Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen has been accused of misleading the cabinet by spending RM1.66 million more in organising the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) conference in April.

azlan Rasah DAP parliamentarian Anthony Loke revealed that the cabinet had approved RM1,738,300 to Tourism Malaysia, an agency under the ministry, to prepare for the conference from April 21 to 22. However, the cost ballooned to RM3,402,460.

According to the minutes of a Tourism Ministry meeting with the agency, the balance of the amount was to be taken from the budget surplus from the 2010 conference.

However, Loke said, this was a breach of financial procedures, pointing out that Ng's presentation to the cabinet only entailed the RM1.7 million figure.

"So, did she mislead the cabinet?” he asked and demanded Ng's response before making his next exposé on the "excessive expenses" involving the conference held at the Royale Chulan Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Loke received documents via the post

Loke said his claims were based on documents he had received "via the post" a month ago and information from whistleblowers.

According to the agency’s minutes dated March 30 and attached documents, distributed by Loke, the agency had used up RM292,220 for its working committee on transportation, specifically for the international marketing division.

Some of the most intriguing expenses were the RM14,580 for the supply of “prepaid phone cards and beaded souvenirs” for the marketing staff.

NONE The agency also spent RM15,600 on “logistics” for its officers’ at the KL International Airport (KLIA) and Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT).

“Hosting an international conference is not a passport to spend lavishly,” said Loke, pointing to the escalating debt of the country.

Among other expenses, the agency "splurged" RM48,000 on four "special made turtle costumes" (or RM12,000 each), RM80,000 on flights for the Pata secretariat members and speakers, and a staggering RM618,695 on advertisements.

"The government tells the people to tighten their belts. But it spends RM250 a person on catering food for 800 people," Loke said.

The amount spent on the Pata welcoming dinner, excluding the conference costs, was RM447,000, while Ng’s suite and rooms for her staff at the five-star hotel cost RM20,000.

Concern over lavish spending my ministries

"I understand that tourism is an important industry in the country. But this is too much for a conference. The reason I am revealing this today is to show how lavishly the ministries spend.

"This is just one conference. A two-day conference costs more than RM3 million, imagine what the others are spending. Tourism Malaysia organises conferences annually and each time it spends excessively," he said.

This is not the first time the opposition has accused Ng of exorbitant spending.

She gained notoriety as "Tourist Minister" when a 2010 parliamentary reply revealed that her travels had cost taxpayers' a whopping RM3.25 million.

The tirade continued last year when another parliamentary reply stated that her ministry had spent RM1.8 million to set up a Cuti-Cuti Malaysia Facebook page.

"How do you expect the BN government to reduce our national debt and reduce the deficit with such lavish and unnecessary expenses?" Loke asked.

"I challenge her (Ng) to prove that this document is wrong and untrue. I have other documents to back my allegations that she has misled the cabinet," he added.

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