Congestion At Petrol Stations, Motorists Flock To Fill Their Tanks Before Fuel Price Goes Up

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Long queues and congestion were the order of the day as motorists lined up at petrol stations throughout the Klang Valley to fill up their tanks following news that the price of RON95 petrol and diesel prices will go up by 20 sen effective midnight (Thursday).

A survey carried out by BERNAMA at Petronas, Shell, Petron, Caltex and BHP stations saw motorists queuing up at the pumps of petrol stations since 8.30pm Wednesday night when news broke out about the price hike.

Civil servant Hasbullah Ahmad, 25, said he quickly rushed to the petrol station after news of the price hike.

"I had to wait for about 20 minutes to fill up but I feel I was lucky because I went straight to the station after hearing about the price hike," he told BERNAMA.

The Domestic Trade, Consumer Affairs and Cooperatives Ministry, Wednesday announced that the subsidy for petrol RON95 and diesel would be reduced by 20 sen a litre starting 12.01am, (Oct 2).

Following the announcement, Petrol RON95 will be sold at RM2.30 a litre and diesel at RM2.20 a litre.

The unsubsidized market price for RON95 is RM2.58 per litre while the price of diesel is RM2.52 per litre.

Noraisha Abdul Razak, a lecturer at a private college said she was shocked by the price hike because there was no indication of such a price hike.

"I only realised about the hike when I saw motorists lining up at the petrol station," she said.

Amirul Haslam, 22, a technician expressed concern with the hike because it would see a chain reaction as prices of other essential goods would also increase, thus increase the peoples' cost of living.

"Normally when the price of fuel goes up, there will be an increase in other goods and this will certainly affect the lower income group," he said.

Kuih seller K. Selvi, 50, also echoed a similar, fearing the prices of everything else related to the increase of petrol and diesel, would go up.

"I hope the government will provide some form of incentive to cushion the price hike," she said.

A bank officer, David Lim, 30, hoped there would not be another price hike in the near future.

"We cannot avoid a price hike but the government can take the initiative to improve the economy to ensure subsidies are provided for the people," he said.