The Malacca government's  decision last week to replace all 16 Proton Perdana official cars with Honda Accord 2.4cc through a rental service has come under under opposition scrutiny.

State NONE opposition leader Goh Leong San said he found out from the relevant state department that the 16 new cars - 13 for state exco members and three for senior state government officials - are being rented from a private company.

According to an Oriental Daily report today, Goh questioned the monthly rental and the background of the company during a press conference in Malacca yesterday.

"The market price for each Honda Accord is around RM170,000. According to the official of the relevant department, the state government only pays rental to the company, and the company will bear all the maintenance and repair costs.

"If that is the case, I believe the rental will not be low or else how can the company bear the maintenance and repair costs?" the DAP Kesidang assemblyperson was quoted as saying.

goh leong san Goh ( right ) claimed that he was told by the official that the high maintenance cost of the previous Proton Perdana had made it necessary to go for the replacement.

However Goh commented that the government should place emphasise on people's livelihood during this period of global economic slowdown, and not on replacing the official cars, what more when it was done without public knowledge.

"The state government must explain, what is the rental of each official car and other details such as whether the state government needs to bear the maintenance cost, and what happened to the old official cars, whether they have been written off or bought by the exco members?

"People have the right to know," he stressed.