Govt Monitoring Fuel Consumption, Proposes weekly Data To Measure Effectiveness Of Saving -- Loke

PUTRAJAYA, April 14 (Bernama) -- The government will continuously monitor the country's fuel consumption and plans to publish fuel demand data weekly to assess the effectiveness of various energy saving measures implemented following the current geopolitical crisis.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said it was difficult to make an initial estimate of the number of vehicles reduced or fuel savings as a result of the initiatives announced by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) because the impact could only be assessed based on oil demand trends over time.

He said a proposal to create a data display or dashboard of fuel consumption had been submitted to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) to ensure the level of transparency of information to the people.

"The reduction can only be seen when these campaigns are running and every week there is a report on fuel demand that can be announced by the KPDN," he said.

According to him, all parties, including individuals, need to play a role in efforts to reduce energy consumption, because the success of the savings campaign does not only depend on government policies alone.

"For example, right now I have instructed the ministry (MOT), I instructed the secretary-general (Datuk Seri Jana Santhiran Muniayan) yesterday to look at our electricity bills (MOT). I want to see that next month our electricity bills must be 10 per cent less," he said.

Meanwhile, Loke said the government is also encouraging the public to plan their journeys in advance and switch to public transport to reduce fuel consumption, including by providing discounted tickets offered in advance to consumers.

He said the government's current priority is to ensure the country's fuel supply can last longer by controlling demand and consumption, given that the duration of the conflict is still uncertain.

"The most practical way for us to deal with this crisis is to ensure that our supply can last as long as possible. For that, we need to control demand and consumption," he said.

Meanwhile, he denied claims that the country is facing a fuel shortage following reports of several petrol stations running out of stock, explaining that the incident was an isolated case related to delivery issues or high local demand.

According to him, the government will also continue to provide diesel subsidies targeted at certain sectors such as the transportation of essential goods and public transport buses, but any decision to expand subsidies to other sectors is subject to the consideration of the Ministry of Finance and KPDN.

-- BERNAMA