Muristek
KUCHING, June 29 — Several petrol stations in the city have run out of the RON95 fuel since Monday night, according to an observation by the newspaper’s Malay sister daily, Utusan Borneo.
In its survey, it also discovered that the price of RON95 was still at RM2.05 per litre.
“The cause behind the shortage is yet to be ascertained,” it said.
A petrol station worker told Utusan Borneo that her workplace had been getting huge demand for RON95 since May.
“I suspect that the high demand for RON95 may stem from the fear (among consumers) of a sudden surge in the price of the petrol soon,” said the worker, who requested to remain anonymous.
Felecity Jarau, 37, when interviewed, said she only realised that the stations were running out of RON95 when she wanted to refuel at a station near Jalan Song on her way home from work.
“The workers at a few stations that I visited had also informed me that the RON95 petrol was not available. According to them, there had been a shortage of petrol truck drivers, resulting in the fuel not being delivered to the stations.
“I am not sure whether this is the truth or not.” Achi Pim, 34, said he was forced to refuel with the more expensive RON97 due to the non-availability of RON95.
“At first, I went to the stations at Jalan Central and Taman BDC, but both had run out of RON95.
“RON97 costs about RM4 per litre, which is quite pricey.
“However, I am not panicking yet — unless there’s a real sudden surge in the price of petrol.
“Should this happen, though, I believe that the state government would step in to provide assistance to the public and also to cushion the impact from the high cost of living.” Ema Greek, 33, discovered the same problem when she made a stop at a fuel station along Jalan Tun Jugah here late Monday.
“I did not panic, though; it’s a routine of mine to refuel once a week, before returning for work on Monday.” “If indeed the price of RON95 has surged past RM4 per litre, this would cause living expenses to increase drastically, particularly for the bottom-40-per-cent income group,” said Ema. — Borneo Post