Kuala Lumpur - Hundreds of people protested Thursday against
a massive 40 per cent hike in the price of gasoline in Malaysia.
The protestors, including opposition members, non-governmental
organizations and unions, demanded a review of the price increase
which took effect Thursday.
'The 40 per cent increase will definitely bring hardship to the
people as the price of goods will go up,' said lawmaker M
Kulasegaran.
The demonstrators dispersed peacefully after about a half hour.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Wednesday that the
price of petrol would be raised to 2.70 ringgit (0.87 US dollar) per
litre from 1.92 ringgit (0.61 dollar).
Diesel prices rose by 1 ringgit to 2.50 ringgit per litre, a 67
per cent increase.
The measure to reduce the government's massive subsidy bill of
at least 45 billion ringgit this year sparked a mad rush of drivers
to fill up before midnight Wednesday at petrol stations nationwide.
Lim Kit Siang, head of the opposition Democratic Action Party,
said the sudden announcement was 'unconscionable, unjustifiable and
deplorable reflecting poorly on good governance in Malaysia.'
He warned that the move would affect lower-income groups.
'Equally of concern will be the deterioration of the public safety
index, with the expected worsening of the crime situation which has
already become an endemic problem causing Malaysians, tourists and
investors to fear for their personal safety,' Lim wrote in his
internet blog Thursday.
Abdullah also announced Wednesday that the government will give a
yearly cash rebate of 625 ringgit per year to owners of cars with an
engine capacity of 2,000 cubic centimetres or less to offset the
price increase.
However, the amount would do little to cushion the impact of the
price hike which is expected to lead to a rapid increase in the price
of food and services.
'The increase is too much, and in the end, it is the consumer who
suffers,' said Doreen Chan, a housewife living in the capital Kuala
Lumpur.
'When petrol prices go up, everything goes up. The annual rebate
is an insult because it will hardly cover all the extra expenses,'
she said.
The last time the government raised fuel prices was in February
2006, when Abdullah pledged to improve public transportation in order
to reduce the usage of cars.
Not much has come out of the promise, with critics saying that the
public bus and train transportation system does not service many
residential and business areas and is inaccessible to the handicapped
and senior citizens.
'It's unfair to us to have to pay so much for petrol but not have
any other viable alternatives,' said Joanne Koo, who queued at a
petrol station for nearly an hour late Wednesday to fill her tank
before the price changed.
'The public transportation has not seen any improvement in the
form of efficiency or reliability since the last hike,' she said.
The central bank said Thursday that inflation was expected to
exceed 5 per cent in June as a result of the fuel price hike. The
inflation rate for the year is estimated to rise to 4.2 per cent from
earlier estimates of 2.5 per cent.
Bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said inflation was also expected to
peak in the first quarter of 2009.
'For the first half of 2009, inflation will hit about 5.3 per
cent, and after that it will decline to less than 3.0 percent,' she
was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Opposition leaders said they are planning a demonstration in Kuala
Lumpur on July 12 to demand that the price of gasoline be rolled back
to Wednesday's price.
In 2007, Malaysia produced 703 thousand barrels per day of crude
oil and exported a total of 202 thousand barrels.
Despite the price hike, gasoline prices in Malaysia remain lower
than other Asian nations such as Singapore, Thailand and India.
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