KUALA LUMPUR: The government will not reintroduce the sale of RON92 petrol because the high sulphur level in the fuel can pollute the environment, the Dewan Negara was told today.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said there had been many requests for its reintroduction to help ease the people’s financial burden, but the government retained the use of only RON95 and RON97 petrol because of their lower sulphur levels for the sake of the environment.
“The lower the sulphur content, the higher the cost of the fuel. RON92 is cheaper because of the higher sulphur content.
“However, as a nation bound by the international protocol (pertaining to the environment), we are required to comply with the schedule to move towards the use of fuel containing less sulphur. For now, our policy is to retain RON95 and RON97,“ he said when winding up debate on the Supply Bill 2019.
Saifuddin Nasution said another factor is the development of the country’s automotive industry, with the vehicle engines designed to operate on high-quality fuel, of at least RON95 grade.
He said the country should have progressed towards tougher emission rules, namely Euro 4, in December 2018 but had to defer the measure because oil refineries needed more time to prepare for that.
On the ‘Kedai Ekonomi Pengguna’ (i-KeeP) or fair price shops, formerly known as Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (1Malaysia People’s Shops), Saifuddin Nasution said that since Nov 29 more than 300 such premises were cooperating with the ministry to provide competitive prices for consumers.
He also said that the ministry targeted to have more than 500 such premises by 2020. — Bernama
