KUALA LUMPUR: Small-scale food and beverage traders will be allowed to continue using subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) even if their monthly usage exceeded 42kg, says Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister said the Cabinet had instructed that amendments be made to the Control of Supplies (Amendment) Regulations 2021 to include this group access to subsidised LPG.
Following this, Armizan said his ministry had engaged in discussions with affected stakeholders for their views and suggestions for the planned amendment until Oct 31.
“We welcome any suggestions from any stakeholders on how to make amendments that would provide recognition for these businesses.
"However, control mechanisms will still be enforced to prevent leakages caused by recent decanting cases.
“We hope to continue providing LPG subsidies, for domestic; and micro and small traders in the food and beverage sector,” he said during Ministers' Question Time (MQT) in Parliament on Tuesday (Aug 12).
Armizan was responding to an additional question from Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PN-Rantau Panjang) on whether the ministry had conducted a study on the possible financial effect that higher-priced commercial-grade LPG cylinders have had on small traders.
This follows a plan that began on May 1 earlier this year, where eateries, including hawker stalls, were to be banned from using subsidised gas cylinders as part of Ops Gasak, which was an initiative to curb the misuse of subsidised LPG.
But then Armizan announced on June 5, that these traders would be exempt from LPG enforcement until Oct 31 later this year.
Currently, the Control of Supplies Regulations (Amendment) 2021 limits the ownership and use of subsidised LPG exceeding 42kg at any one time without a scheduled controlled goods permit, since it came into effect on Oct 15, 2021.
