Thirty-eight Hong Kong truck drivers had been arrested in the first five months of this year for smuggling fuel across the border from Shenzhen to the SAR, tempted by lower fuel prices in Shenzhen, the Southern Metropolis Daily said Wednesday.

Hong Kong's Customs and Excise Department has uncovered 42 cases involving nearly 20 tons of smuggled gasoline and 75 liters of illicit diesel from January to May, carried in 31 vehicles.

The drivers shuttling between the two cities made profits by fuel bought cheaply on the mainland, customs officials said Monday.

Cross-border fuel smuggling, which has been going on for a long time, worsened this year after Hong Kong's fuel prices skyrocketed to double, even triple, that in Shenzhen as a result of international price hikes, the department said. Hong Kong's diesel retail price rose by nearly 50 percent to HK$11.7 (US$1.51) per liter compared with the beginning of last year.

An increasing number of Hong Kong vehicles lining up to refill at gas stations in Shenzhen is worsening the fuel shortage in Shenzhen. Some gas station have stopped supplying diesel oil and begun rationing gasoline.

Meanwhile Hong Kong lawmaker Lau Kong-wah said yesterday the SAR government is considering slashing fuel taxes.

Hong Kong legislators were scheduled to meet to debate the reduction of taxes of Euro V diesel and unleaded petrol by half, one week after lorry drivers staged a slowdown protest through the city center.

Representatives of the hard-hit transport sector have said halving the taxes is not enough. They are demanding the government scrap all diesel taxes, which account for less than 5 percent of overall retail prices, and provide fuel subsidies.

More than 100 representatives of the sector, including minibus drivers, taxi drivers and other transport drivers protested outside the Legislative Council on Wednesday morning.

Drivers and operators say they are struggling to make a living because of a 25-per-cent rise in fuel costs in recent months and want government tax on diesel shelved.

Editor: Yan