More natural gas kiosks next year
Kota Kinabalu: More than 100 Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) kiosks will be set up nationwide next year as the Government seeks alternatives to fossil fuel that continues to escalate in price due to global political and environmental happenings.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal said at the moment there were about 40 NGV stations in the country located in the Klang Valley, catering mostly to taxis.

He said use of natural gas had reduced the operational cost of this mode of public transportation.

"I have stressed during the meeting with the subsidiary company of Petronas that is handling the production of natural gas to increase the number of NGV facilities," he said.

So far, only Petronas has shown interest in the project as it has the advantage of facilities such as gas refinery, while the other oil companies are not that keen as the economies of scale are not there."

Speaking after chairing the annual consultative meeting with the private sector at Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort, Thursday, he said the cost of natural gas was two-fold lower compared to fossil fuel.

"We must think about the time when our country finally runs out of fuel�we must start looking for the alternative now," he said, adding natural gas fuel would be economical for public transport. Malaysia's oil reserves are expected to run out in 10-15 years while gas twice that.

However, there is also a need to find ways to set up NGV stations in rural areas, as it could be costly to set up the infrastructure.

On another note, he said inflation in the country had increased to 3.7 per cent following the escalating fuel price. However, this was much lower than during the economic crisis in 1997-1998 when the country's inflation rate was about 5.4 per cent.

He urged consumers not to buy goods which are priced too high and instead shop around for places selling at a lower price.

Shafie said the Government had to increase the price of petrol and diesel by 20 sen and 45 sen, respectively, during the first eight months of this year as it could no longer withstand giving out subsidies and tax exemptions for fuel which during the same period totalled about RM1.15 billion per month.

However, the Government was very concerned with the burden the people had to shoulder due to the fuel price hike and announced several measures such as no more hike this year, reduction of road tax and no increase in toll charges for this year.

The assistance rate channeled to the needy through the Welfare Department was also increased. "We are adjusting, just like other countries in the region. We have to make adjustments in order to face the challenges."

His ministry would continue monitoring the price of goods through proactive measures. Between May 5 and Sept 8 this year, about 603 cases of illegal price hiking were detected with about RM40,343 in compounds issued during 174,532 inspections.

At the same time, goods worth RM67,445 were also seized from errant traders.

To ensure efficient and effective corporate management, the Ministry through the Malaysia Companies Commission, would be providing an online service expected to be completed by end of next year.

Shafie said he received a lot of feedback from the private sector in Sabah especially pertaining to the fuel price hike, which he said would be studied by the Ministry.