After taking the federal government to task recently for allegedly failing to include Sabah and Sarawak for the Auto Scrapping Scheme (ASS) concurrently with Peninsular Malaysia, Sapp vice-president Don Chin Hon Kiong has fired another salvo at the scheme, describing it as dubious and at the same time unfair to Sabahans.

sapp sabah don chin He was commenting on a recent news report quoting Proton managing director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd Tahir as saying the scheme applies to cars of any make provided they pass the Puspakom's (Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre) roadworthy test.

The roadworthy test requires a vehicle to have:

(1) A good body, without rust;

(2) An engine that is in good condition and not emitting smoke;

(3) A good braking system; and

(4) All lights that are of reasonable brightness.

Under the scheme, those who trade in their cars will be given RM5,000 rebate for buying a new Proton car.

“Malaysia is probably the only country in the world that encourages its people to get rid of cars that are still in good condition,” the Sapp leader said.

He raised a question as to the real benefactors of the scheme considering that it only accept cars that are of good roadworthiness.

“There seems to be some catch somewhere in this seemingly benevolent scheme,” Chin suspected.

Sabahans & Sarawakians losing out

He doubted the scheme would benefit the people, citing that those who usually own a car that is above 10 years old are those with limited financial resources who can’t even afford to repair their car.

He also said that to qualify for the scheme, these car owners may have to first fork out between RM3,000 to RM3,500 to repair and refurbish their cars, before they can pass the Puspakom test.

This was given Malaysian habit of not repairing their cars until and unless necessary, hence the condition of their cars deteriorate very fast and in the case of Sabah which has comparatively poor road conditions as compared to the other states in the country, this was even more common.

It is estimated there are at least one million car owners in the country whose vehicles are 10 years old or older who can take part in the scheme, which was introduced as part of the RM60 billion second stimulus package unveiled last week.

At present there are some 4.8 million cars which are 10 years old or older on our roads, and of these 3.9 million are national cars.

Chin also pointed out that Sabahans and Sarawakians are losing out to their peninsular counterparts under the same scheme.

He explained that this was due to the fact that car prices for the two states are much more expensive, with a difference of between RM1,900 to RM2,200 as compared to Peninsular Malaysia.

“If the scheme were to really benefit the people of Sabah and Sarawak then the rebate should be higher than RM5,000,” he said.

Besides this, Chin also reiterated his recent call to the federal government to extend the March 31 deadline for the RM625 fuel rebate claims by at least three months for motorists in Sabah and Sarawak .

Fuel rebate to end on March 31

This was due to the announcement by the government linked-company (GLC) Perodua that the RM5,000 rebate for old cars will only take effect on April 1, contrary to the Proton Edar chief executive officer's (CEO) statement a few days ago that it was with immediate effect.

proton and perodua merger Having realised that they are now entitled to the RM5,000 rebate, some car owners may wish to trade in their old car for a new Proton or Perodua and then claim their fuel rebate of RM625 using the new car.

But Proton and Perodua would only begin to accept the trade-in of old cars on April 1, the day after the fuel rebate of RM625 claims is stopped.

Hence, car owners in Sabah and Sarawak are forced to forgo one of their entitlements, which is either to the buy a new Proton or Perodua so as to qualify for the RM625 rebate or forgo the rebate this month; keep the old car and wait for the RM5,000 rebate scheme to take effect.

Chin also noted it normally takes more than a week for a car owner to register and take out the new car. Therefore, car owners would surely miss the chance to claim the fuel rebate if its deadline were to remain at March 31, 2009.

He called on the Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister VK Liew, who is also Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president and Sandakan MP to be more sincere and committed in championing the interests and causes of Sabah people, instead of being constantly hostile and antagonising Sapp for voicing out the legitimate plights of Sabah people.