KPDN To Consider Placing Officers At Petrol Stations To Monitor Sales Activities

SUNGAI PETANI, Aug 7 (Bernama) – The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) does not rule out the possibility of placing its enforcement officers at petrol stations to record sudden sales in order to monitor fuel sales activities.

Its enforcement director-general, Datuk Azman Adam said this action is one of the preventive measures that may be taken in efforts to crack down on subsidised fuel abuse and smuggling activities.

"For example, if we find petrol stations having a sudden increase in sales, we have action…first, we do not rule out the possibility of placing officers at the stations,” he told reporters after presenting the ministry’s Supply Controller’s Instruction to 375 Kedah petrol station operators here today.

He said this when asked to comment on allegations that some petrol stations ran out of fuel earlier than usual in recent months.

Elaborating further, Azman said the KPDN will also check sales records involving the petrol stations.

"We will also place the responsibility not only on the petrol stations but also on the oil companies so that they both do monitoring,” he said.

"Every litre that is produced, that is filled in the vehicle, means that there is a government subsidy that is borne...so that is why we will take appropriate measures to overcome it," he also said.

Meanwhile, he said, a total of 26,699 inspections had been carried out since January this year.

"For the period from Jan1 to Aug 3, there were a total of 1,798 cases involving a total value of RM71 million.

"For the same period, a total of 446 arrests had been made involving the activities of embezzlement and smuggling of controlled and subsidised goods," he said.

He also said that the KPDN welcomes public complaints, particularly regarding the activities of misappropriation and smuggling of controlled and subsidised goods.

"This year we received more than 20,000 complaints from the public regarding various cases. During Ops Tiris 3.0, the operations room is open until 10pm for the public to channel their complaints…I guarantee the identity of the complainant will be kept confidential,” he added.

"We will investigate within 24 hours on issues related to controlled goods...subsidised goods such as petrol, diesel and so on."

-- BERNAMA