TAWAU, 28 OCT – The targeting of diesel subsidies that have not been implemented in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan is not due to a double standard or unfair factor, but instead it has a well-founded factor, said the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
He said the first factor was looking at the difficulty of profiling to channel aid to those who really need it in Sabah and Sarawak, therefore the move was implemented on a pilot basis in the Peninsular first.
“There (Peninsula) we know the target that wants to use, the government can also channel targeting according to the Subsidized Diesel Control System (SKDS) through Budi MADANI,” he told reporters after completing the Kita Gempur @ Tawau program together with strategic consumerism partners, here today .
Armizan said the second factor was due to the logistical and geographical situation in Borneo which demanded that the people of Sabah and Sarawak use vehicles with diesel fuel not out of will but out of necessity of the geographical situation.
He said the third reason is because the gap in the prices of goods in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan compared to the peninsula has been so large for a long time and the matter has not yet been addressed until now.
Meanwhile, Armizan said that although diesel subsidy targeting has not yet been implemented in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, he, as a minister and from Sabah, is responsible for ensuring that diesel subsidy leakage in the state concerned is addressed. – Named
