KUALA LUMPUR: A total of RM1.601mil was spent on repairs and maintenance for official cars of federal ministers between 2020 and 2022, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In a parliamentary written reply, Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said federal ministers had been supplied with Toyota Vellfire 2.5L as their official car since April 2021 as a replacement for the Proton Perdana 2.4L Premium model.
The written reply noted that in 2020, the government spent a total of RM672,000 for maintenance and repair, followed by RM478,991.50 in 2021, and RM450,690.66 in 2022, with a total amount of RM1,601,682.16 spent within the period.
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"The government had paid the monthly lease payment consisting of rental and maintenance as well as repairs for each of the official cars," said Anwar in reply to a question from Chong Zhemin (PH-Kapar), who asked Finance Minister to state in detail the total maintenance cost for all federal ministers’ cars between the period of 2020 and 2022.
The Finance Ministry had previously clarified in 2021 that the change of government official cars from Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium to Toyota Vellfire 2.5L would result in reduced payments.
"The decision to switch models was based partly on the lower monthly cost for the Toyota Vellfire 2.5 compared to that of the Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium,” the statement read.
The government’s decision to switch models for ministers’ official cars had previously gone viral on social media.
The Finance Ministry noted that the switch was also due to Proton ending the production of Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium in 2014.
The ministry added that some of the cars in question had reached six years of age, although the replacement of the vehicles are scheduled for a four-year period.
