SINGAPORE: A decision will be made tommorrow on the sale of petrol in Johor, the deputy prime minister said. Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Singapore had indicated that it would have no problems with the restriction of fuel sales on vehicles from the republic.

"It is the government's right. But they (Singapore) want pumps in Malaysia to sell fuel at market prices to their citizens.

"We do need to cater for this request," he said yesterday after the Shangri-la Dialogue.

He said Singaporeans were used to buying petrol at market prices.

Najib said the government would have to look into the issue of Malaysians working in Singapore but driving Singapore-registered vehicles.

He said a clearer position would be reached at the meeting of the cabinet committee on inflation.

The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry had ordered the ban of the sale of petrol within 50km of the border to Thai nationals from June 1, but a similar restriction in the south has been delayed to June 9.

"We have to apply the same rule to all. It is a moral principle," he said when asked if the government would reconsider the ban in Johor.

On his appointment as head of the cabinet committee on illegal immigrants in Sabah, he said the agencies concerned had been directed to prepare for the first meeting.

Najib said: "The agencies have to do the paperwork and come up with recommendations on what needs, and can, be done."

He said the decision to set up the committee should assure the people of Sabah, including its politicians, of the government's seriousness in addressing the influx of illegal immigrants to the state.