Dealers-ministry dialogue on LPG distribution overdue

KUCHING: MyGaz Sdn Bhd dealers and distributors have called for an official engagement and discussion with the Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication concerning its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution in the market.

In supporting the call, Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong said that all appointed retailers and distributors appointed by MyGaz are Sarawakians.

“In Sarawak, there are 19 dealers including two stockists. But until today, they are not receiving any clear direction on their business.

“There is no official dialogue and engagement with MyGaz and all the dealers. It is not a welcoming move and this should not have happened,” she said.

She said in a press conference regarding the issue at Pullman Hotel here today.

She said, the state government and Petros Niaga must come out with a proper direction especially on the yellow gas cylinder as there are at least one million such gas cylinders in the market.

“There is no clear direction on what to do with the tong (gas cylinder) except for one to one exchange and the public are concerned about this matter.

“Perhaps the ministry could have an effort to fully subsidise and bear the cost to buy back the yellow tong and paint to red tong. This is what people want and the dealers want. Don’t let them bear the cost,” Violet stressed.

Therefore, Violet also said that she would make an arrangement with MUT to fix the date and time to sort out the issue once and for all.

Meanwhile, according to MyGaz dealers and distributors representative Aaron Chuo, the most concerning topic among them and the public is on the handling of the yellow gas cylinder.

“Based on the news, the exchange is one to one, which means one yellow tong exchange to one red tong, but it never say if, we as dealers, have 2,000 tongs in our storage, how are we going to exchange to another 2,000. Is it really one to one?

“It is not clear, therefore we want to ask the authority on this policy, what is the meaning?

“We really urged that MUT and Petros to have an official dialogue and also official statement to address how to handle the cylinder,” he said.

On Nov 21 during the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting, Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Seri Julaihi Narawi announced that Petros Niaga Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros), will be the exclusive distributor of LPG in Sarawak, starting Dec 1.