Sabah to disburse RM35mil in aid to agricultural industry players

 By Olivia Miwil - October 30, 2020 @ 4:05pm

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has allocated RM35 million in Prihatin Covid-19 aid for agricultural industry players in the state.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the fund would benefit 116,248 recipients registered under the ministry in various segments of the industry.

Those who will benefit include farmers, fishermen, livestock breeders, palm oil smallholders, cocoa smallholders, stakeholders in the rubber industry and the Rural Development Corporation.

Jeffrey, who is also state Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, said each stakeholder will receive a one-off RM300 payment to lessen their financial burden amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The fund is part of the government's total aid to assist B40 groups, which also include workers in other sectors such as taxi drivers, bus drivers, lorry drivers, and tourism industry players.

"The Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry will process the documents for the RM34,874,400 aid to be submitted to the State Treasury Department for further payment, to be credited directly to each recipient's account," he said in a statement.

Sabah is currently under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) until Nov 9.

Under the CMCO, those in the agriculture and plantation sectors are still allowed to work at full capacity, provided their employers follow the standard operating procedures.

To date, the Sabah government has announced RM150 million to help people affected by Covid-19.

Apart from the RM30 million spent on food baskets for households undergoing quarantine, the state has also allocated RM1 million each to tourism and creative industry players, as well as students at Higher Learning Institutes.