Monopoly in subsidised gas distribution in S’wak causing public inconvenience, says Sibu MP

SIBU (July 7): The Sarawak government should not have come out with the ruling to have one single entity be the sole distributor of subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the state as this can cause market inefficiency and inconvenience to the public, said Sibu MP Oscar Ling.

In referring to the issuance of licence for the sale and distribution of LPG cylinders to PetrosNiaga Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary company of Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros), Ling deemed the ruling as ‘to monopolise the market’ by controlling the entire supply chain.

“Petros seems unable to handle the current shortage of subsidised gas cylinders as they are not capable of replacing all the yellow cylinders (MyGaz) available in the market.

“This problem has persisted for more than six months since the beginning of this year and has yet to be resolved and in fact, it appears to be getting worse,” he told reporters during a petrol subsidy programme at A1 Petrol Station Sdn Bhd, Lorong Permai Timur 19 here yesterday.

Hosted by the Sibu Parliamentary Service Centre in collaboration with the participating Shell petrol station, the programme that ran from 8.30am to 10.30am yesterday received positive response from the public.

Commenting further on the shortage of LPG cylinders issues, Ling said he was informed by members of the public that they had contacted the gas distributors for a replacement of their old yellow cylinders but were later notified that the distributors too did not have enough supply available in the market.

“So, this is the problem and therefore, we hope the Sarawak government will consider issuing licences to other suppliers to sell and distribute this subsidised gas.

“We cannot totally rely on Petros alone as they have not been able to meet market demand and this will eventually cause problems,” he stressed.

The Democratic Action Party (DAP) vice president said the Sibu Parliamentary Service Centre is now helping the public, especially yellow gas cylinder owners who have yet to replace their old, yellow LPG cylinders to the green or red ones.

“We are helping to collect their names to be submitted to Petros so that they can be given priority for cylinder replacement,” he said, while adding that the response was good as 800 people had already registered for that drive.

“This is one of our ways to help the public,” he said, citing that the replacement process might take a few weeks or even months.