Stop ostrich mentality on Petros LPG cylinder shortage and fix problem, Alice Lau tells S’wak govt

The state government must not have an ‘ostrich mentality’ towards the shortage of red Petros liquefied natural gas (LPG) gas cylinders here, said Alice Lau.

The Lanang MP claimed many MyGaz yellow cylinder owners still have issues replacing them with Petros cylinders.

“Gas is a necessity of life for all households, so the government needs to solve this problem and cannot delay any longer.

“Almost every day I still receive calls from residents in Sibu asking about this issue,” she said in a statement.

The Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker claimed the issue started last December and has continued to persist.

“Many people who own MyGaz cylinders are complaining because there is no place to replace their cylinders because dealers refuse to accept their cylinders to be exchanged for Petros gas cylinders. This means those who run out of gas have to cook using rice cookers, which causes the electricity bill to skyrocket,” she claimed.

According to her, on Feb 2–8, for the Chinese New Year celebration, there were two Petros service hotline numbers for the public to call regarding replacing or refilling their Petros gas cylinders.

However, she said this was merely a temporary measure.

“Since they want to monopolise the gas market, why didn’t the Sarawak government realise beforehand that MyGaz cylinders have occupied the Sarawak market for a long time?

“Despite the limited quantity, they acted in haste and did not ensure that there were enough new Petros gas cylinders to replace all MyGaz cylinders on the market,” she claimed.

According to Lau, asking the public to call the hotline to complain when they cannot replace their gas cylinder is akin to “kicking the ball” to the distributor.

“Distributors have to refuse to accept MyGaz cylinders because there are not enough Petros gas cylinders. But from a business point of view, we cannot blame them in this matter.

“On the other hand, the Sarawak government and Petros Niaga have an absolute responsibility to provide a sufficient supply of gas cylinders,” Lau added.