From left, Hassan, Jainab, Teo and Petronas top management officers discussing the diesel shortage.
KOTA KINABALU: Stern action must be taken against unscrupulous parties to resolve the diesel shortage in the long run, said Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang.
Teo said severe action should also be carried out against petrol stations that sold subsidized diesel to unqualified buyers, including revoking their licences to put a stop to such illegal activities.
He said this in an interview after a briefing session with Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Dato’ Haji Hassan Malek at Sabah Gas terminal in Sepanggar here yesterday.
Also present was Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid.
Teo thanked Hassan for flying in from Kuala Lumpur to gain a deeper understanding of the diesel shortage and to discuss solutions to the problem.
“This shows that Dato’ Haji Hassan Malek is a responsible minister who is willing to listen to the people, and he is determined to uncover the crux of the issue in search of a solution.”
During the briefing, Teo made several suggestions to resolve the diesel shortage in Sabah.
It was not the first time that the State had faced diesel shortage towards the end of the month, Teo said, adding that the shortage had affected several areas in Sabah previously.
Teo added that the allocation of subsidized diesel was based on quota and petrol stations normally exhausted their diesel quotas a day or two at the end of the month.
However, he said it was suspicious that petrol stations had used up their quotas for subsidized diesel since July 22 when the demand for diesel did not significantly increase in Sabah.
He said the diesel shortage had even affected the West Coast and the surrounding areas in Ranau.
Teo disclosed that he had received intelligence that some unscrupulous parties had purchased subsidized diesel in petrol stations and subsequently made profits from selling the fuel to industries, or possibly from smuggling the item overseas.
“The information is that some unscrupulous parties had modified their vehicles to expand their fuel tanks, and then purchased thousands of litres of subsidized diesel at petrol stations and making a profit out of it.”
He said the government had announced to increase eight million litres of subsidized diesel quota to Sabah in view of the diesel shortage.
Teo opined that this was merely a short-term solution; a long-term solution would be to carry out stringent enforcement and take stern action against petrol stations that sell subsidized diesel to unscrupulous parties.
Increasing diesel quota during the shortage would only allow the unscrupulous parties to gain more profit, he said.
Hassan also agreed on Teo’s point of view and promised to instruct his ministry officers to be more stringent in carrying out their enforcement duties.
Teo added that Hassan had assured that stern action would be taken against officers who lax in their duties.