Fuel shortage in Bario solved
KUCHING: Some 10,000 litres of diesel and another 3,000 litres of petrol were sent to Bario on Saturday in an effort to solve the shortage of the commodities in the highlands.
Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism ( KPDNKK) Sarawak director Datuk Stanley Tan said a second delivery of fuel to Bario would be made today (Jan 9) and arrive there the next day.
He revealed that prior to the delivery on Saturday, the last stock of fuel was delivered to Bario about a month ago, on December 5 last year.
“We are delivering the fuel now through our Price Standardisation Programme, whereby the government bears the transportation costs so that the item can be sold in the interior at the same price as in the urban areas.
“Under this programme, we can solve the supply shortage problem in Bario despite some delay in this early part of the year. The retailers in Bario can also buy their supply of petrol and diesel from the petrol stations in Miri without waiting for transport subsidy from the government,” he said yesterday.
He also explained that the delivery would take one day to reach Bario due to the poor road conditions. It was reported last Friday ( Jan 6) that thousands of rural residents in the Bario highlands in north Sarawak were critically short of petrol and diesel fuel.
Bario headman Joseph Pian reportedly said the residents appealed for urgent government assistance to replenish the fuel – vital for operating generator sets for homes, schools and clinics.
Joseph had also said he had visited several fuel depots but their stocks had depleted as contractors who were supposed to del iver fuel to the rural districts had not done so.