No Petrol Subsidy For Non-Citizens From May 1

PETALING JAYA, Jan 7 (Bernama) — From May 1, Malaysians and non-citizens will have to pay different petrol prices as foreigners are not eligible for subsidised petrol, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced Thursday.

“Currently everyone enjoys the subsidy including foreigners. From May 1, the purchase of petrol using My-Kad will be introduced, where only citizens will get the subsidy,” he said.

Not all citizens will also get to enjoy the subsidy like now.

An announcement on the detailed mechanics of the system will be made on May 1.

“Under the citizens category, there will be sub-categories where only targeted groups will get the subsidy,” he said after officiating the launch of a new corporate identity for Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd’s beverage division.

He said the petrol subsidy for those who qualify will be based on the engine capacity of their vehicles.

The focus will be on those with lower income who also usually use cars with smaller engines, he said.

Ismail said the government currently subsidised 30 sen of the RON 95 fuel cost. The original price of RON 95 is RM2.10.

“Therefore, the price of subsidised RON 95 is RM1.80.”

Under the new system, those who don’t qualify and foreigners will pay RM2.10 or more for RON 95, he said.

Those who qualify for the subsidy will pay RM1.80 as fixed now.

Ismail said the government might also impose tax on foreigners which is to be determined by the Finance Ministry.

Besides oil, the government currently also subsidises gas, flour and sugar.

Ismail also said that while sugar price had been increased by 20 sen, the government still provided a subsidy of 80 sen for the item.

“Last year, the government provided a subsidy of 60 sen per kg, but due to the drastic rise in world sugar price from August last year, the government had to bear a subsidy of RM1.00, and that is why we increased the price,” he said.

With the 80 sen subsidy given, the government will be bearing a subsidy cost of RM1.008 billion this year compared with RM720 million last year.

– BERNAMA

Then, I saw the Gen-2 is moving forward at a faster speed – as if to tail me to move over. Well, I am not one that is dead on road. I’ll move to the middle lane after the bus…of course

Gen-2 sped off – at least 100kph on a 80kph expressway….so if you ever see a white Gen-2 where the behind light is yellow colour, whilst the right is usual red. And the plate number PHR 1113 – with male driver. Chinese probably. Do try to move over. What I can guess from the situation above is the Citra is moving SLOW on a FAST lane. This pisses Gen-2 off so the driver decides to brake in front of it knowing the car will not hit it. Some SLOW drivers do indeed are indeed not civic minded. If they happened to be hit, I say Good Lesson!

I do think what I guessed is right as I was driving exact 80kph on the middle lane in the highway and I could not see the Citra. If the driver is driving at 60-70kph, he/she SHOULD move over! Too bad I did not get this car plate….

# Last year, the Government had set up Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB), a special-purpose vehicle, to supervise and fast-track the second Penang Bridge project.

The 26km bridge, which will link Batu Maung on the island to Batu Kawan on the mainland, is a project undertaken jointly by UEM Builders and China Harbour Engineering. — Bernama#

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai emphasizes that pre-hospital care and ambulance response time were very important. The ministry is said had spent RM63.5mil in year 2009 to purchase 187 ambulances.Total ambulances now are 1,387 .

All ambulances and call centres is said to be equipped with standard radiocommunications devices through Government Integreated Radio Network project. But, for now, only 1,207 of these devices have been supplied and installed in hospitals in the Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor.

Liow hoped that Malaysia could achieve the international standards of ambulance response time which was 8 to 10 minutes instead of the current 30 minutes.

“We can save a life if the ambulance response time is shorter say 10 to 15 minutes,” he added.

Additionally, related to medical aspect, there have been complaints that private hospitals were charging up to RM20,000 as deposit for admission into their intensive care units, he said the ministry would look into the matter and the public could lodge complaints with its medical practices department.

