June 23, 2026

 

Malaysian government called upon to deliver strong measures against high pork prices in Sabah

 

The federal and state governments in Malaysia have been urged to provide concrete steps to address the steep price of pork in Sabah.

 

Parti Warisan supreme council member Chen Ket Chuin in a statement on June 21 said that the state had undergone four pork price hikes in the past six months, which placed considerable pressure on consumers, pork vendors and food operators.

 

"Sabah has about 45 registered pig farms and over 90,000 pigs before African swine fever (ASF) struck.

 

"Given Sabah's relatively small market size, limited production capacity, and narrower supply chain compared to the Peninsula, any disruption to local production inevitably has a greater impact on prices.

 

"That is precisely why the government's response should have focused on rebuilding Sabah's domestic production capacity immediately after ASF. Sabahans want to know why, five years later, the state is still grappling with supply shortages and repeated price hikes," he said.

 

Chen pointed out that while Sabah continued to struggle with supply shortages and rising prices, neighbouring Sarawak had successfully transformed itself into one of the region's leading pork-producing centres.

 

"Today, Sarawak not only meets its own domestic demand but is also exporting thousands of live pigs weekly to Singapore and supplying other parts of Malaysia, while targeting further expansion of production in the coming years," Chen said.

 

"Meanwhile, Sabah is still being told that imported pork from Europe is needed to stabilise local supply. This raises an obvious question—what did Sarawak do right that Sabah failed to do?

 

"If Sarawak can rebuild, expand and export after ASF, why is Sabah still struggling to restore sufficient local production years later?"

 

He stressed that the government must explain why Sabah's recovery had progressed so slowly despite repeated public announcements and promises of industry revival.

 

"Consumers deserve to know what is Sabah's current supply deficit. What is the state's monthly demand, how much pork is being produced locally, how much is being imported and at which stage are prices increasing.

 

"If the government does not publish these figures, consumers will blame retailers, retailers will blame wholesalers, wholesalers will blame farmers, and everyone ends up blaming one another while the government, which is supposed to coordinate the market, escapes scrutiny."

 

Chen also called for a comprehensive update on the Tongod Pig Farming Area.

- Borneo Post Online