KUCHING, Oct 9: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Central Women chief Kho Teck Wan is of the view Sarawak should reap more benefits than just the recently announced targeted petrol subsidy scheme.
Under the scheme, the price of RON95 petrol will be floated and eligible recipients will be subsidised between RM48 (motorcycle) and RM120 (cars) every four months.
Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan will not be subjected to the scheme but the price of RON95 will be capped at RM2.08.
According to Kho, over the last 10 years, the average petroleum price is around RM1.98 and the only time RON95 exceeded RM2.08 was in 2014, 2017 and 2018.
“Personally RM2.08 may be a fair price recommended by the experts who’ve conducted the study, but being the biggest oil and gas producer who contributed over RM200 million everyday to the national coffer through oil and gas production, Sarawak should get more benefits than the above ten years average price of RM2.08 per litre,” Kho opined in a statement yesterday.
The fact is not all Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) recipients are motorists or drive cars; some may use petrol for boats, run generators, or run smaller machines, she pointed out, and asked if these groups are eligible for the subsidy as well.
“I urged our representatives especially those from Pakatan Harapan (PH) to not be content with RM2.08 RON95, but fight for the 20 per cent oil royalty and the 50 per cent tax returned as promised to Sarawak during the last General Election (GE14).
“I also would like to remind our Members of Parliament from PH that Petronas has yet to pay Sarawak the 5 per cent sales tax imposed on petroleum products, and it is their duty to fight for Sarawak instead of remaining silent,” Kho emphasised. — DayakDaily
