Jainab defuses altercation over diesel

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KOTA KINABALU: A heated argument broke out at a petrol station in Inanam yesterday when a customer had a misunderstanding over the purchase of diesel.

Chung Fook Yin, 51, was reportedly incensed when he received a call from his son informing that he was stopped from purchasing diesel to be stored in a gallon tank inside his car and was threatened with assault.

An angry Chung then rushed to the station on a motorcycle. He held his helmet and looked for the person who had threatened to beat up his son.

The situation calmed down when Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid, who was conducting spot checks on petrol stations around Inanam, arrived.

Two police personnel who arrived at the scene later also helped to defuse the heated argument.

According to the petrol filling station attendant, Chung’s son had refused to unload his gallon tank from his car because he claimed it would be too heavy for him to load it back into the car once it had been filled up with diesel.

The owner of the station said all customers are allowed to buy diesel to be filled into a gallon tank as long as they unload the gallon tank from the car so that it is done in the open.

Chung however questioned why many other stations are allowing the filling up of diesel, some reportedly in large quantities, into tanks placed at the back of the car.

“I have tried to report this kind of incident to the KPDNKK (Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism) office but they have never even bothered to answer my calls. I can even take pictures of people who fill up diesel into gallon tanks without unloading them from their vehicles,” Chung told reporters at the scene.

Meanwhile, Jainab said the ministry welcomed any cooperation from public who help by reporting instances of wrongdoings by petrol station operators or customers.

She added that petrol stations are not allowed to ration diesel without permission from the ministry unless it is for heavy vehicles like a lorry.

“We now have adequate supply of diesel and I don’t want to hear of any stations imposing a rationing on their diesel supply. However, refueling of diesel for heavy vehicles is still limited to RM250 until the problem of supply is fully resolved,” said Jainab.