KUALA TERENGGANU: Expensive pets kept as a hobby by any individual are not eligible to apply for assistance from the Terengganu Agricultural Disaster Fund.

       Terengganu Agriculture, Food Industry, Plantation, Commodity and Rural Development Committee chairman Dr Azman Ibrahim said usually, such hobbies were practised those who could afford it.

       "Examples of these expensive pets are imported rabbits worth more than RM3,000 each, Bantam breed chicken (ayam serama) worth thousands of ringgit, or ornamental fish worth thousands of ringgit each.

       "These expensive animals are not categorised in the livestock industry which generates the state's food supply which is the direction of Terengganu's agriculture. Therefore, I suggest that these expensive animals should be covered by insurance," he said in a statement on Sunday (Dec 26).

       Dr Azman, who is also Jabi assemblyman, said his office had received applications from owners of expensive animals recently but could not be approved because there was no provision to compensate for the death of 20 rabbits valued at more than RM60,000.

       "The Terengganu Agricultural Disaster Fund serves to help farmers, livestock breeders and fishermen recover when disaster strikes that cause losses to their sources of livelihood.

       "It is not compensation because the allocation from the state government is not large, only RM1 million a year to support the three main sectors of agriculture, livestock and fisheries for the whole state if they are hit by a disaster," he said.

       To date, a total of 679 farmers, livestock breeders and fishermen affected by various disasters have received benefits from the fund with a total value of RM588,000.

       Of the total, 496 people are farmers with a contribution of RM301,000 followed by 89 livestock breeders (RM153,000) and 83 fishermen (RM134,000). - Bernama