Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Rakyat is subsidizing government on fuel!


I took part at the committee stage debate for the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry in Parliament this afternoon and took the opportunity to blast the government over their failure to keep their promise to subsidize Malaysians 30 cents for every litre of petrol. I used the word "penipuan kerajaan kepada rakyat". The speaker took issue with my choice of words and clearly unhappy with it. I retorted they fail to keep their promise.

I said when the government decided to raise the price of fuel by 78 cents to RM2.70 per litre in June, they have promised to continue to subsidize the consumers 30 cents per litre no matter what the market price are. Well, you judge whether they have keep their promise or otherwise.

The Minister Datuk Sharir has mentioned in Malaysiakini that the government need not give any subsidy at the current price. And the government can still make some profits from it. So, now it is not the government giving subsidy to the people but the people are subsidizing the government!

He has publicly said that the cost price for petrol now stands at RM1.62 per litre. Then, i questioned why cant the consumers enjoy this low price? Even if the government can no longer afford to subsidize fuel price, they should reduce the pump price that reflects the real costs. Is that too much to ask?

I have asked the Minister to consider this seriously and take immediate steps to reduce the price further to check on rising inflation and to give some breathing space to ordinary Malaysians at this difficult and challenging times.
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23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maju maju maju YB Rasah!

Please continue to question our government these bread & butter issue on behalf of us rakyat.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

YB Loke,

Thank you for putting the government on their toes (and to ensure that they do not step on ours!!!).

Anonymous said...

Bugger the Speaker. The other say some one said the word "bastard" and the speaker was apologetic and accommodating.

That sort of officiating belongs in a wrestling ring.

It was true. I read in the papers moons ago that as a feel good promise, the administration mentioned that the subsidy would be pegged at RM0.30 per litre.

Instead,they are telling us to spend our retirement fund now via lowering of employee portion of EPF while taking away the subsidy as well.

Lee Wee Tak

Anonymous said...

Just a note, let's not be too happy that oil price has dropped.

Petroleum is a finite resources, and it will never be here forever.

As supply dwindle, don't be surprise our children or grand-children may on day need to pay RM 10.00/liter.

I suggest the monies collected by the government be used in R&D to find alternative newable energy source.

P130 voter

Anonymous said...

YB Loke,

Maybe your next parliamentary question would sound something like this:

"Menteri Sains dan teknologi, apakah budget terkini untuk tujuan R&D "alternative renewable energy?"

P130 voter

o.plus said...

agreed wit

o.plus said...

agreed with your point P130 voter ,

oil is a scarce resources , one day the world is going to consume finish it.

resouces deplete & provided there's still demand for this black gold , the price will bounce back again.

i agree with you that we should have alternative energy sources , which must be cleaner & friendlier to the environment.

Anonymous said...

O.Plus, P130,

Agree with both of you. I believe the Energy Commission is currently seriously looking at the possibility of going into nuclear energy a.k.a. 'clean energy' as an alternative for power generation and not rely solely on oil/ coal. There are a lot of pros and cons to this. Definitely better for the environment but much more expensive to produce.

Are we willing to pay more for a cleaner environment or pay less and live in a poluted one?

Anonymous said...

The Scandinavian countries are naturally windy and they have huge wind turbine to generate green energy.

I read somewhere the Brits uses sea-wave oscillating motion to produce electricity because their shore are naturally has huge powerful waves.

Malaysia is a huge producer of Palm Crude Oil which can be turned to Bio-Diesel. (Largest in the world, if not, at least the second or third largest) Why are we not seeing it use in big scale?

This is just being efficient use of natural resource. Mother nature has given M'sia these gifts, it is up to us, the children of the earth to use it well.

P130 voter

o.plus said...

Budak Rasah ,

if really go into nuclear , i think it may be a bit of problem ,if i did not remember wrongly ,
1)previously "ASEAN" nations reached an agreement not to use nuclear as an alternative source of energy.

2) if M'sia were to use nuclear as an alternative source , European nations & America will strongly oppose this move.

3) if i'm not wrong nuclear requires a resources called "uranium" to run its nuclear power plant.

4) 26 April 1986 , Chernobyl Ukraine's nuclear reactor blasts radiation was spread to other parts of European countries.

5) Australia controls at least 15-20% of the world's "uranium" reserves.therefore will Australia be willing to sell this resources to Malaysia ?

Thank You.
Regards
O.Plus

o.plus said...

YB ,

kindly give your comments please.
Thank You
Regards
O.Plus

Anonymous said...

Palm oil or any agriculture equivalent: turn them into bio-diesel to fuel our generator and transport.

Plantation owner happy, TNB & IPP happy, Rakyat happy - win win situation.

End of story.

P130 voter

Loke Siew Fook said...

o.plus,

I agree with you that it will be a lot of opposition to the use of nuclear..Pakatan is going to set up a committee to study our energy policy.

However, i confess that i have very little knowledge about this issue. I don't pretend something that i don't know.. thanks

OMGGosh said...

YB

You have a BIG Army of Cyber troop which can help you to collect information for you to read and gain knowledge.

Read while you travel to Parliament. Time will not be waste.

YB Loke any comment ?

Loke Siew Fook said...

OMGGosh,

Yes, pls share with me if you have any information or articles that can help me articulate my debates better.

Fyi, I travel to parliament by driving myself so can't read and drive :)

hotack said...

what action can be taken to the government if this the new floating fuel price mechanism in effective on 1st December as what the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Abdul Samad announced today? Can the opposition teams in Dewan fight for us the 30 sen subsidy back if it becomes a reality?

OMGGosh said...

YB Loke

E-mail send to you .

Anonymous said...

I read in The Edge 23.11.08 issue:

M'sia Power generation uses 60% natural gas at subsidized rate bought from Petronas, 30% from coal which is bought from Indonesia and China, 10% from hydro and others.

This means that 90% of our power is from exhaustible sources. I read somewhere that our gas reserve will run out by 2020 and by then M'sia will be a nett importer.

2020 is only like 12 years away, I think we need to pour our heart and soul into finding a alternative renewable energy source.

Since we are a top producer of palm oil, this seems like a logical choice.

P130 voter.

Anonymous said...

P130 ,

I have no idea whether oil palm is an alternative soultion when black gold runs dry to its last drop.

more research needs to be done , some says sugar cane is another alternative but more suitable for Planes ????

Anonymous said...

If we have to import coal to fuel 30% capacity of our electrical generator, why not use bio-diesel from palm. At least we are not at mercy of the importing countries.

P130 voter

Anonymous said...

P130 ,

i'm assuming lets say if really use bio diesel , wouldn't we still need a mixtue of Palm oil & petroleum to manufacture Bio diesel ?

regards
KT

Anonymous said...

negara yang maju dan gov tidak memberi sebarang subsidy, public transport mestinya canggih, saya setuju kerajaan malaysia patut menggurangkan sabsidi bahan api kenderaan tetapi ia perlu mengikut
indeks perkembangan kenderaan awam dalam negeri.

Anonymous said...

Depending on your engine modification, if you are using Biodiesel 20% blend with petrol diesel 80%, minimal engine modification needed.

If you are using 100% bio-diesel, then you need to modified your engine/generator.

But for practical reason, BioD 99% + 1 % petrodiesel is needed because the 1% petroldiesel is used as a preservative against mould and fungus growth.

I think if some modification to use Bio99% is very practical.

P130 voter.