Domestic Trade Ministry working with authorities to end diesel smuggling in border areas

ARAU: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry will work with the authorities, including the Road Transport Department, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs) and the police to stamp out diesel smuggling activities at the country’s borders.

The Domestic Trade enforcement deputy director general (operations) Shamsul Nizam Khalil said the ministry would step up monitoring in border areas to tackle leakages following the implementation of the targeted diesel subsidy on June 10.

"... we believe there will be a reduction (in leakages) and we will work with other authorities to tackle leakages, especially at the border. This is because we know even with the rise in prices, it is still cheaper than neighbouring countries, so we must tighten our controls,” he told reporters after inspecting Ops Kesan 2.0 here today, together with Perlis Domestic Trade director Norazah Jaapar.

Under Ops Kesan, 2.0, 599 premises were inspected throughout the country from May 20 to June 14, with 202 written notices under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 issued to traders, he added.

"Only 24 premises in Perlis were inspected with 14 notices issued. The notice is aimed at getting initial information on sale prices and costs for certain products to see if there is profiteering,” he said.

He said that the Domestic Trade Ministry has extended the operating hours of its Enforcement Command Centre from 8pm to 10pm daily to ensure that complaints can be channelled properly and investigations conducted immediately throughout Ops Kesan 2.0.