Prabakaran: Switch to luxury MPVs for ministers a waste of people’s money

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The switch from a four-seater sedan to a seven-seater luxury MPV as a minister’s official car is a waste of the people’s money, said a PKR leader.

Federal Territories PKR Youth chief P Prabakaran criticised the government for switching from the Proton Perdana 2.4L to the Toyota Vellfire 2.5L as the official ministerial car.

“The Perikatan National minister (finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz) has not only wasted the people’s money by purchasing these luxury cars, but it was also recently exposed that nearly RM1 million was spent on renovations and new furniture in the prime minister’s office.

“Plus, the renovation to the prime minister’s official home, Seri Perdana Complex, cost RM30 million,” he said in a statement today.

Earlier this week, Tengku Zafrul announced the car switch, made in April, in a written parliamentary reply revealing that each car was leased at a cost of RM5,759.35 a month.

As of September, he said, the government had paid a total of RM1.42 million to the concessionaire.

Prabakaran said, however, that based on calculations, the total expenditure for the Vellfire cars accounted for 41 units, while the Cabinet only had 32 ministers.

“So, who’s using the remaining nine Vellfire cars?” he asked.

He said the concept of ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ was only rhetoric as the ministers’ administration expenses had increased, but when it came to allocations for important ministries such as health, these expenses were reduced by the government.

“This wastage shows that the government is insensitive towards Malaysians who are suffering, including those who lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic, and small- and medium-sized enterprises that went bankrupt, affecting their mental health.”

He also said there was a need for ministers to be sensitive to issues affecting the people. – FMT