KUALA TERENGGANU: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called for an end to allegations of diesel being supplied to the Philippines, stating that the claim is untrue.
The Prime Minister said the recent shipment of diesel is not from national oil company PETRONAS but from a foreign commodity company, Vitol.
“They (Vitol) have an agreement to transport oil and sell it to the Philippines. It is not us (PETRONAS) supplying it to the Philippines.
“But we are not stopping it. We are giving passage. The oil belongs to parties under foreign agreements,” he said.
“I hope this controversy will stop, and that focus is given to developing the country amid the current challenging economic conditions.”
Anwar was speaking at a gathering with Terengganu tahfiz students at SM Imtiaz Yayasan Terengganu, Bernama reported.
PETRONAS had earlier denied reports linking it to diesel shipments from Malaysia to the Philippines.
The national oil company, in a statement, said it had never entered into any agreement on the matter with any party in the Philippines.
The Communications Ministry had on Sunday explained that Malaysia is not directly involved in the transaction and that it was a deal solely between the Philippine government and an international private company.
It said Malaysia’s role was only to serve as a transit and logistics point for the shipment, of which the diesel was sourced from the global market and not supplied by PETRONAS.
The Philippine News Agency previously reported that about 329,000 barrels of diesel, or 52 million litres, were sent from Malaysia to the Philippines to boost its fuel supply amid global market uncertainties.
According to the report, the shipment was part of efforts by the Philippine government to strengthen domestic supply, following a delivery of 142,000 barrels, or 22.578 million litres, from Japan on March 26.
On another matter, the Prime Minister said the federal government has approved an allocation of RM60mil for poverty eradication programmes in the state this year.
He said the programme covers efforts to increase people’s income as well as improve housing.
“The implementation of this programme will be coordinated by the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department,” he said.
At the event, Anwar also announced an allocation of RM1.8mil for infrastructure and facility repair works at 18 tahfiz schools in Terengganu.
He urged tahfiz and pondok schools to master new technologies, like artificial intelligence.
Such knowledge is important to ensure the institutions are not left behind in current developments, he added.
