It seems that the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) isn’t the only body that’s not chuffed with the government’s switch back to a weekly float system from next year. The Bumiputera Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (Bumipeda) is also lamenting the decision, and said motorists might even find the supply of petrol and diesel at fuel stations drying up by January 1 as a result of the move, the Malay Mail reports.
This is due to the refusal of fuel station operators to add up on their reserve supply by the end of the month, according to Bumipeda president Datuk Abu Samah Bachik. Such a move would simply incur losses, he explained.
“Certainly, we do not want to restock on fuel prices which would be at a higher rate at the end of the month, only to sell it for less from January 1 onward,” he told Berita Harian, which originally reported the news. He added that if the government had kept to a monthly flotation price system, stations could continue operating at a profit and keep up with their operation costs.
“The government’s decision to use the weekly floating system again, which comes into effect on January 1, is likely to cause problems for operators. I admit the refusal to restock on the fuel reserves might be seen as a protest, but it is a necessary step to ensure we do not experience constant loss,” he said.
The government, he said, should have invited petrol station operators to discuss the matter before coming to a decision. Abu Samah said that while the government’s responsibility is to safeguard the consumers’ welfare, running a petrol station was a business and operators need to bear running costs by generating profit.
“How do they expect us to continue operations and fulfill demand if the government’s decision is unjust when it comes to the mechanism setting the price of petrol on the market,” he said. He suggested that the best way to resolve the matter was to retain the monthly fuel price mechanism, which makes it easier for operators to manage the purchase of reserve supplies and the selling rate to consumers.
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