Diesel shortage paradox in Sabah

Sabah DAP said it is puzzling that the authorities have been unable to guarantee steady supply.

TAWAU: If you are living in Sabah and have a diesel-fuelled vehicle, it’s a good bet it has not spent much time on the road of late.

Thousands of such vehicle owners have been left high and dry by a massive diesel shortage across the state which is a major oil and gas exporter.

Long queues of vehicle have become a common sight at Shell, Petronas and BP stations and are often greater by hand written signs stating ‘no diesel’.

However, there is still no clear indication what is causing the shortage.

Sabah DAP has called for a public inquiry to determine the real cause of the ongoing diesel crisis.

The party’s publicity secretary Chan Foong Hin said the public deserves the right to know whether the ongoing shortage is due to the well-known smuggling of subsidised diesel or an artificial shortage created to pave way subsidy reform.

“Why has the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and state Community Development and Consumer Affairs Ministry had allowed the abuse of the billion-ringgit diesel subsidy to go on without taking effective preventive action?” asked Chan.

He said that it was also puzzling that the authorities have been unable to guarantee steady supply.

The Sri Tanjong Assemblyman also pointed out that the ongoing diesel shortage crisis is not a regional but a nationwide issue as, it is also happening in Johor, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Sarawak, Malacca and other states.

Chan refuted the explanation by state Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Jainab Ahmad that the shortage was ‘temporary’, pointing out that it recurred every forth week of the month.

Smuggling activities

The MP for Sandakan Stephen Wong raised the issue in the recent parliament sitting in the early July before diesel shortage hit greater Kota Kinabalu area.

Chan also said among the explanations floating around was that the shortage was due to smuggling activities.

“All of us know what happens on the ground but it’s not the key and crucial factor in the recent diesel shortage crisis as those smuggling cases could not increase two-fold or three-fold overnight,” he said.

Claims that a rise in the number of diesel-powered vehicles as well as an increase of demand in fasting month also do not explain the shortage.

Sabah has its own quota on subsidised diesel based on the pattern of consumption and any sudden increase in demand is suspect.

“Simple logic would tell us that only reduction in supply would cause shortage as demand hardly increases like rocket,” Chan said.

The increase of supply by eight million litres to the state is will not solve the issue, he added.

“A monthly repeated phenomena of diesel shortage must be addressed in a more comprehensive and holistic way including restructuring of quota and price of the fuel, stringent enforcement to crack down the smuggling and so on.

“But first thing first, government should disclose the truth behind the recent acute diesel shortage,” he said.