PUTRAJAYA, June 12 — Activities believed to be related to diesel smuggling have reduced, particularly in border areas of the peninsula, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said observations conducted by enforcement personnel found that diesel purchasing activities have dropped at several petrol stations in Rantau Panjang, Kelantan and Wang Kelian in Perlis.

"...smuggling activities (of diesel) have been successfully curbed due to the implementation of targeted subsidy,” he told reporters at a media conference after the Cabinet meeting here today.

Diesel price at all retail petrol stations in Peninsular Malaysia is set at RM3.35 per litre beginning June 10, which is the unsubsidised market price based on the Automatic Pricing Mechanism formula for the month of May.

Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, when announcing the matter on June 9, said the price setting and implementation of the targeted diesel subsidy will save the country RM4 billion annually and strengthen its financial position for the long term.

The unity government spokesperson said the targeted diesel issue was raised in the meeting with stern warnings issued against those planning to raise prices of goods, including sectors that previously did not receive the subsidy for diesel but are trying to take advantage of the current situation and hike prices for their goods and services.

"The public posted letters (on social media platforms) claiming that the costs of several products and services will increase because the relevant sectors no longer receive diesel subsidy, but upon checks, they were not eligible to receive the subsidy before.

"We leave it to the KPDN (Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living) to impose stern action. The Cabinet has issued warnings against parties taking advantage by raising prices especially when the government has stressed that price hikes particularly in the food and beverage sector as well as daily necessities should not occur,” he said.

Fahmi said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also requested the review of issues related to the Subsidised Diesel Control System (SKDS) 2.0 under KPDN and the immediate distribution of fleet cards to all applicants.

According to him, applicants who have yet to receive the fleet cards should keep their receipts and follow the process announced by Amir Hamzah to claim the diesel subsidy for vehicles registered under SKDS.

SKDS is a platform for selected public vehicles and goods vehicles to continue receiving diesel subsidies through the fleet card.

On the application for the subsidy from transport operators for tourists, Fahmi said the prime minister has requested the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Ministry of Transport to look into the matter.

"This means that if any party feels that government intervention is necessary and if it is deemed appropriate, then efforts will be made to assist them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fahmi urged netizens to refrain from going overboard in arguing about issues on social media, referring to an incident where an individual was threatened for supporting the government’s move regarding targeted diesel subsidy.

"Exchanges of ideas and opinions should be conducted positively and with no emotion attached,” he added. — Bernama