Possible tour bus diesel subsidies under Tourism Ministry's purview, says Transport Minister

PUTRAJAYA: Possible diesel subsidies for tour bus operators will be handled by the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac), says Anthony Loke.

The Transport Minister said Motac will lead discussions on helping industry players transition to the removal of diesel subsidies.

"Our current diesel subsidies are aimed solely at logistics, involved in transporting consumer goods that might negatively affect the cost of living for consumers.

"As the possible tourism diesel subsidies are related to the industry costs itself and not consumer goods, it falls solely onto Motac to make any changes," Loke said during a press conference at the Transport Ministry’s office here on Thursday (June 13).

For similar reasons, Loke also said there are currently no plans to extend diesel subsidies for vehicles and logistics within the construction industry.

On Sunday (June 9), the government announced the end of the national diesel subsidy policy, resulting in unsubsidised diesel prices being set at RM3.35 per litre starting from Monday (June 10), compared to the previous price of RM2.15 per litre.

Under the current targeted diesel subsidy programme, subsidised diesel prices are provided for 33 types of vehicles, ranging from public transportation to goods transportation, through the use of fleet cards under the Subsidised Diesel Regulation System Pilot Project.