KPDN TO STRICTLY ENFORCE PROHIBITION OF REPEATED SALES OF DIESEL AND RON95 PETROL

KANGAR, June 28 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) will strictly enforce the order to prohibit repeated sales of diesel and RON95 petrol in an effort to curb smuggling of the fuel to deal with fuel subsidy leakages.

KPDN Enforcement director-general Datuk Azman Adam said a letter has been sent to all petrol station operators in Perlis regarding the prohibition of the repeated sale of fuel on the same day which will take effect immediately after Kelantan.

"The Supply Controller's Instruction is issued based on the provision under Regulation 12A, Control of Supplies Regulations 1974 regarding the prohibition of selling diesel and RON95 petrol repeatedly on the same day to Malaysian and foreign registered vehicles with immediate effect.

"This directive applies to all 39 petrol stations and retail license holders of diesel and all petrol grades for the state of Perlis," he told reporters after handing over the Supply Controller's directive to 39 petrol station owners in Perlis here today.

Azman said that if it is found that the operators of the gas station are in default and colluding with the party who misappropriated the fuel, they will be subject to license suspension or cancellation.

He said KPDN officers will also be at petrol stations which are hot spots besides monitoring closed-circuit cameras (CCTV) for re-inspection to detect if there is any activity of misappropriation of the subsidised fuel.

In the meantime, he said a total of 22,306 inspections had been carried out throughout the country through OPS TIRIS 3.0 from Jan 1 to June 25, with a total of 1,156 cases recorded involving a total value of RM64.84 million with 397 arrests.

"Under the implementation of OPS TIRIS 3.0 as well, KPDN has stationed enforcement officers at eight locations at the national border entry points, namely the states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan until the establishment of the Malaysian Checkpoints and Border Agency (MCBA) to combat leakage and smuggling of controlled and subsidisd goods.

In addition, Azman said based on enforcement statistics at the country's border entrances from Jan 20 to June 25, a total of 31,076 vehicles had been inspected resulting in seven cases.

-- BERNAMA