The Tourism Ministry has come under scrutiny for awarding a promotion contract to Sumur Mutiara Sdn Bhd which had previously failed to deliver two incinerator projects on time and according to specifications.

Furthermore, Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming questioned how a company with experience in building incinerators can take up an advertising job.

"Given the large amount of government spending which goes into tourism promotion campaigns, why is it that a company that was previously awarded two small-scale incinerator projects and failed to deliver on time and within the specifications, be awarded a big tourism promotion contract?

"Are the skills and expertise for building incinerators similar to those needed for tourism promotion?" he said in a statement today.

Sumur Mutiara Sdn Bhd was highlighted by the Auditor-General's Report 2012 for failing to meet the deadline for the two projects in Pulau Tioman and Cameron Highlands and not operating according to required standards.

"I urge the Tourism Malaysia chairperson Ng Yen Yen ( left ), as well as Tourism Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, to disclose the amount of the three-year contract awarded to Sumur Mutiara and explain the reason why this contract was given to a company that is virtually unknown in the advertising industry," he said.

Sumur Mutiara is listed on the Tourism Ministry website as the recipient of a tourism promotion contract for the domestic market.

It is one of ministry's nine tourism promotion contracts for various regions of the world.

The website did not specify how much the contracts are worth but Ong said the ministry's operating and promotion budget for 2015 is RM454 million, much of it for advertising and promotion campaign.