Thesun 2009-11-03 Page01 Not Up To Mark

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No. 4878 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Tuesday November 3, 2009

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Not up to mark RM585MIL TRACKING SYSTEM FUELS COMPLAINTS by Llew-Ann Phang [email protected]

ETALING JAYA: Questions have been raised about the efficacy of a half-billionringgit system which uses nano particles to mark subsidised fuel to prevent smuggling. Problems with Nanotag, a marker that is supposed to dissolve in fuel so the authorities can tell subsidised from non-subsidised diesel, have resulted in suppliers and transporters being wrongly summoned. The Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry is reviewing the system and looking for other ways to keep track of subsidised fuel. The five-year contract, worth RM585 million (RM117 million a year), was given to Teras Kimia Sdn Bhd in 2006. Last year, ministry officials discovered that Nanotag could be removed from diesel. “A new formula was developed but this time, instead of dissolving in the diesel the marker sank to the floor or stuck to the walls of the container or tankers,” said a source. The “carry-over” effect posed the risk of tainting unsubsidised diesel or other products, including petrol, when the same drum or tanker is used to transport these products, said the source. Former minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad was aware of the problem. “The idea was to reduce the smuggling of diesel which ran up to RM130 million in a year.

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“Technical issues were discovered, especially when it came to charging the culprits for smuggling activities,” he told theSun. He said the ministry then sourced for an air-tight solution upon realising that people were being wrongly charged. “Our decision was that the ministry would have a dialogue with the company to cancel – if we had to – or minimise the amount of incidental episodes as well as all these complications,” Shahrir said. Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd. Zain Mohd said it is evaluating the need for Nanotag and whether to terminate the contract. He said while discussions with the company continue, the ministry is also talking to the Finance Ministry to re-examine the need for the service. “We are looking at other ways to detect the smuggling of subsidised diesel,” he said when met recently. The use of nano technology in petroleum products is widely applied in the United States and some European countries to prevent fuel abuse. As part of the deal, Teras Kimia is to take 3,000 samples a month from spot-checks to curb illegal sales. A team of three to four people – an inspection assistant and assistant manager from Teras Kimia, an officer from the ministry and sometimes a driver – would conduct nationwide checks. If results were positive, the ministry officer will seize the diesel and close the supplier’s outlet. However, according to a source,

in many cases, tests re-done at Teras Kimia’s laboratory obtained contradictory results. “Moreover, spot-checks are found to have often been conducted at the same premises every other month and the 3,000 samples can be accounted for from five or even 10 jerry-cans at the same premise,” the source said. Teras Kimia provides the ministry monthly reports on the sample findings and results of the re-tests at the laboratory. Mohd Zain said while he had no knowledge of the contradictory results, he has received “quite a number” of complaints from established industry players about Nanotag leaving residue. He said that in 2007, the ministry pondered over the need for Nanotag as fuel prices had fallen. “There were three options,” he said – enforcement to trace the supply to the supplier instead of those who were at the receiving end; change the Act to include the supplier instead of penalising the customers; and to provide another chemical reaction to protect the innocent. “Shahrir had asked if we were doing the right thing and if we still needed Teras Kimia’s services but the argument was that there was still the diesel element – for public transportation and fishermen. “We were talking to Teras Kimia and were examining its scope of work but again there were so many things involved and the prices rose; hence making Nanotag relevant again,” Mohd Zain said.

» Nanotag saved RM2.3b in subsidised fuel, says firm – page 4

Najib denies govt hand in Asri’s arrest by Tim Leonard, Maria J. Dass and Husna Yusop [email protected]

KUALA LUMPUR: The arrest of former Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin by the Selangor Religious Affairs Department on Sunday has sparked animated response from various quarters, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak defending the scholar as a person who talks “very frankly” and quotes Quranic verses. In denying that the federal government was behind the arrest, Najib also questioned the motive behind the arrest by JAIS. “The motive behind Dr Mohd Asri’s arrest remains unclear … it was done by the (Selangor) state government, nothing to do with the federal government,” Najib said after launching the 2009 Pasar Tani Convention yesterday. The arrest also generated a debate in the Dewan Rakyat, with Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) saying the Selangor government did not agree with the arrest. Both backbenchers and opposition MPs criticised the arrest, saying Asri is an ulama and should not be treated like this. Thirty-five JAIS enforcement officers and 25 policemen detained Asri as he was preaching to about 100 people at a private residence in Taman Sri Ukay, Hulu Klang, on Sunday night. Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR) and Hulu Klang assemblyman Saari Sungib were also present. Zuraida said Asri spoke on the perspective of the new thinking on Islam and on going back to an unadulterated Islam as thought by Dr Hamka (Abdul Malik Abdul Karim Amrullah, the Indonesian ulama, political activist and writer who is known in the Malay Archipelago). Zuraida described the JAIS officers as “rough, arrogant and obstinate and there was no room for reasoning”. Asri was expected to be charged in Gombak yesterday under the Selangor

Islamic Administration Enactment but was freed on bond instead. In response, JAIS said it had warned Asri several times to obtain accreditation. Its director Datuk Mohammed Khusrin Munawi said what Asri did was against the enactment which carries a fine of not more than RM3,000 or two years jail or both. He said investigations are ongoing. Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin blogged that he hoped Asri’s arrest ZULKIFLI ERSAL/THESUN

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On bond ... Asri gestures as he leaves the Gombak Timur Syariah lower court yesterday.

was not due to provocation by parties uncomfortable with him, or a politically motivated move to divert the rakyat’s attention from the weaknesses of some people. He said the arrest raised many questions, including why JAIS chose to arrest Asri now when he had been giving talks and lectures, blogging and writing for a local paper. A Malay daily reported that some parties were against a move to place Asri as head of the Islamic Da’wah Foundation Malaysia. The Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association and 15 Muslim NGOs had accused Asri of insulting Islamic scholars. Asri has rubbished the claims.

» See also Page 6