Pritam pushes for petrol & diesel prices to be alleviated for cabbies & private-hire drivers

In view of rising fuel costs, Leader of the Opposition (LO) Pritam Singh asked Manpower Minister Tan See Leng if a support package can be put together for private-hire and taxi drivers to alleviate cost pressures caused by rising petrol and diesel prices.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday (March 15), Mr Singh added that this was an issue he raised during Parliamentary Question Time last week, where he called for “a package similar to one introduced for the aviation industry announced at Budget 2021”.

He wrote in his post that many delivery drivers are affected by the rise in fuel costs as it eats into their narrow margins, leading many to stay on the roads longer.

Mr Singh added: “do exercise patience towards them. I acknowledge the many Singaporeans and foreigners who offer them drinks, or even a glass of cool water etc. when they complete a delivery – all of us can play our part to emulate such behaviour”.

Noting that private-hire bus drivers are another group of people he was concerned about, Mr Singh wrote that they were hit both by Covid-19 and by the loss of tourism.

“The Minister opined that the current slew of measures appeared to have an impact in supporting the drivers. However, he said the Government was watching the situation carefully and would not hesitate to roll out more support”, he shared.

On Thursday (March 10), prices peaked across all fuel types. For instance, 92-octane petrol cost up to S$3.16 a litre, while 95-octane petrol was going for up to S$3.23 a litre, and 98-octane petrol cost as much as S$3.72 a litre, based on figures by online price tracker Fuel Kaki, a project by the Consumers Association of Singapore.

Depending on the fuel type, this means that prices have risen by as much as 17 per cent over that period.

/TISG