Crying foul over fuel rule

JOHOR BARU: Many foreigners feel that the new ruling for pumping petrol for their vehicles is confusing and impractical.

Singaporean Ahmad Amir, 60, said the ruling was unfair and would not be beneficial to the state. He said the Singaporean government already has a ruling that all foreign vehicles must have their tanks at least 70% full before entering the country and there was no need for an additional ruling.

“Most of us only visit the shopping complexes in the city centre and we definitely will have more than 20 litres of petrol when leaving the country,” he said.

On Wednesday, the domestic trade, cooperative and consumerism minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that foreign-registered vehicles would only be allowed to pump a maximum of 20 litres of fuel at petrol stations within a 50km radius from the border.

He said that enforcement authorities at the checkpoints would also be directed to ensure that foreign vehicles leave the country with no more than 20 litres of fuel in their tank.

Another Singaporean, Richard Tan, 40, said the ruling was impractical and very inconvenient.

“It is going to cause more jams at immigration,” he said.

For Chinese national Li Xu Hui, 30, who works in Singapore and often visits Johor, the ruling would be difficult to enforce.

“What about foreign vehicles that have already filled their tanks to the brim before crossing the border and do not use up all their petrol before returning?

“Does this mean they have to drive in circles to ensure that their petrol level reaches less then 20 litres before returning to their country?” he said.

He explained that the ruling would bring up all sorts of problems and eventually deter tourists from entering the country.