Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak&rsquo;s official travel expenditure and that of his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin has this year ballooned by 75.2 percent from 2008's figures.


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 In a written reply yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz stated that the total of cost of 1,102 officers who had accompanied Najib and Muhyiddin on their official trips since 2008 have cost a staggering RM21.45 million.


 Nazri was answering a question by PKR Batu MP Tian Chua, who asked the prime minister to state the number of officers who had accompanied them and the cost of every official trip taken by the premier and his deputy.


 &ldquo;In 2008, the cost of the prime minister&rsquo;s (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and the deputy prime minister&rsquo;s (Najib) trips were RM5,597,583.20,&rdquo; said Chua.


 The Batu MP said that when Najib took office from 2009 to 2010 the cost of the prime minister&rsquo;s and his deputy&rsquo;s official trips &ldquo;skyrocketed&rdquo; to RM6,041,934.35 and RM9,807,310.63 in the respective years.


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 Comparing the numbers, Chua (
 
 left
 
 ) added that between 2008 to 2009 the cost of their travels were at 7.94 percent, while from 2009 to 2010 it jumped to 62.32 percent.


 &ldquo;I believe during the official trips of the prime minister or the deputy prime minister (the department) was forced to bear the prime minister wife&rsquo;s lavish spending,&rdquo; he said.


 &ldquo;Rosmah Mansor has the record of spending big in London in 2008, under Najib&rsquo;s administration I believe a large amount of the cost was to support his wife, for example, (Rosmah&rsquo;s) trip to the International Women&rsquo;s Forum in Washington and New York in May,&rdquo; said Chua in a statement today. &nbsp;


 &nbsp;


 
 
 PMD expenses up 136%
 
 


 Meanwhile, another written answer to Tian&rsquo;s question on the cost of managing and developing the offices of the agencies under the Prime Minister Department, as well as that of the premier his deputy&rsquo;s since 2006, revealed that from RM4.3 billion in 2006 total expenditure grew to RM10.2 billion last year.


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 &ldquo;Which means that it has increased by 136 percent and it does not included the additional expenses,&rdquo; said Tian.


 The 2011 Budget unveiled by Najib last week announced a RM18.14 billion allocation for the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Department.


 The allocation represents 8.55 percent of the total budget allocation of RM212 billion.


 &ldquo;It was also given the third biggest allocation according to the ministries with RM35.76 billion for the Education Ministry and RM31.2 billion for the Finance Ministry,&rdquo; said Tian. &nbsp;

Since Najib Abdul Razak took helm as premier, his travel expenditure has skyrocketed and an opposition MP wants answers.

PM, DPM's travel bill balloons 75% from 2008

~RM12

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