Third national car project: Rafizi

> ‘It will have a huge financial impact on the people’

PETALING JAYA: PKR vicepresident Rafizi Ramli ( pix) has urged the government to reconsider its plans for a third national car project, saying it is against the people’s wishes. Expressing his concern in a statement yesterday that the government would insist on going ahead with the project although the rakyat is not receptive to it, he reminded the government that Pakatan Harapan (PH) was chosen on a platform of reducing the people’s burden.

He said while the people are still giving PH the opportunity to fulfil the promises it made in its election manifesto, even though not all can be achieved within 100 days, implementing something which is unpopular and contradicts PH’s pledges will only draw cynicism.

The matter should be deliberated at the Pakatan Harapan presidential council before being presented to the Cabinet, he said with reference to Entrepreneur Development Minister Mohd Redzuan Yusof’s statement on Saturday that the government would launch the national car project 3.0 by 2020 as envisioned by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad.

Redzuan had said the government believed that the move could revitalise the national automotive industry.

Rafizi also reminded that PH’s predecessor, Pakatan Rakyat, had in its 13th general election manifesto, or Buku Jingga, pledged to abolish the excise duties on vehicles.

“Excise duties were connected with efforts to protect national cars but ended up making cars more expensive than in other countries.

“The basic platform to abolish the excise duty, to bring down car prices, has not changed since PH was formed.

“Nowhere in PH’s campaign or in its manifesto has it mentioned the setting up of a third national car project,” he said, and urged the government to take into account several considerations before pressing on with the project as “it will have a huge financial impact on the people”.

Rafizi asked how much of public funds would be used as investment and which government agency would take over the responsibility to oversee the project.

He also asked whether the government would abolish excise duties to reduce car prices when the third national car is launched.