KUCHING: The subsidy scheme for vehicles in the country has yet to be finalised, says Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen.
He said at the moment, the federal government is still fine-tuning the entire scheme.
“We are aware of the plight of vehicle owners in Sarawak, especially rural folk who own four-wheel-drive vehicles.
“I have conveyed their plight to the Ministry of Finance and we are looking at ways to cater for their needs,” he told reporters at his open house on the first day of Chinese New Year, here on Tuesday.
He said this when asked to comment on a report that the federal government’s fuel subsidy scheme for vehicles with not more than 1,500cc engine capacity will not benefit communities in the rural areas of Baram.
Chong said the federal government had set a date to finalise the subsidy scheme, adding it might be announced in the second quarter of this year.
“The federal government is now making changes here and there, looking at certain needs, certain sectors and how the things (subsidies) are going to be channelled and so on,” he said.
The claim that the scheme for vehicles with not more than 1,500cc engine capacity would not benefit rural communities in Baram was made by Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau, who stated that many rural folk own and drive vehicles with larger engine capacity owing to the poor road condition in their area.
He said the people there drove vehicles of around 2,000cc to 2,500cc not because they were rich, but because it was a necessity.
“They have no choice but to buy and use vehicles with such capacity because only those vehicles can pass through the logging roads connecting these rural communities.
“One cannot use vehicles with a lower capacity if they want to go to Bario, for example, because they might end up in the middle of the road – such capacity (1,500cc and below) is really inadequate,” he was during an event in Miri recently.