Our view is that the worst is yet to come because at the moment some farmers may still have a small reserve of rice and tapioca. But by next month there will be real scarcity of food including edible jungle produce which have also dried up. We all agree that thankfully no one has died so far as a result of lack of food. But it is a fact that people are not getting their normal intake of food and are eating jungle produce as substitutes which are not normally eaten regularly. There is suffering arising from shortage of food.
Malnutrition is visible in many villages.
Many villagers have testified of not eating rice for some four to six months. Therefore, by the Oxford dictionary s definition there is a degree of starvation. The government must not deny this fact otherwise you are doing a great disservice to the affected communities. This is supposed to be a nation heading towards developed status in year 2020 and enjoying the era of IT and multimedia world. Dr Ongkili also explained that PBS has collected about 10,000 kg of rice donated by party members and supporters which will be distributed to drought victims in areas not covered thus far by the government, Yayasan Salam and NGOs.