Diesel outage: PETRONAS to dispatch additional diesel supplies to Sarawak within 2 days

Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali. Photo credit: KPDN Corporate Communication Unit

KUCHING, Dec 27: PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad is expediting the delivery of additional diesel supplies to Sarawak within two days to address the disruption in the fuel availability at various PETRONAS petrol stations across the State.

Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali told Bernama today that PETRONAS is required to provide the list of petrol stations which will receive the supplementary supplies for comprehensive monitoring.

“While we are urgently resolving the issue to meet the needs of consumers in affected areas, PETRONAS and the involved oil companies have been instructed to submit a detailed report and comprehensive documents explaining the cause of the supply disruption,” said Armizan.

He emphasised that the matter has been successfully resolved following discussions between his Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and PETRONAS.

Concerns from the public regarding the diesel shortage in Sarawak has recently escalated following diesel vehicle owners experiencing difficulties in refilling, especially at PETRONAS stations.

In a statement yesterday (Dec 26), PETRONAS Dagangan has indicated that the diesel fuel shortage affecting multiple PETRONAS petrol stations nationwide is expected to persist until Dec 31.

Raising the issue on Dec 24, Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen had called on the Sarawak government to intervene and address the diesel shortage persisting in the region for the past two weeks.

Confirming shortages in multiple Kuching petrol stations, the Padungan assemblyman highlighted the challenges faced by lorry and truck drivers in obtaining diesel. He emphasised that the situation posed a threat to the logistics sector.

Following the Federal government’s decision to subsidise diesel for public vehicles and not industrial players, Chong claimed that there were instances of unethical lorry or truck drivers moving between stations to fill up their tanks and sell the diesel to industrial players.

Today, Deputy Minister of Local Government Datuk Michael Tiang has also called on the relevant ministries within the Federal government to take immediate steps to review their policies on the new quota for subsidised diesel as well as RON95 petrol to ensure essential services such as transportation and logistics sectors in Sarawak will not be disrupted and consumers’ demand be met, especially for the upcoming festive celebrations.

Tiang’s concern was sparked by reports from petrol station operators, particularly in the Sibu division, revealing a diesel shortage in Sarawa, allegedly caused by the Federal government’s new policy on subsidised diesel nationwide. — DayakDaily