Using a double pump system at petrol stations in border towns to curb the sale of subsidised petrol to foreigners is not advisable.

Not only will kiosk operators be burdened with the additional manpower and resources needed to implement the system but it will also be open to abuse. What could happen is:

1. Motorists will fill up their tanks and then siphon out the petrol when they get home, to return again for more the same day or the next. What happens then is anyone’s guess.

2. They may also bribe the pump attendant to fill up their tanks.

3. Local syndicates will soon emerge and they will come in big trucks to fill up their big tanks with subsidised petrol for resale.

4. Others will bring a few portable four-gallon tanks to fill up as well and sell it to friends for a fee.

These are just a few loopholes that the government should look into before they implement the system in border towns.

However, there is a way to control the sale of subsidised petrol to foreigners who drive into the country — the government should make it mandatory that all motorists entering Malaysia be given a coupon at immigration check points to allow them to buy only RM30 petrol for the day.

Without the coupon they will have to buy petrol at international or non-subsidised market prices.

Lau Bing
Subang Jaya

Source: The Sun – June 26, 2008