Letters by Vijay Kumar Murugavell
Much has been said regarding the purchase of 14 spanking new Mercedes E200’s for the use of Terengganu Exco.
MB Ahmad cited cheaper maintenance, DPM and PM declaring that they themselves use Protons, the press interviewing workshop mechanics, Proton Holdings defending their cars, ACA getting into the picture and many offered punditry and cost comparisons to entertain the rakyat with this dog and pony show.
Almost everyone is missing the point,the PM, ACA, The Terengganu exco and Proton Holdings.
The Treasury has sent out a circular which was blatantly ignored, this is the main issue.
Why are those who ignored this directive not taken to tas ? The policy is clear, so the PM should initiate disciplinary action. The next question would be how can the Treasury who is the one holding the purse strings not check whether policy was being followed.
If a system is open to abuse it should be revamped.
Why is the Treasury silent on this issue ? Makes me wonder what other directives are being ignored draining precious financial resources.
Ahmad Said’s rationale that Mercedes are cheaper to maintain is irrelevant, he had no authority to make that decision. Its akin to running a red light, getting caught then telling the traffic cop: that the reason you did it was because you observed that the road was clear so why waste time following the rule.
Pak Lah’s statement that selling the cars now will incur a loss and they should be used only for shuttling foreign dignitaries is incorrect – for 2 reasons.
Firstly ,how on earth can keeping 14 Mercs for this purpose be justified?
Do we have that many visiting dignitaries coming to Terengganu? Are we to believe that it is fiscally prudent to maintain 28 cars when half of them need to be maintained but are hardly utilized?
A mistake has been made and instead of rectifying it further nonsensical suggestions to save face are being suggested.
Secondly, The Mercs were purchased free of duties and taxes, if sold at prevailing market prices or even at auction prices , the government stands to profit. I don’t even need to do detailed calculations to know this.
The Prime Minister has missed a golden opportunity to show his decisiveness and wisdom on this issue, involving the Cabinet to discuss it and then coming up with an untenable solution has just cast aspersions on the Prime Minister and the entire cabinet.
This does not augur well in building the confidence of an already cynical rakyat let alone foreign investors.
To restore confidence I suggest the Prime Minister issue a warning to those who flouted Treasury Policy and auction off all 14 Mercs.