KOTA KINABALU: An inter-agency enforcement coordination steering committee has been activated with immediate effect to curb leakages and smuggling of controlled goods, especially diesel and petrol, following the hike in global fuel prices.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said this committee was formed after the cabinet meeting on March 11.
He said with fuel prices still considerably low in Malaysia, the risk of leakages and smuggling continues to increase, more so in Sabah and Sarawak where the subsidy for diesel is still being implemented.
“The black market is expected to grow more lucrative with this increasing gap of prices and subsidy,” he said after launching the Sentuhan Kasih, Rahmah Sale and consumerism advocacy programme in Sembulan near here, Saturday (March 14).
Compared to the price of diesel here, Armizan said Sabahans pay less than half the actual cost.
“That is why we need to work with agencies such as security forces, the ministry, and other departments to curb and stop leakages and smuggling,” he said.
He said that for Malaysia, it would have to fork out more to subsidise diesel and fuel if the global oil price continues to rise and remain unstable, a condition that calls for stricter enforcement and coordination among agencies to stop leakages and smuggling.
“If not, the financial implications on the nation would be bad while subsidies, the national fiscal space as well as development funds and needs would be affected,” Armizan said.
Armizan said Sabah and Sarawak depended a lot on diesel, even for domestic use.
He said various factors have been taken into consideration before the decision to allow Sabah and Sarawak to continue enjoying the diesel subsidy was made.
“Sabah and Sarawak still require high usage of diesel domestically. The price comparisons and disparity with the peninsula, whereby prices of many goods and services in Sabah and Sarawak are still higher, which we are still unable to solve,” said Armizan.
With so much to bear in terms of price and cost of living which could also be due to logistical and geographical factors, that is why the federal government decided that it needs to continue with the diesel subsidy for Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
