DAP's Ayer Keroh state assemblyperson Khoo Poay Tiong has questioned the need for Malacca chief minister Idris Haron to have up to three official vehicles for his use, two of which are considered luxury cars.
Khoo said while the head of a state government is entitled to a decent official vehicle - which Haron already has in the form of a Honda Accord - three are too many.
Khoo said the two other vehicles are a Mercedes Benz S400 bearing car plate number MCM1 and a Lexus R350 bearing car plate number MCS 11.
This was confirmed in a written reply from the chief minister to Khoo, who had queried about the vehicles during the Malacca state assembly sitting from Nov 16 to Nov 19.
The written reply said while the Honda Accord plate M1, the chief minister's official vehicle, is rented, the other two were acquired through state-owned companies.
It said the Mercedes was acquired through Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Melaka (PKNM) for RM592,450.00 in July 2015 while the Lexus was acquired through Syarikat Air Melaka Berhad (SAMB) for RM402,507.36 in October 2013.
Idris is both the chairperson of PKNM and SAMB by virtue of his position as Malacca chief minister.
In the written reply, the state government defended the purchase of the additional official vehicles.
"The vehicle MCM1 (Mercedes) is provided for the PKNM chairperson's usage, seeing that it (the company) is in an encouraging financial position due to the PKNM chairperson's efforts in attracting investments.
"A vehicle was purchased for the PKNM's chairperson’s official use to visit project sites and to maintain his image in the eyes of investors.
"The purchase of the vehicle was approved by the PKNM board of directors meeting Bil 2/2015, which took place on July 13, 2015.”
'Lexus to visit water catchments'
The state government similarly defended the purchase of the Lexus in the written reply.
MCS 11 (previously registered as MCM1) is for the official use of the SAMB board of directors and chairperson to visit SAMB project sites with relevant officers, explained the reply, for activities such as observing water catchments in Malacca, namely in Lendu, Serkam and Klebang.
"The purchase of the vehicle was approved by the SAMB tender board on October 2013," it said.
Khoo rubbished the explanations as "unacceptable".
"If he (Idris) wants to visit water catchments, the water company has enough vehicles to ferry him.
"There is no need to buy a luxury vehicle for him to visit water catchments. How many times does he visit the water catchments in a year that he need a RM400,000 luxury vehicle?" he said.
Khoo said the explanation that the latest purchase of the Mercedes Benz was due to Idris's ability to attract investors was equally unacceptable, as that is already part of his job scope as chief minister.
"And on the excuse that the luxury Mercedes Benz can boost his image (in the eyes of investors) is also unacceptable as investors invest based on policies and investment environment of the state.
"They look at the economic aspects - such as whether they can make a profit - for their investment decisions, not at what luxury car you are driving," he said.
Khoo described the purchases as an "abuse" and urged both PKNM and SAMB to reveal the minutes of the meeting when they decided to purchase to vehicles to proof that everything is above board. -Mkini
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