MIRI: The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism must immediately appoint reliable contractors and weed out non-performing ones to bring down the high prices of fuel and other essential items in the interior areas of Sarawak.
Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said this is to ensure that the target groups in the rural areas benefit from the transportation subsidy on these items.
“In the past, I received a lot of complaints that goods were not delivered to these areas due to negligent companies and therefore, it is of utmost importance that the right contractor is appointed,” he said.
Rural folk have recently been forced to fork out more money to pay for fuel and other goods, with many blaming the ministry for the delay in appointing the contractors.
The price of diesel is said to have gone as high as RM5 to RM6 per litre, which residents use to power generators, farm machinery and vehicles.
“I have done my part by calling the ministry in Kuching so that this problem can be solved as soon as possible,” he said.
Given the big area, he said the government needs time to ensure that the appointed transporters are able to perform, and that there are many procedures to go through.
Ngau also advised transporters not to blatantly hike up the prices of essential goods despite acknowledging that prices of goods in rural areas are usually higher than in urban areas.
“People need to factor in the distance required to transport the goods and also the hours spent delivering them,” he said.