KUALA LUMPUR: The government has justified its decision to use the Toyota Vellfire 2.5L as the official vehicle (Kenderaan Rasmi Jawatan or KRJ) for federal cabinet ministers based on several reasons.
In a statement today, the Finance Ministry (MoF) said the Toyota Vellfire 2.5L model was to replace the previous fleet of Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium as they had ceased production in 2014.
"The decision to replace the KRJ was also made, among others, based on the monthly rental cost of the Toyota Vellfire 2.5 being lower than the monthly rental cost of the Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium," the statement read.
According to the Finance Ministry, the monthly rental cost of the Toyota Vellfire 2.5L is RM4,851.61, while the Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium was RM4,854.41.
This works out to a difference of RM2.80 a month.
The ministry added that a proposal to replace the Proton Perdana cars with other vehicles such as the Toyota Vellfire had been considered since the previous administration.
However, the proposal had to be put on hold and it was eventually implemented this year.
"For information, some of the KRJs for the cabinet ministers which had yet to be replaced, have been in use for six years. By right, the KRJs for cabinet ministers are scheduled for replacement once every four years."
The statement was issued in response to the various discussions on social media with regard to the vehicle change.
The matter has been hotly debated and criticised amidst the country facing various challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.