Special centres proposed for buying subsidised fuel

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KOTA KINABALU: The Community Development and Consumer Affairs Ministry has proposed that individuals who have been given oil subsidy could only make their fuel purchase at special collection centres.

This is to stop unscrupulous individuals from further profiting from the oil subsidies provided by the government by selling the subsidized fuel to industry players or smuggling it to neighbouring countries, said the minister, Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid

after launching the ‘Happy Family programme’ held in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2013 celebration at SM Lok Yuk yesterday.

She explained that presently, the licences that allow certain individuals to purchase fuel at an even lower price than what is offered to the general public do not state where these individuals could make their purchase.

“This means they can purchase fuel at the special subsidized price at all fuel stations, and this has made it difficult for us to monitor their purchases and movement,” she said.

She added that some of these individuals have even gone to the extent of modifying their fuel tanks so that they could buy huge quantities of fuel each time.

The individuals that have been given these special privileges comprise of bus and taxi operators, fishermen as well as individuals who have been entrusted to sell fuel at the same market price within the rural parts of Sabah, she said.

“Unfortunately, some have taken advantage of the situation and have instead used the occasion to reap extra profit for themselves at the expense of the government and the people. They have instead used their subsidies to purchase oil at a cheaper price and selling them to the industry and smuggling it to our neighbours,” she added.

The act of these unscrupulous individuals is also one of the reasons behind the long queues at fuel stations as they take longer to fuel up their modified tanks with fuel, she said.

Jainab then explained the benefits of confining the purchase of fuel of these privileged few to specialized collecting centres.

“They will be monitored and their fuel purchases will be keyed in. They will not be able to make their fuel purchase using the subsidized price at any other fuel stations,” she said.

On the recent price hike of fuel in the country and State, Jainab called on the people to help monitor the situation and lodge reports to the police and the Domestic

Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) if they come across incidences of business owners hiking up the price of their goods, citing the fuel price increase as an excuse for doing so.

She warned business operators to not raise the price of their goods due to the increase in fuel price as they could be slapped with hefty fines if found guilty.

“For the sake of earning 20 sen more, you might get penalized thousands of ringgit. Is that worth it?” she said.

Jainab added that she had read of consumers complaining of the prices of

‘teh tarik’ and ‘roti canai’ being raised since the fuel price hike came into force.

“This is preposterous … but if anyone comes across such a situation, please, don’t just give us the lip service. Instead, go to the police station and the ministry and lodge an official report so we will have a stronger case,” she said.

Meanwhile, since the Ops Harga started on July 15, this year, a total of 329 cases have been detected in Sabah. Checks were carried out at all business premises, the wet market, retailers, malls and tamu grounds.

The Sabah PPDNKK has confiscated RM38,437.42 worth of goods and collected compounds of RM32,700.

Jainab added that following complaints lodged by individuals in the media, the department had also conducted checks on eateries if incidences of price hike have occurred following the increase in fuel price.

“So far, there have been no cases. But the ministry will be taking action on any individuals taking advantage of the situation,” she warned.

To lodge a complaint, consumers are urged to call the PPDNKK office in Sabah at 088-484500 or email them at [email protected]. They can also write an ‘sms’ to 15888 and type ‘KPDNKK ADUAN <Contents of complaint>”.