Pujut rep wants Bruneians exempt from refuelling policy

MIRI (July 31): Pujut assemblyman Adam Yii is appealing to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) to review its policy which restricts foreign cars from refuelling at petrol stations in the country.

Yii handed an appeal letter to its head, Thomas Chua Kee Chuan, at the KPDN office here yesterday, following complaints from Bruneian travellers that they faced difficulties in refuelling their vehicles.

“Unlike the case of Singapore, the petrol price in Brunei is a lot cheaper than in Malaysia. So, there is no possibility of them coming over to take advantage of our petrol price.

“Singaporeans come over to Malaysia to pump at the stations because the price is much lower here. In Brunei, the retail price per litre of Shell V-Power Gasoline is B$0.95. Therefore, there is no possibility for this to happen here (among Bruneians), considering their fuel price is much cheaper even in Bruneian currency,” he told reporters.

With such restriction, the mayor of Miri strongly feels that it would cause difficulty for genuine Brunei travellers who need petrol to travel around Sarawak.

“This will hamper our tourism industry. We have a lot of Bruneians coming over, and with the completion of Pan Borneo Highway, I’m sure that many of them would like to see Sarawak, to towns like Sibu, Kuching and other places.

“So the authority needs to review this policy, because we want more Bruneian visitors who genuinely want to travel here,” he added.