Chong Chieng Jen
KUCHING (March 13): The Sarawak government should bring MyGaz Sdn Bhd back as a distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to resolve the shortage of LPG cylinders, said Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
He claimed that many consumers have been turned away when they want to replace their ‘yellow’ cylinders with PetrosNiaga Sdn Bhd’s ‘red’ cylinders because the latter had run out.
Chong said after the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government got control of the LPG distribution rights, it terminated the rights of MyGaz to distribute it in spite of warnings from his party that the move would be detrimental to the people.
“In its haste to create the monopoly for Petros and totally cutting out MyGaz, now came the problem of huge shortage of gas ‘tongs’ (cylinders),” he said in a statement.
Chong also claimed that while GPS said it had achieved the devolution of power in the distribution of gas rights, many people were disappointed because there was “absolutely no signs of any decrease in the prices of LPG”.
Last year, the state government had announced that the LPG distribution licence of MyGaz would not be renewed after it expired in November and therefore, PetrosNiaga had full control of distribution from Dec 1.
PetrosNiaga is the retail LPG arm of Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros).
There have recently been complaints, especially on social media, of people being unable to replace their yellow cylinders with the red cylinders.
Earlier today, the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) Sarawak also called on the authorities to take steps in addressing the shortage of red Petros gas cylinders.
Its chairman Jeffery Ngui said action must be taken immediately to ensure sufficient and stability of supply.
“This is to avoid any negative effects that may arise due to the shortage, especially during this Ramadan month,” he said in a statement.
He said it is the responsibility of the Sarawak government to provide solutions in regard to the shortage of PetrosNiaga’s gas cylinders.
