KUCHING, March 24: The Sarawak government did not procure the Toyota Mirai as the five hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles were gifted by UMW Toyota Motor.
Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg clarified this in responding to Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan who had asked the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government to justify the need to get the Toyota Mirai, which three units were recently handed over to the deputy premiers to be used as their official cars.
“The Sarawak government did not buy (the Toyota Mirai), but as Sarawak is the only state (in Malaysia) with a hydrogen facility, UMW Toyota Motor gifted the government (the vehicles) to promote green energy.
“Sarawak is the prime promoter of green energy,” he said in a statement today.
On March 22, Abang Johari witnessed Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) handing over three units of the hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai each to Deputy Premiers Datuk Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, and Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian to be used as their official cars.
Abang Johari himself also received one unit in January this year, and the other one was used by SEDC Energy which aims to popularise the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles once more versions are available in the market.
Initially, these five units of Toyota Mirai were meant for the Federal government, but due to the unavailability of hydrogen refuelling facilities in Peninsula Malaysia, these cars were allocated to Sarawak.
SEDC Energy said that adopting fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in the government fleet was in line with the Sarawak government’s commitment to realise a sustainable green economy transition by 2030 and its aspirations to become a nation’s leader in green energy.
Meanwhile, Voon, in raising this, said the government should consider selling off the vehicles if they were gifts and used the money to help the people, especially in the rural areas, who are still suffering with no proper basic infrastructures, having to cope with increasing prices of goods and services, and many trying to recover from the impacts and losses due to recent floods. — DayakDaily
