ALOR SETAR, Jan 14 — The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Kedah branch has stepped up monitoring at all petrol stations along the state’s border to ensure that no foreign vehicles enter the country to fill up with subsidised RON95 fuel.

Its director Muhammad Nizam Jamaludin said that the move aims to curb any form of leakage and to detect operators who violate the ban on the sale of subsidised fuel to foreigners.

“We also appreciate the public’s vigilance in identifying foreign-registered vehicles at local petrol stations.

“The most recent case involved a petrol station in Sungai Petani, which was found to have sold RON95 fuel to foreign-registered vehicles,” he told reporters at the Consumer and Media Appreciation Ceremony organised by the state KPDN here last night.

Meanwhile, outlining the state KPDN’s direction for this year, Muhammad Nizam said that in addition to intensified enforcement efforts, the Rahmah Sales programme (PJR) would be strengthened and continued statewide.

He said the focus of the PJR is on interior areas to enable residents to purchase essential goods at prices of up to 30 per cent lower than the market rate.

“We will organise the programme three times a month in each state constituency. This reflects the government’s commitment to helping ease the cost of living for the people,” he said.

Meanwhile, the public has been advised to download the eCOSS application to facilitate the purchase of subsidised one-kilogramme packets of cooking oil, which are sold at RM2.50 per packet at PJR events and participating supermarkets.

“At PJR, the use of this application is mandatory. We will continue advocacy efforts to educate the public on how to use the application. We understand there may be challenges such as limited internet access, and in such cases, members of the public may contact KPDN directly for assistance,” he said. — Bernama