Gerakan’s national legal and human rights bureau chief Baljit Singh wants to know what PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli really wants - whether if he’s really with the people or with the petrol dealers.
 
Referring to Rafizi’s statement that the current pricing mechanism for petrol was unfair to petrol dealers, Baljit asked, "If the oil price goes up, the rakyat will suffer. Which does he prefer? The rakyat losing money or petrol kiosk owners making money?"
 
Baljit (left) said the public was already suffering with the rise in prices of essential goods, even before the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) in April this year.
 
"This is happening because most traders are unscrupulous."
 
Despite the reduction in global oil prices, Baljit said, the cost of essential goods in the country remained high.
 
He urged NGOs in the consumer movement and the relevant ministries to act to ensure that prices of essential goods remain affordable to the people.
 
"This is where they should intervene because this is where the people suffer," he said.
 
Baljit also urged traders and businessmen who profited from the hike in oil prices to do more charity by providing for the needy, especially those in states hit by floods.
 
Rafizi, who is the MP for Pandan, said yesterday that the current fuel pricing mechanism was not fair to petrol dealers, who suffered losses after fuel prices dropped on Jan 1.
 
He said most dealers, small or medium-sized, enjoyed a nett profit of between RM5,000 and RM10,000 a month, but they would suffer losses of between RM10,000 and RM15,000 a month with the fuel prices dropping from Jan 1.