Kuala lumpur: The government will take firm action, including suspending and revoking fleet card approvals, against any parties found to be abusing diesel subsidies under the Subsidised Diesel Control Scheme (SKDS). Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof stated that this decision was agreed upon during a meeting of the High-Level Inter-Agency Coordination Committee on Combating Leakage and Smuggling, which he chaired at the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN).
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the measure aims to ensure the sustainability and stability of the nation's energy supply. The global energy crisis, resulting from the West Asian conflict, has increased the risk of misappropriation and smuggling of controlled goods, particularly diesel and petrol. Fadillah announced the expansion of the SKDS through the use of fleet cards for the land freight transport sector to Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan.
Fadillah, who also serves as the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, mentioned that the meeting agreed to designate lead agencies for three identified sectors to curb leakage. The land sector will be led by KPDN, the border sector by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), and the maritime sector will be overseen by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM).
To enhance and strengthen regulatory oversight over bunkering activities, the meeting agreed to establish a special task force, Ops Tiris 4.0 (Integrated), for Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan. It will be co-chaired by the Federal Secretary and the State Secretary, with the respective State KPDN serving as the secretariat for both task forces, involving relevant agencies at the state level.
Several strategic recommendations from the meeting will be submitted periodically to the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) to ensure the stability of the national supply. In a related development, Fadillah stated that Ops Tiris 4.0 (Integrated), conducted from March 16 to April 5, recorded seizures of subsidised goods worth more than RM2 million, involving 8,148 inspections that resulted in 155 cases.
Of these, sixty cases involved diesel with seizure values exceeding RM2.1 million, 47 cases involved RON95 with a value of RM51,299, 21 cases of liquefied petroleum gas valued at RM37,822, and 27 cases involved cooking oil, sugar, and wheat flour. Fadillah stressed the government's awareness of global geopolitical uncertainties, particularly the conflict in West Asia, and its potential to disrupt global supply chains and trigger instability in energy prices and essential goods.
He assured that the government will not allow supply disruptions to affect the people, having strengthened preparedness through strategic and integrated measures to ensure supply security in the domestic market remains under control. Also present were Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali and Home Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Awang Alik Jeman.