Eateries fear losing customers over commercial LPG costs, says association

The Star

2 days ago

Credit- LOW BOON TAT/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Consumers will inevitably bear the brunt if food operators are forced to use commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in their operations, says a coffeeshop association.
'We do not want to pass down any costs as it does not solve any problems.
'At the end of the day, we will lose customers. Consumers will eat out less due to smaller spending power and ultimately, the impact comes back to us,' said Petaling Jaya Coffeeshop Association president Keu Kok Meng.
He said the price of a bowl of noodles could increase by slightly more than RM1, when factoring in the cost of commercially priced gas cylinders.
One subsidised LPG gas cylinder costs RM26 while the commercial variation is priced at RM70, marking an almost three times increase in cost.
Citing the example of a stall selling prawn noodles, which uses two subsidised gas cylinders a day, costing a total of RM54, Keu said switching to commercial gas would increase the daily cost to RM140 daily.
'Lets say the stall sells 70 bowls of noodles a day, the price of a bowl may go up by slightly more than RM1.
'Passing down this cost will also not solve anything.
'It's been a tough time for hawkers. The best is to just allow the status quo.
'However, if enforcement under Ops Gasak does go ahead, an acceptable solution would be to allow stalls to have at least three subsidised gas cylinders visible on site,' he told a press conference on Tuesday (June 3).
It was also attended by Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung.
Keu said they had written to various stakeholders on this issue, including the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) and MPs, including MCA leaders.
This comes after the ministry launched Ops Gasak, taking place from May 1 to Oct 31, to look into the misuse of subsidised LPG.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has been vocal on this issue, urging for hawkers to be given a clear assurance that they can continue using subsidised LPG so that food prices will not be raised.
While the ministry previously said current enforcement measures only comprised advocacy, Keu claimed there was already action taken against a premises in Setia Alam, Selangor.
'It was extremely frightening when we heard about the seizures made. Imagine there are enforcement officers coming into the shop and say the Ops Gasak has begun, then asking for a permit,' he said, urging for more clarity on what this permit meant.
'Currently, we are clear on the permit which will allow users to store more than three cylinders but there is a grey area on whether these three cylinders can be used by the same party,' he said.
MP Lee said he had sought for clarification on the matter from Selangor KPDN and said he will continue to help hawkers on this.
He also proposed for the ministry to consult stakeholders like food courts, restaurants and coffeeshop operators as well as MPs before implementing such measures.