Thumbs up: Onn Hafiz checking out one of the electric vehicles unveiled by the Pasir Gudang City Council. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
PASIR GUDANG: To reduce its carbon footprint, the Pasir Gudang City Council (MBPG) has replaced five of its official cars with electric vehicles (EVs).
Mayor Datuk Asman Shah Abd Rahman said the move was part of the council’s long-term plan to turn the district into a modern and environmentally-friendly place.
“We have ordered five electric cars, and we are also looking into getting other EVs such as electric vans.
“We will increase the number of EVs from time to time as part of our effort to reduce carbon footprint in Pasir Gudang while also ensuring the district would never again experience another Sungai Kim Kim incident,” he said.
He said this to reporters when they met after the Pasir Gudang public participation and publicity programme launch for its local plan draft here yesterday.
Asman noted that MBPG was the first local authority in Johor to adopt such an approach.
“The plan to use EVs was suggested during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, due to the restrictions in the delivery, it was delayed.
“Currently, there are three EV charging stations in Pasir Gudang and the council hopes to build more in the district soon.
“This could also help attract more investors from Singapore into the district as the island has moved towards having all cars there running on clean energy,” he said.
Also present at the event was Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, state secretary Tan Sri Datuk Dr Azmi Rohani and state housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor.
Meanwhile, Mohd Jafni said the state government welcomed the use of EVs and was looking into using more of such vehicles in the future.
“We need to move towards that as our neighbour Singapore is already taking proactive measures to limit vehicles running on diesel while encouraging the use of EVs.
“To benefit from Singapore’s economy, we must be on par with them.
“At the moment, we have several EV charging stations in the Iskandar Puteri, Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang areas, but we need to add more,” he said.
