Political Secretary to the Premier of Sarawak Kho Teck Wan has called on the Federal Government to closely monitor the implementation of the BUDI MADANI Diesel targeted subsidy programme in Sarawak and Sabah and make necessary adjustments to better reflect conditions in East Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While supporting the government’s efforts to curb diesel smuggling and subsidy abuse, Kho said the implementation of the programme has raised concerns among diesel vehicle owners and businesses in the two states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said many applicants had reported confusion over the application process, while others experienced technical issues and system instability that delayed or prevented successful applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kho also noted that some companies which had registered their diesel powered vehicles under the Subsidised Diesel Control System (SKDS 2.0) were still waiting to receive their diesel subsidy cards despite the policy already coming into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These implementation issues should be addressed immediately to avoid unnecessary disruptions to business operations and daily livelihoods,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added that many businesses had discovered they did not meet the eligibility requirements under SKDS 2.0, which could result in higher transportation and logistics costs if the current mechanism remains unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Kho, any increase in operating costs would eventually be passed on to consumers through higher prices of goods and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said many small businesses, contractors, agricultural transport operators and rural service providers rely heavily on diesel for their daily operations and should not be unfairly excluded from assistance due to restrictive eligibility requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kho also highlighted Sarawak’s unique geographical challenges, noting that many residents regularly travel long distances for work, education, medical treatment and business purposes.
She said the standard monthly quota of 200 litres may not be sufficient for many diesel vehicle owners in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, she pointed out that East Malaysia uses B20 biodiesel while Peninsular Malaysia primarily uses B12 biodiesel, and that the higher logistics and transportation costs faced by Sabah and Sarawak should be taken into consideration when formulating subsidy policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Diesel subsidy policies should not simply mirror those implemented in Peninsular Malaysia. East Malaysia deserves a mechanism that reflects its unique operating environment and does not impose additional burdens on businesses and consumers,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kho proposed several improvements, including simplifying and expediting the BUDI MADANI Diesel application process, reviewing the monthly diesel consumption cap, introducing more flexible SKDS 2.0 eligibility criteria and adopting a differentiated diesel subsidy mechanism for East Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said such measures would better reflect the transportation and economic realities of Sabah and Sarawak while reducing administrative burdens on businesses and vehicle owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kho also stressed that Sarawak and Sabah have contributed significantly to Malaysia’s oil and gas industry for decades and that national fuel subsidy policies should recognise the unique circumstances of both states.
“A policy that recognises geographical differences is not preferential treatment. It is equitable treatment,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added that while reforms to improve efficiency and prevent diesel subsidy leakages are necessary, they must also be practical and fair to ensure genuine businesses are not adversely affected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Political Secretary to the Premier of Sarawak Kho Teck Wan has called on the Federal Government to closely monitor the implementation of the BUDI MADANI Diesel targeted subsidy programme in Sarawak and Sabah and make necessary adjustments to better reflect conditions in East Malaysia. While supporting the government’s efforts to curb diesel smuggling and subsidy abuse, Kho said the implementation of the programme has raised concerns among diesel vehicle owners and businesses in the two states. She said many applicants had reported confusion over the application process, while others experiencedRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35016,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35015\/revisions\/35016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}