LETTER | This is undoubtedly a critical time for the country. Vegetable farmers with their produce to sell and consumers with a demand for these items.

But somewhere in between, the supply chain is grossly dysfunctional. Thus, farmers are holding onto their produce and consumers are anticipating vegetable prices to increase as early as next week.

According to the Consumers’ Association of Penang's (CAP) market sources, the demand for vegetables is there but there is a lack of supply. When we enquired with the largest vegetable producers in the country in Cameron Highlands, they explained that they are in such a predicament due to transportation problems when delivering the vegetables to markets.

We reiterate what we said more than a week ago to policymakers and ask the government to create Green Lanes for the transport of essential supplies nationwide with minimal restrictions. Creating Green Lanes is not rocket science and the European Union (EU) had envisaged it at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Food is essential if a country does not want more problems in their hands as food shortages can cause food prices to skyrocket in times of economic doldrums.

Just for our information, the EU, comprising 27 countries, already has Green Lanes operational for the transportation of essential goods such as food, medical and protective equipment, and packaging material for essential goods since March.

We expect the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) to live up to their name and get their act together. Fama should play their role in organising and coordinating transportation for farmers to help them reach their consumers. This is no time for bureaucracy or sitting on laurels as the entire country is in distress.

We would like to reiterate that Malaysia needs to desperately create Green Lanes nationwide and Fama should help farmers deliver their produce to their respective destinations. This has to be done before the prices of vegetable burden consumers.

The writer is president of the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.

Malaysiakini is providing free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.

Help keep independent media alive - subscribe to Malaysiakini.