The decision of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in Perak to dispose of 14 units of Toyota Camry cars will cost taxpayers RM518,000, arising from the difference between the original price and current market value of the model.

The decision was made to support the country’s national car industry, with the month-old Camrys to be replaced with the Perdana Executive model.

a sivanesan “The original price of the Toyota Camry was RM167,000 and the current market value is RM130,000 - this means a loss of about RM37,000 per car,” said former exco member and Sungkai assemblyperson A Sivanesan.

“Multiply this by 14 and the total loss comes to about RM518,000. This has nothing to do with patriotism. It is a political ploy by the BN that will waste taxpayers’ money.”

Sivanesan claimed that the BN decision was driven by “prejudice” against the ousted Pakatan Rakyat administration which had bought the 16 vehicles as official cars for the state executive council members.

“Why are the BN state and national leaders not buying the Perdana Executive for their private use and for members of their families, if they want to show patriotism by using the national car?” he asked.

“They prefer to buy foreign models with their personal funds. Why the double standard? In public they preach about loyalty and patriotism, but in private they do not walk the talk.”

During Pakatan’s 10-month administration from March last year, the exco had selected the Camry over the Perdana Executive, saying that the cost of maintaining the latter would exceed the price of the vehicle. The state exco is allowed to change the official cars every five years.

In terms of value, maintenance, spare parts and endurance, Sivanesan said, the Camry was a better choice.

Poor response to auction

The vehicles were purchased in January this year, drawing flak from the BN which described Pakatan as unpatriotic and disloyal to the country.

The following month, BN toppled Pakatan with the help of defections. One of its first actions was to attempt to auction 14 of the vehicles, but this has been postponed due to poor response from prospective buyers.

The other two vehicles were retained by ousted menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and state assembly speaker V Sivakumar pending the outcome of their court cases to determine the legality of their status.

perak menteri besar cm toyota camry licence plate 230409 After a protracted court battle, the Court of Appeal ruled last Friday that BN’s Zambry Abd Kadir is the lawful menteri besar of the state.

The same evening, the state government sent a letter to Nizar ordering him to return the car immediately, and he complied the next day.

Sivanesan is currently the sole Pakatan representative who has refused to surrender the official car.

If both these cars are also auctioned, the total loss will amount to RM592,000.