KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — The Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) today hailed the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government for raising their commission by 3 sen per litre sold, thereby protecting their livelihood.
At the same time, the association lashed out at former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whose Barisan Nasional (BN) administration they blamed for the stagnant sales commission of the past decade, which they said was responsible for their revenue losses that forced some of their members to pull out from business.
“Many dealers had to close shop, a lot of workers lost their source of incomes, and even more families fell victim to Najib’s government, which never took the necessary steps to correct the situation,” PDAM said in a statement.
It said the Najib administration had been aware of the effect of the weekly float system introduced for RON95 petrol on the livelihood of 128,000 individuals and family members of the 32,000 fuel traders as it had conducted a study on that.
PDAM said the then BN government had promised fuel dealers their sales commission would be raised after GE14 last year.
It claimed Najib, who was also the then finance minister, chose not to do so out of fear of public backlash before the May 2018 general election.
“Never has the BN government delayed updating the commission rates for more than 10 years, the longest before that was eight years, between 1994 to 2002,” PDAM said.
“When Najib did not act to save the industry, 150 petrol station operators were forced to close shop, indirectly affecting 1,500 to 2,250 workers who lost their income and the compounding effects towards their immediate families,” it added.
PDAM then proposed an annual review of the sales commission and upgrades to the rate based on rising living costs to protect the industry and the domestic economy.
“The continuity of this industry will also directly impact the continuity of the country’s economy,” it said.
