for consumption.
The ministry, in a statement today, said following the discovery of the items, it launched an investigation, with officers from the Temerloh Padi and Rice Supervision Office (KPB) dispatched to the area near Rumpun Makmur - Kampung Gunung Senyum.
"Based on preliminary investigations, the Temerloh KPB has established that the rice was spoilt and was unfit for consumption.
"We advise all quarters not to speculate further on the case as it is still under investigation under the Padi and Rice Control Act 1994," it said, adding that all activities involving disposal of rice should be referred to the ministry's Padi and Rice Supervision Office Department.
Yesterday, images of heaps of rice sacks, sardine tins, and flour dumped in the garbage disposal area near the Rumpun Makmur - Kampung Gunung Senyum shortcut route, Kuala Krau, went viral on social media.
Today, former deputy home minister Ismail Mohamed Said took full responsibility for the incident, saying that his office had disposed the items.
Ismail said the items were from a stockpile he had prepared for his constituents when he was the Kuala Krau member of parliament, but that they were no longer fit for public consumption.
He said the food items were bought using personal funds.