Around 20 luxury limousines belonging to Pempena Executive Taxis Sdn Bhd (PETS) and Malaysian Travel Business Sdn Bhd are sitting idle at the office car parks in the neighbourhood.

Seven Naza Ria GS four- wheel drives, four Mercedes Vito and three Mercedes Kompressor E200 limousines are at a public car park run by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, opposite the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).

NONE Another two Mercedes A200 Kompressors, two Mercedes Vitos and a Naza Ria four wheel drive are at an open air private car park a stone's throw from PWTC.

A new Mercedes E200 Kompressor fetches around RM353,888, with a depreciation value of 8 to 10 percent a year.

Last month, the auditor-general revealed that a handful of subsidiaries under the Tourism ministry is under probe by the Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) over misuse and abuse of government allocations.

Pempena officials were evasive when pressed, saying that their chief executive officer (CEO) Idros Mohd is in touch with the auditor-general' s office over the issue.

One of them also revealed that the chairman and four board of directors under Pempena's Corporate Treasures Travel Services Sdn Bhd had been suspended.

Bridle on staff's tongues

"We are in the midst of restructuring. It would be detrimental to that exercise if we were to discuss these issues," she said.

NONE When pressed further, she claimed that the CEO had placed a gag order on the staff over the matter.

Another senior Pempena officer, when met, said that he is not aware of the matter.

"We do not know. This is under PETS, our subsidiary company," he said.

When pushed further, he claimed that the number of taxis not in use were not that many.

"The number amounts to less than a hundred not two hundred as claimed by people. We cannot say much as it would affect our rice bowl," he said.

NONE It was reported that Pempena Sdn Bhd had "invested" RM18.3 million in the taxi management company, Dalamasa Sdn Bhd,within 18 months of its inception in 2007.

However, the agreement to manage the taxis was terminated October last year.

When met, a senior tourism ministry official said that they are looking into the matter and declined to further comment.