KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — The government has temporarily suspended two petrol stations in Kelantan for closing almost two hours ahead of the 25 sen fuel price hike on Sunday, despite having adequate fuel supply.

Local daily Utusan Malaysia reported today Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Kelantan director Datuk Abdul Ghani Harun as saying that the two petrol stations were the only ones out of 167 operators in the east coast state that had stopped selling fuel early.

“This is the first time it has happened in this state after the government introduced the managed float system for fuel price this January.

“They took advantage by closing operations earlier to enable the fuel to be sold at the new price after 12 midnight,” Ghani was quoted saying.

According to Ghani, the two petrol stations had claimed that they had faulty pumps and that their fuel supply was cut off.

“Our checks showed that the pumps were not faulty and could function as usual and there was still 19,000 litres of fuel that could be sold,” he said.

With both stations ordered to stop their operations temporarily, Ghani said they would be probed according to the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and could be fined RM100,000 or jailed for three years if convicted.

The operation to check fuel stations throughout Kelantan was carried out by 85 enforcement officers from the ministry from 6pm Sunday following public complaints, Ghani said.

Utusan Malaysia also said that the two petrol stations at Jalan Pengkalan Chepa and Melor were believed to have ceased selling their fuel in a bid to gain additional profits with the new fuel price.

On Saturday, the ministry announced a 25 sen increase in fuel prices for this month, with RON95 petrol and diesel now selling at RM1.95 per litre,  while the retail price for RON97 petrol is now at RM2.25 per litre.