Read more my previous posting on Oil prices at the Pumps set by the Government
In my earlier blog entry
I mention that the Government will not allow the Petrol Stations to set the
fuel prices as fuel prices area very important revenue for the government. Now
with crude oil declining and less Ringgits the government is getting from sale
of oil and now will be lesser if petrol prices are set loose.
When Ringgit got
decoupled from the Singapore Dollar, the Ringgit was then peg to the Crude oil
prices instead of Gold. Crude oil production was increasing and oil prices were
increasing and it fuel the expansion of Government spending on their Bumiputra
polices. Now with decline of oil prices, Karma has comes a full circle to bit
the government in the arse big time for their Racist policies and spending.
Read my previous blog
to understand how Government manipulate petrol prices for its own ends.
Tony Pua slams
government’s U-turn on fuel ceiling price
| March 23, 2017
Decision not to set ceiling price is a massive
blow to the people and shows Putrajaya favours oil and gas companies, says DAP
national publicity secretary.
PETALING JAYA: Tony Pua says he
speaks for Malaysians who are dissappointed that the government has decided to
protect the profits of oil and gas companies, at the expense of the
man-on-the-street.
He criticised the major U-turn by Putrajaya from the stand it had
made earlier this month that a ceiling price will be set on a weekly basis from
next month, and petrol retailers can then be competitive by lowering their
prices should they choose to.
“I had supported the ‘free competition below ceiling price’ policy
because the ultimate beneficiaries of the policy will be the man-on-the-street.
“Competition will allow more efficient petrol companies to offer
lower prices to consumers,” the DAP national publicity secretary said, calling
for the government to prioritise the interest of the rakyat who are burdened
with increasing prices of essential goods and services.
Yesterday, in a special live telecast on TV1, Domestic Trade,
Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainudin said the weekly petrol
and diesel prices fixed by the government will be announced every Wednesday and
the prices will come into effect after midnight (Thursday morning).
He said the first announcement on the new mechanism would be on
March 29 and the new prices would be effective March 30.
“However, petrol companies and station operators which want to
carry out promotions by giving discounts on the fixed prices can do so after
receiving prior approval of the ministry,” Hamzah said.
This announcement reversed Hamzah’s own statement, as reported by
Bernama on March 4, that from next month a ceiling price for fuel will be
announced weekly and that “a notice highlighting the ceiling price for fuel
would be placed at petrol stations throughout the country so consumers would
know if prices had been raised or lowered”.
Pua said Bernama reported on March 16 that Second Finance Minister
Johari Abdul Ghani had said that “although the ceiling price was determined by
the government, it was up to the oil companies to sell the petrol and diesel
below it”.
“I received a reply from the finance minister in the Dewan Rakyat
earlier this week that ‘with regards to the proposal to fix ceiling prices for
petroleum products, it is still in the study and evaluation stage’.
“This was the first clue that a
U-turn was imminent, as the sequence of events clearly showed that the
government came under pressure from oil companies who protested against the
policy which allowed them to compete freely,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said.
Pua believes that the claim by Hamzah that oil companies or petrol
retailers wishing to sell at a lower price or hold promotions will be able to
do so subject to approval, is just empty talk.
“The whole process will likely be cumbersome and could even be
subject to protests by the other companies,” he said.
“Why should these oil companies remain ‘protected’ by the
government when petrol and diesel are no longer subsidised by the taxpayers?
“What makes these oil and gas companies so special that they
deserve special protection compared with other goods and services?” Pua said,
adding that the biggest winners now are Petronas, Shell, BHP, Petron and
Caltex.
He said the policy also contradicts the spirit and intent of the
Competition Act which forbids price-fixing and monopolistic practices in nearly
all of the other industries.
“Even trade associations such as the Coffee Shop Association have
been told that “fixing” coffee or tea prices – which have been their practice
for decades – is now illegal under the Act.”
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