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PUMPED OUT: Singapore vehicles filling up at a petrol station in Johor Baru. Malaysia has ruled that drivers of vehicles from Singapore and Thailand will not be allowed to buy subsidised petrol at border areas. -- PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
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KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has said foreign-registered vehicles will have to pay the full market price for fuel elsewhere in the country, as reports say the government will decide today on mechanisms to prevent such vehicles from buying subsidised fuel at border areas.
Datuk Seri Abdullah said the Cabinet was still studying the options available for the new mechanisms, the New Straits Times reported yesterday.
'Foreigners will definitely have to pay the full price when we make the announcement and (when we) enforce it immediately,' said Datuk Seri Abdullah at a press conference on Wednesday.
Local vehicle owners will soon have to pay for fuel at the pump based on several mechanisms being looked at. These include the car's engine capacity or the income of vehicle owner, he said, 'but foreigners should pay market price'.
He said some people had taken advantage of the country's cheaper fuel prices by smuggling petrol into other countries for a profit, reported the Star newspaper.
He also said the government would decide on the use of MyKad, the Malaysian identity card, for petrol purchases soon.
On Monday, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad said foreign-registered vehicles from Singapore and Thailand will not be allowed to buy petrol or diesel at stations within 50km of Malaysian borders.
This is to prevent foreign vehicles from entering Malaysia to buy the heavily-subsidised fuel, on which the government spent about RM40 billion (S$17 billion) last year in subsidies.
The matter will be discussed in a Cabinet meeting today and it could come into effect immediately or 'at the latest' next Monday, said Datuk Shahrir.
He added that written directives will be issued to 300 petrol kiosks in the designated zone not to let foreign vehicles fill up.
The penalty for station owners who flout the rule is a fine of up to RM250,000 or a jail term of three years.
On whether the proposed ban would affect the country's tourism, Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop yesterday said it would not, reported Bernama news agency.
'Tourists who come in, they can certainly buy (petrol) in non-border towns...there is no problem, but in the border towns.. there has been absolute misuse by people along the border who come and buy and go off to sell back (the petrol) in their country,' said Tan Sri Nor Mohamed.
He added that local taxi drivers were complaining because the petrol stations in border towns were full of foreigners taking advantage of the subsidised fuel, making it inconvenient for the taxi drivers who had to queue up to fill their tanks.
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