by : Datuk Dr. Jeffrey
Kitingan
Kota Kinabalu: “The Federal and Sabah governments must
find long-term solutions to the diesel shortage problems in Sabah so that it
does not recur again and stop providing piece-meal patch-work solutions” said
Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, in response to the request for an
additional 8 million litres of diesel to Sabah’s normal July quota of 74
million litres by the Domestic Trade, Cooperative, and Consumerism Ministry
(MDTCC) Sabah office.
First and foremost, the
diesel shortage is chronic and crippling may factories and interrupting the
daily lives of many Sabahans and may even have jeopardized the lives of some.
Making a request for 8
million additional litres is not acceptable given that the chronic shortage has
caused long queues at petrol stations throughout Sabah for days and
inconvenienced motorists being turned away at other stations that have run out
of diesel. The additional diesel quota
if approved does not resolve the problem long term.
Even before the shortage
occurred, the MDTCC should have stand-by and sent additional supplies and not
allow any shortage to occur let alone allow the situation to get out of hand.
Untold damages has been done to Sabah’s
economy with factories stopping production which would have resulted in lower
production and higher unit production costs as well as other opportunities
costs and loss of opportunities.
The diesel shortage is not a
one-off affair but a frequent occurrence.
The Federal government need to find long term solution to avert the
shortage problem from recurring again in Sabah.
The Sabah government should
also be pro-active and take its own initiative to ensure that there are orderly
and prompt deliveries of diesel and other petroleum products in Sabah and that
there will be no disruptions that disrupt the economy and cause hardship for
the people in Sabah.
It is the least the
Sabah government should do not only as a responsible, people-caring government
but because Sabah is an oil-producing nation within Malaysia, and things should
not be left to the Federal or Malaya government alone.
The Government’s own excuse
of diesel smuggling just exposes the weaknesses of the inefficiency and
shortcomings of ESSZONE and ESSCOM.
Theoretically, there should be no smuggling if the ESSZONE patrolling is
effective. If diesel can escape detection,
one fears for the safety of Sabahans when it comes to illegals coming and going
into Sabah.
If the diesel shortage is
due to additional demand arising from increased productivity and production, it
should have been projected and adequate supplies provided to cover for the
additional demand as the shortages are not new but a frequent occurrence.
Previously, Petronas and the
federal leaders as well as local Barisan leaders have defended the federal
government’s stand that it will be unprofitable for Petronas to increase
Sabah’s 5% cash payment and that Petronas and the country will go bankrupt if
the cash payment is increased from the current 5%.
Now, the diesel shortage has
shown another side of the inefficiency and mismanagement of the oil resources
for the consumers in Sabah or a lackadaisical attitude of the Federal
government towards the people of Sabah.
The Federal government and
Petronas should now seriously consider giving back Sabah’s oil and gas and let
Sabah manage its own oil and gas resources and then sit back without having to
do any work and receive its share in reverse.
After receiving RM18 billion in oil revenues in 2012 from Sabah’s oil
and gas resources and still resulting in a chronic shortage of diesel, the
Federal government and Petronas has no business in managing Sabah’s oil and gas
resources any further.
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