KUALA LUMPUR: With only a few months to go before a targeted fuel subsidy system is rolled out, the government has yet to make a final decision on how the mechanism should be implemented.
“In fact we are still open to new ideas on how this can be done,” Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Chong Chieng Jen told the Dewan Rakyat today.
In November last year, its minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the subsidy would be rolled out in stages from the second quarter of this year.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) had, in last year’s general election manifesto, pledged to introduce the subsidy to help those in the lower income group.
Under the system, those who own cars with engine capacities of 1,500cc or lower, or those who own motorcycles of 125cc and lower, will be given petrol cards that qualify them for fuel at subsidised prices.
Chong was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif (BN-Jempol) who wanted to know how those living in remote areas, where there are no petrol kiosks nearby, will benefit from the scheme.
He gave an assurance that the government would take into consideration the needs of those living in remote areas when it made a final decision on the mechanism.
He said that only those who owned one car would qualify for the subsidy. “The privilege will be revoked if the person gets another car, even if he is from the B40 group,” he added.
