Since 1994, Spanco has managed more than 35,000 vehicles for the Malaysian government and supported the creation of 63 Bumiputera-owned workshops, said Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul on last Thursday’s Dewan Rakyat sitting.

“In 1994, Spanco Sdn. Bhd. was appointed as the concessions company to manage and supply the government’s vehicle fleet. Spanco has managed more than 35,000 vehicles since 1994 and has created 63 Bumiputera-owned workshops, as part of the government’s measures to prioritize Bumiputera businesses since 1994.

“Apart supplying and maintaining the government’s fleet, the company also manages all repair, maintenance, registration and inspection of the government’s vehicle fleet. Their service is 24 hours daily, all across Malaysia.”

Zafrul was responding to a question by Bayan Baru’s Member of Parliament Sim Tze Tzin on whether the contract to replace the official Proton Perdana cars for Federal government level Ministers with Toyota Vellfire was done via an open tender or direct negotiation.

The Finance Minister didn’t provide a clear answer to Sim’s question, but that’s also because the session had quickly descended into a shouting match with Baling Member of Parliament Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim pointing that many other state governments have purchased luxury cars as their official cars, before Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat intervened and ended the debate.

Also read: MoF: Safety and comfort also reasons behind switch from Proton Perdana to Toyota Vellfire

Muar’s Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq also asked why was the Proton X70 not used instead, adding that he had previously expressed with disagreement to the Cabinet when the proposal for the Toyota Vellfire was first mooted, to which Zafrul replied “Well why didn’t you resign if you disagreed? The decision made is a consensus.”

Also read: MoF dodges question on why Toyota Vellfire but not Proton X70 as official car

Separately, a report by the New Straits Times say that Spanco’s 25-year concession with the Malaysian government had already ended in 31-December 2018, but the government has yet to finalize a new contract. In the mean time, the government will continue to work with Spanco.

The report also listed Hertz Malaysia, Avis Malaysia, DRB-HICOM Bhd, Weststar Group, Naza Group as among the bidders for the new contract.

The daily also quoted industry sources as saying the Vellfire supply contract is for 40 vehicles, with a 4-year lease period.