Tkatchenko, Hawkins defend luxury cars and Apec cost

Apec Minister Justin Tkatchenko and chief executive Chris Hawkins have defended the buying of 40 luxury Maserati vehicles for the event.
They have also defended the high cost of staging Apec, with Tkatchenko saying it is a “stepping stone” to better things
Tkatchenko said yesterday he had no regrets buying 40 Maserati vehicles for 21 world leaders to travel around Port Moresby to attend meetings.
“Maserati is a luxurious vehicle for the leaders to use and it is much cheaper than Mercedes, BMW or Audi,” he said.
“At the end of the day, they will not be a cost to the Government because they will be all sold to the private sector after the summit.
“They were bought purposely for the meeting”. Hawkins also defended the decisions to acquire the Maseratis, saying the Philippines Government had purchased 200 BMW vehicles for 21 world leaders when they hosted Apec in 2015.
“We certainly have gone out of our way and acquired these Maseratis, which cost less,” he said.
Tkatchenko said he understood the frustrations with the funding of Apec while people were facing economic and social hardship throughout the country, including deteriorating health services.