Long queues at pumps drive NGV users up the wall

JOHOR BARU: Hundreds of Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) users are waiting in two-hourlong queues daily to fill up at the two stations operating here.

Some of the drivers try to beat the queue by waking up before dawn to rush to the station on Jalan Datin Halimah in Larkin, which is open 24 hours. The other station is in Senai.

Lorry driver Ali Mamat, 39, said he was forced to wait up to two hours to fill up his lorry at the station in Senai.

“I transport goods and my earnings are based on the number of trips I make a day. I have no choice but to wait because NGV is cheaper than petrol or diesel.”

He said the problem started after an NGV tank exploded during maintenance work on Oct 25, killing a man at the station in Mount Austin here.

Since then, many NGV facilities in Johor, the Klang Valley and Negri Sembilan have temporarily suspended operations.

A taxi driver, known only as Siva, said it was a nightmare for him to fill up his tank these days.

“Usually it takes about five to 10 minutes. But nowadays I have to wait for one to two hours,” he said, adding that the wasted time was hurting his income.

He hoped that Petronas Dagang Bhd would complete its maintenance work quickly and reopen all the pumps.

Another taxi driver, K. Chandran, 64, said that these days he leaves for work as early as 4am to beat the long queues at the stations.

“I hope the Government does something to help affected taxi drivers, including temporarily allowing us to increase fares in Johor because most of us use NGV,” he added.