KUCHING, March 24: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan wants the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government to justify the need to get three Toyota Mirai, the hydrogen fuel cell electric cars, for its deputy premiers to be used as their official cars when the unity government has vowed to scale back spending to lower the nation’s debt.
Raising this, Voon said that even if the cars were meant for the Federal government but were distributed to Sarawak due to the unavailability of hydrogen refuelling facilities in Peninsula Malaysia, they should be sold off, with the proceeds used for welfare purposes.
“Sarawak should not get new cars for our three deputy premiers. These three high-tech hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai are not cheap, and their maintenance could be high.
“What is wrong with the current official cars? The GPS government is answerable to the taxpayers. Even the Premier (of Sarawak) got a new car recently. The government needs to justify the need to have the new cars,” he said in a statement today.
Voon pointed out that the GPS government should have in mind that people, especially in the rural areas, are still suffering with no proper basic infrastructure, having to cope with increasing prices of goods and services, while many are still trying to recover from the impacts and losses due to floods.
“Instead of getting new cars, why not use the money to help the people? The recent floods have caused much devastation to the people, and they need help too. The money could have gone to help these people.
“People in rural areas still suffer from no proper roads, water and other facilities. Moreover, the government should also invest in education for our children if Sarawak wants to progress,” he said.
Voon added that the government should lead by example by teaching people to be thrifty, save money, and grow their money.
On March 22, Deputy Premiers Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, and Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian each received a Toyota Mirai from Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) to be used as their official cars as part of Sarawak’s green mobility and green energy initiatives.
SEDC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Hussain said that the hydrogen-powered cars are among the five units SEDC Energy purchased from UMW Toyota Motor, including one handed over to Abang Johari and one for SEDC Energy. — DayakDaily
