Motorist filling up with diesel in Kuching. – Photo by Chimon Upon
MIRI (July 7): The Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (Doppa) will write directly to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof after receiving no response from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) over its earlier Budi Diesel appeal.
Doppa president Dr Napolean R. Ningkos said despite writing to Minister for Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, they had yet to receive any reply.
Dr Napolean R. Ningkos
“Still no response from KPDN after we officially wrote to the minister,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post after Budi Diesel was implemented July 1.
He added the Doppa had also liaised with Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin to raise the issue in Parliament.
It was reported earlier this month that Doppa had called on Putrajaya to urgently review the diesel subsidy mechanism, warning that the unsubsidised diesel price hike was crippling operations for the 56,000 independent smallholders it represented in Sarawak.
Napolean had said that the unsubsidised market price of diesel had surged to RM3.97 per litre—an 84.65 per cent jump from the previous subsidised rate of RM2.15 per litre—which was a burden he described as “crushing” for rural families dependent on oil palm farming.
When asked why Sarawak’s MPs, including Cabinet ministers from the state, remained largely silent on the matter and whether this pointed to a deeper issue of Malaysia’s fuel supply being insufficient to meet demand, Napolean was measured in his response.
“That would involve the business decision or rather government policies which we are not going to touch,” he said.
On what the letter to the prime minister and deputy prime minister would raise, he said Doppa, as a non-government organisation (NGO) representing independent smallholders, would ask KPDN to exclude smallholders from unsubsidised diesel pricing through special permits applicable to Sarawak only.
He added that Doppa had earlier proposed that KPDN amend the subsidy framework with a pragmatic verification system and for smallholders to be allowed to apply directly to KPDN for exemptions rather than being subject to the general market rate under the Budi Diesel mechanism.
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