JOHOR BARU: Vehicle data from the Road Transport Department will be used for the distribution of targeted subsidies for RON95 petrol, says Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub.
“JPJ has very detailed data on vehicle users in the country, especially on the horsepower of vehicles, that can be used to determine the recipients of RON95 subsidies.
“As for the distribution method, there are various approaches that we can use in this digital era, and we have prepared some suggestions through the National Action Council on the Cost of Living (Naccol).
“But again, this will be up to the Cabinet for approval,” said the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister.
He added that the decision came after a meeting with the Finance Ministry and Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli on Friday.
Salahuddin, who is also the Pulai MP, was speaking to the media after visiting the PPR (People’s Housing Project) at Melana Indah Fasa 1 here yesterday.
He also said there were still a few things that needed to be finetuned by Naccol before the plan could be implemented, which was in line with the Prime Minister’s instructions to look into details of the targeted subsidy agenda.
“We will give the data to (Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for approval.
“For now, we are still going with the current policy. We have not made any changes to remove any subsidies or increase any tariffs that would burden the people until Naccol comes up with another decision,” he added.
Anwar is also the Finance Minister.
Salahuddin said Naccol had already tabled its paper on cost of living issues on Dec 13 following a special meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on Nov 27.
“The meeting, organised under Naccol, was attended by 11 ministries as the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry cannot do this alone.
“So now we are waiting for the Cabinet’s decision on the implementation of the new mechanism for targeted subsidies,” he added.
On Friday, Rafizi said the government would introduce a new mechanism for targeted subsidies soon, adding that a proper rollout of an index-based system should be expedited.
Salahuddin said his ministry would look into how to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and petty traders use cooking oil subsidies for their business.
“The majority of them are also from the B40 category, so there should be a mechanism to enable them to use subsidies for cooking oil for their day-to-day operations,” he said.
