Proton/Mercedes fiasco - Big Ears’ Dilemma with Terengganu’s “one ear in, one ear out” defiance

“Defiant act – Exco men use Merc despite Cabinet order”

This is the screaming front-page headline in today’s Sunday Star on the latest twist in the Proton Perdana/Mercedes Kompressor fiasco, viz:

JOHOR BARU: At least four of Terengganu’s eight state executive council members are using newly purchased Mercedes-Benz E200 Kompressor cars despite a Cabinet directive against doing so.

Several of them were seen travelling in the cars to official functions and meetings.

Those who were seen taking rides in the car said they were waiting for Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said to make an announcement at Wednesday’s state executive council meeting on when to give up the cars.

Terengganu Tourism, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committee chairman Datuk Za’abar Mohd Adib attended the Malaysian Flora Fest here yesterday in his gleaming new black Mercedes-Benz.

What is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who prides in having “Big Ears”, going to do in the face of the “One ear in, one ear out” defiance of the Terengganu State Government?

Is he going to crack the whip to impose discipline or is he going to close his eyes and ears and pretend such defiance does not exist?

The Prime Minister’s short statement on the Proton-Mercedes fiasco on Friday has raised many questions.

This was what Abdullah had said:

“I wish to state here that this is an important decision by the cabinet, that the state government must not use the cars for its state executive councillors or any officers entitled to use official cars. This is what we have decided upon,” he said.

“Since the cars have been bought and to sell them would only result in a loss, all of them must be used for state guests or dignitaries.

“This is the decision, nothing more, nothing less.”


Questions:

1. Why must the Cabinet meet to decide on a very simple and straightforward matter involving breach of the federal directive that the Proton Perdana is the official car for state executive councillors and ex-officio members? Hasn’t the Cabinet got more important things to do?

2. Why must the Cabinet meet over a RM3.43 million impropriety by the Terengganu state exco when the Cabinet had been blind and deaf to mega-scandals, whether the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone bailout scandal or the RM500 million Monsoon Cup scandal or the RM250 million Islamic Civilisation Park scandal?

3. “Since the cars have been bought and to sell them would only result in a loss…”

As several commentators had pointed out in the thread on this item yesterday, there is a simple solution to this fiasco. Since the market price of the Mercedes E-200 Kompressors is RM350,000 while the State government bought them for RM245,000 without the various taxes, selling them to the public could even bring a tidy profit to the State Government of RM70,000 to RM100,000 each. Why didn’t the Abdullah Cabinet think of this?

However, the biggest question remains what Big Ears is going to do with the Terengganu “One ear in, one ear out” defiance!

Lim Kit Siang