“I want to reassure our Sabah consumers that we will not run out of food.

“Therefore, there is no need for panic buying or stockpiling of essentials, particularly food items. Our supplies are more than sufficient,” he said in a statement today.

Kitingan, who is also the state agriculture and fisheries minister, said overall, the current supply of rice in Sabah was sufficient for up to six months.

“Our current stocks of white rice at wholesalers and retail outlets stand at 12,528 tonnes while our buffer stock is 49,500 tonnes. Another 12,528 tonnes are under shipment.

“These do not include fragrant rice, glutinous rice and basmati rice. On average, consumers in Sabah use 12,000 tonnes of rice per month.”

At the same time, he said Sabah has enough vegetables and fruits.

Kitingan said the three permanent food production parks in Kundasang, Putatan and Lahad Datu are also operating as usual.

He further said that Sabahans need not be concerned about the availability of fish as supply exceeds demand.

According to projections, the demand for fish products for 2020 was 176,959 tonnes while output was 202,436 tonnes.

“There is also sufficient supply of beef, buffalo meat, chicken, pork, eggs and milk during this MCO,” he said.