Dennis Ngau
MIRI: People in rural Sarawak and Sabah will be the ones at the losing end when the weekly announcement of fuel prices goes into effect from tomorrow.
Fearing that it would not serve the rural populace any good if the system is not properly monitored, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said he was uncomfortable with the proposed move, although all government decisions were well-intended for the benefit of the country.
He warned that opportunists would take advantage of the new system to profit from the rural users who were mostly dependent on unregulated private operators for fuel for their boats and road vehicles.
“We are always in the dark, at least in my case. The price of goods and services on the ground never reflects the ups and downs of fuel price which some business community use for the basis of the price of their goods,” he said when asked to comment on the impact.
Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) president Datuk Khairul Annuar Abdul Aziz was reported as saying yesterday that petrol station operators could either follow the set ceiling price under the new system, or offer lower fuel prices for promotional purposes, provided they obtained prior approval from the ministry. Under the new system, weekly fuel prices will be announced every Wednesday and the new price will be enforced the next day but operators are still in the dark of the actual rate of discounts and mechanism.
Dennis pointed to the issue of quantum of discount allowable and duration to be applied – whether operators could apply for the whole year, just once, or for a short period.
He stressed that urban petrol kiosk operators might be able to offer lower petrol prices for promotional purposes, but rural station operators could not afford to do so due to their lower sales volume.
The two-term assemblyman was also worried that the operation cost of private transporters for ferrying passengers and goods would be passed down to the people.
He said input from rural elected representatives should be taken into account by the federal government before implementing such system.
“I am not sure if this new system is practical in rural Sarawak,” he added.
Attempts were made to call Baram MP Anyi Ngau and Mulu assemblyman Datuk Gerawat Gala to obtain comments from them about the issue, but they were not available.