THE Proton Perdana will remain as the official car for ministers and deputy ministers, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng. 

He said there would be no changes in the make of official vehicles, although there was initially a problem of a shortage of the Proton series. 

“There were not enough Perdanas, hence we decided to give an option,” he told reporters at a press conference after the Finance Ministry’s monthly assembly in Putrajaya today. 

“However, we have now received confirmation that the supply for Perdana is sufficient. Hence, we will be maintaining Perdana for ministers and deputy ministers,” he added. 

Lim also said the vehicles for senior officers will be based on their rankings. 

He added that a decision has been made on the company that has bagged the job to supply vehicles to the government’s fleet. 

“The ministry will announce it (later). This is by the tender committee. I am not in the tender committee,” he said. 

The tender was called following the end of Spanco Sdn Bhd’s 25-year government concession. 

The Naza-Berjaya consortium, Sime Darby, DRB-Hicom, the Samling group, Comos and Go Auto were all said to have tendered for the multi-million ringgit job. 

It was previously reported that the government is looking at a new deal which will involve the supply of 32 units of Toyota Vellfire for ministers and 3,000 Honda Accords for the use of senior government officials. 

On a separate note, Lim dismissed claims that ministers were entitled to parking allowance, following a news article screenshot that had gone viral. 

The post featured a purported breakdown of minister’s allowances, claiming ministers were paid a parking allowance of RM5,700. 

Lim said the circulation of the report as fake news. – January 10, 2020.