IPOH, 9 Jan 2009: The Perak government today traded in its fleet of Proton Perdana V6 Executive cars with new black Toyota Camry 2.4 cars for use by state executive councillors and senior officers.
Previously the government had been criticised by the people who opposed the move, saying it was a waste of money and that the Pakatan Rakyat government, who had promised to look after the welfare and interests of the people, did not practise what it preached.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said they bought the 16 cars worth around RM2.56 million by open tender which was evaluated by the state government.
“Today we have received nine of the cars. We will replace those in bad shape with new ones first, then we will replace the others. The remaining seven cars will be sent to us in stages based on stock availability,” he told reporters when met, here today.
He said each car was worth around RM160,000 including tax, while their previous official car would be traded in for between RM30,000 to RM40,000.
Mohammad Nizar said his official car was in acceptable condition and could still be used.
“Since my car is still usable, perhaps I will be the last to use the new Toyota Camry,” he said.
The fleet of Toyota Camry will be used by 10 state excutive councillors and five senior government officers, namely the Perak Mufti, state finanacial officer, state legal adviser, assembly speaker and state secretary.
Earlier, Mohammad Nizar received a visit from Simpang Pulai assemblyperson Chan Ming Kai who handed a report on the recent election to select a new village chief for Gunung Rapat, which took place on 1 Jan.
“I will study the report and bring it up in an Exco meeting. We will look at the proposals in the report, but I stress the fact that the government does not have to agree with the results as the state has the right to appoint village chiefs,” he said. — Bernama
