By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 31: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has called for Sarawak’s monthly subsidised diesel allocation to be increased from 400 litres to 500 litres, while urging the federal government to restore subsidised diesel eligibility for commercial vehicles.
Chong questioned the rationale for tightening Sarawak’s diesel entitlement, which was previously unlimited, arguing that the federal government had earlier recognised diesel as an essential need in the State.
“Why does that justification no longer apply when the circumstances have not changed?
“Yet, PMX is now restricting the diesel usage of Sarawakians from the initial unlimited amount to 300 litres and now to 400 litres,” he said in a statement today.
He also raised concerns over the exclusion of commercial vehicles — including tipper trucks, cement mixers and tow trucks — from subsidised diesel under the Budi Diesel scheme and its revised policy.
Chong said DAP ministers had raised the demands with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but questioned why they had yet to be accepted by the federal government.
He also called on Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) ministers in the federal Cabinet, including the Deputy Prime Minister to explain their position on the revised Budi Diesel policy.
“What have the GPS ministers sitting in Cabinet, including the Deputy Prime Minister, said on the revised Budi Diesel policy?
“Have the GPS ministers consented to such a policy on behalf of Sarawakians?” he asked.
He argued that the concerns were specific to Sarawak and that the views of the state’s Federal Cabinet representatives should therefore carry considerable weight in determining the policy.
“As the demands are exclusively from Sarawak, surely their views will carry more weight and be decisive,” he said.
He added that DAP would continue to pursue the matter and press for a review of the diesel subsidy policy to address what it considers to be the disproportionate impact of the revised allocation on Sarawakians.
The federal government’s latest revision to the Budi Diesel scheme provides eligible owners of diesel-powered pick-up trucks and jeeps with an allocation of up to 400 litres a month, alongside the restoration of the Budi95 monthly quota to 300 litres from Sept 1.
The Prime Minister announced the changes on Aug 30, citing efforts to ease cost-of-living pressures. — DayakDaily
