By Theckla Gunga – EMTV News, Port Moresby
The Papua New Guinea Government has secured 40 Maseratis to be used during the APEC Leaders’ Summit in November.
These 40 vehicles are super executive sports cars, which retail in the European Market, at around 70,000 US dollars, or K229,000 each.
Minister responsible for APEC, Justin Tkatchenko, says these cars are being committed to be paid for, by the private sector, and are ‘APEC-standard’.
The first 20 Maseratis were flown into the country on Sunday, and the other 20 this morning (October 10) on AirBridge Cargo’s Boeing 747 from Italy.
These vehicles which cost close to 70,000 US dollars each on the European market, (that’s equivalent to approximately K229,000), are computerized and will be used to transport world leaders during the Leaders’ Summit.
A statement released from the office of the Minister responsible for APEC, states that ‘Papua New Guinea is delivering a world-class APEC Summit and the PNG APEC Authority is ensuring that leaders and dignitaries are transported properly during APEC.”
The statement further states that “…having the vehicles paid for by the private sector is the smartest way to have use of the vehicles for APEC and at no overall cost to the state”.
In the last 24 hours, the news of the arrival of these cars have created debate on social media, especially on Facebook; and the question on everyone’s mind is, “who is paying for these sports cars, and what will happen to them when APEC concludes?”
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