It’s been a long time since last post. We have viewed quite a number of incidents but none in picture so far. We are back to gather the Road News. Let see…

Latest news was:

Foreign cars limited to 20 litres of fuel to curb smuggling - this is the new rule after the last imposed on no selling to foreigners. Now, foreign-registered vehicles will only be allowed to pump a maximum of 20 litres of fuel when travelling within a 50km radius from the border, said Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Mini­ster Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Compared to other country like Thailand, their fuel is selling at RM4.01 and Singpore selling at  RM4.31, Indonesia selling RM2.26 and Philippines selling RM5.42  for RON95. Seems it was mentioned that the subsidy hope not to be shared to others…

To assist in distributing the traffic off peak hours, PLUS is offering an additional 10 percent discount to all Class 1 vehicles using the PLUS and ELITE highways when they pay toll after 12:00 midnight until 7:00 am on 21, 22, 23, 26, 29 and 30 January. – PLUS

We can even use SMS to obtain the traffic information. Cool!

The public is advised to call the toll free 24-hour PLUSLine at 1800 88 0000 for the latest traffic updates on the expressways.Travellers can also get traffic information through SMS during peak period (Jan 23-28 and Feb 1). To receive SMS on the latest traffic updates on the NSE, the public can:-

Type ON<space>KLIP/IPKL/IPNO/NOIP/KLAK/AKKL/AKSO/SOAK and send to 33626.

Found this info on the PLUS EXPRESSWAY website: http://www.plus.com.my/

Quote from The Star, 26th January,2009:

#Municipal roads recorded the most number of accidents with 551 cases followed by federal roads (363), state roads (210), highways (157) and other roads (51), he said in a statement today.#

As for summonses,8,567 summonses were issued to traffic offenders. Please becareful and take notice on the speed, seatbelts and warning sign. For any

Remember the seatbelts too! Because, just in Johore – Muar Road Transport Department (JPJ) officer Sazini Ismail said that up to Jan 21 the department had issued 20 summonses to those who did not wear seat belts.

Below are some numbers when you are travelling on the highway. Call in to check…

NSE: 1800880000
PENANG BRIDGE: 04-3980000
NORTH-SOUTH EXPRESSWAY CENTRAL LINK(ELITE): 03-50311153
MALAYSIA-SINGAPORE SECOND CROSSING EXPRESSWAY (SECOND LINK): 07-2788000
KUALA LUMPUR-KARAK EXPRESSWAY(KLK): 09-2330100
BUTTERWORTH-KULIM EXPRESSWAY(BKE): 04-3986969
SEREMBAN-PORT DICKSON EXPRESSWAY(SPHD): 06-6323060
SHAH ALAM EXPRESSWAY(SAE): 03-56337188
CHERAS-KAJANG EXPRESSWAY (GRAND SAGA): 03-90750505
DAMANSARA-PUCHONG EXPRESSWAY(LDP): 03-56329222
SUNGAI BESI EXPRESSWAY(BESRAYA): 1800880999
AMPANG ELEVATED HIGHWAY(AKLEH): 03-42523122
WESTERN KUALA LUMPUR TRAFFIC DISPERSAL SCHEME EXPRESSWAY (SPRINT): 03-79602000
EAST-WEST LINK EXPRESSWAY: 03-91732020
SHAHPADU EXPRESSWAY: 03-33420564
NEW PANTAI EXPRESSWAY (NPE): 1300881010
KAJANG SILK EXPRESSWAY (SILK): 1800881977
EAST COAST EXPRESSWAY (PHASE 1): 09-5479111
GUTHRIE CORRIDOR EXPRESSWAY: 03-60385052
KL-PUTRAJAYA HIGHWAY: 03-83159111

Passing Red Light
Look at the motorist which ignore the red light and passes it. Managed to snap a photo after seeing a few of them ignoring the red  light. Well, this is a normal scene in the area.

Careless Driver
This driver herself, forces her way to the express lane. Look at that…the road cone is the separator between express lane and normal tag lane. Well,rough driving. This happens in January 11th 2008.

Polluting Air
This lorry producing a lot of dark monodioxide. Very black smoke. Can’t take the photo from the side, so here’s a view from behind it. A puff of smoke still around…I still think these are the type of vehicle should be sent warning. What else will pollute mankind but mankind themselves.

Waiting for further news, a lot of Malaysia-made cars are under booking for safety belt installation.