NIBONG TEBAL (June 19): The Penang Refuse Lorries Association is appealing to the government to include Rigid Roll-On Roll-Off (RORO) lorries in the MySubsidi Diesel system to enable them to register for diesel subsidies.

The association’s chairman, Arif Ibrahim said, the absence of the lorry type in the system's list had led to significant financial losses for companies, as they struggled with high operational costs due to ineligibility for the fuel subsidy.

"The issue now is that lorry owners who register under the ‘rigid automatic refuse lorry’ category get approval for diesel subsidies, but RORO lorries of the same category do not, because they are not listed in the MySubsidi Diesel system," he explained after a gathering of over 57 refuse lorry company owners in Seberang Perai on Wednesday.

"This discrepancy has forced some companies to raise their service charges to cover operational costs, including fuel, maintenance, and employee wages," he added.

The association, which consists of 97 members owning over 100 lorries, hopes the government would address their concerns and engage in discussions to resolve the issue.

Arif clarified that the difficulties faced by their members had forced all to unanimously agree to increase the fees for rubbish collection services.

"For industrial waste, we had to raise our charges from RM250-RM280 per trip to RM300 in Seberang Perai, and from RM300 to RM350 for trips from the island to the Pulau Burung landfill," he said, noting that the number of trips had also reduced from 90 to around 40 per month.

Meanwhile, the association’s deputy chairman Ng Wei Liam said their gathering was intended to seek the government's attention to add Rigid-RORO lorries to the MySubsidi Diesel system's list.

He said that without prompt action, he was worried that their members would incur greater losses, which would impact overall operations.

"Currently, we are already feeling the burden. For example, filling up my three-tonne lorry used to cost RM150, but now it has increased by 55% to over RM200, and we have to bear these costs ourselves," he said.