By Ling Hui
KUCHING, July 27: The Sarawak government will be importing more electric vehicles (EVs) for the use of its Cabinet, says Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni.
He said the Sarawak government will slowly be shifting from fossil fuel-powered cars to EVs, as part of initiatives to promote green energy.
“We (Sarawak) already have hydrogen-powered buses. And our Premier also drives a hydrogen car from Hyundai.
“So we will import more EVs for the use of the Cabinet. The (Sarawak) government, we will shift,” he said during a press conference at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here today.
Meanwhile, Dr Hazland said the federal government must implement policies such as abolishing import duties on EVs and transforming local cars into EVs, to encourage local use of EVs.
He said this was in his proposal to Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yakoob two weeks ago, following his work visit to Norway.
In Norway, he said, he learned that 75 per cent of Norwegians are driving EVs because the Norwegian government abolished import tax on EVs and introduced income tax discounts for EV drivers.
“So Malaysia has to do that also. Malaysia, not Sarawak, because this is federal law. It’s under PM (prime minister) and the Ministry of Transport.
“They have to do two things. First, no import duty on EVs. Second, maybe our locals cars can be transformed into EVs,” he said after officiating at the International Conference on Clean Energy (ICCE) 2022.
Among those also present were Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) chief operating officer Amelia Roziman, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Institute of Future Energy director Prof Dr Arshad Ahmad and UTM deputy vice-chancellor (Research & Innovation) Prof Dr Rosli Md Illias. — DayakDaily
