Malaysiakini has reported today that Malaysians are faced with another scandal in the Tourism Ministry.
It is learned that two senior officials of a government-linked company have been implicated in a series of scams that have allegedly diverted millions of ringgit in tourism-development funds into private pockets.
The duo are key figures in Pempena Sdn Bhd, or the national tourism development company, which was set up in 1976 by Tourism Malaysia, an agency of the Tourism Ministry.
It has been revealed that they have:
pocketed commissions when refinancing luxury vehicles for a high-end tourist taxi service;
approved several contracts to RM2 companies supplying services for tourism-based projects;
over-stated the cost of creating an e-tourism portal by about RM5 million; and
bypassed the Pempena board of directors in ‘investing’ in a restaurant project in Melbourne.
Its reported that dissatisfied staff-members of Pempena had submitted a Memorandum dated March 24 to current Tourism Minister Dato Sri Azalina Othman, but no response have been received so far.
The Memorandum named Accountant Lim Khing Tai and Senior Business Development Manager Raja Norsan Raja Nasron as the main culprits behind the alleged scams.
It also revealed that Chief Executive Officer Razali Mohd Daud, who is also Deputy Director-General of Tourism Malaysia's promotions department, had done nothing despite having received the complaints.
SCANDALS...AFTER SCANDAL......WHO CARES....DUIT RAKYAT SAHAJA YANG HILANG. THIS SHOW HOW INCOMPETENT AND USELESS OUR BARISAN NASIONAL GOVERNMENT IS.
news n photo courtesy of Malaysiakini
5 comments:
I wonder where's Ezam ?
Where's GERAK ?
Ezam where are you?
sure no action lah, those are here boys. Dollah, ACA time to wakeup lah!
mashooook...!
wonder if sharir is still interested in this scam since he is going to be one of them...soon.
What a shock.
We had approached Kementerian Pelancongan and Pempena Sdn. Bhd since the last few years. We were informed that everything is running well and according to the plan and no other helps are required. But some people sees it differently. I had the opportunity to quote from a professorial lecture from one of our professors as a basis.
HE SAYS – I QUOTED
“…From the knowledge and our assessments, six issues related to the biodiversity, sustainable development and ecotourism have to be taken seriously on our way forwards.
1. EIA reports’ development tool
2. Biodiversity, sustainability and ecotourism
Pulau Payar was famous for snorkeling. The uncontrolled number of visitors almost turned the islands into a crowded open zoo...The international cry leads to a new look, design and location for the jetty in Tioman...Raw sewage from chalets on Perhentian and Tioman islands are discharged directly into the sea; it is starting to pay toll on the corals…
3. What are we offering to the tourists?
Our nitch is our tropical bioresource diversity, and ecotourism is the fastest-growing ecotourism sub-sector in the world... We had listed more than 500 ecotourism sites throughout the country. But an initial study shows that half of the sites are not safe to the visitors…
4. Small players in ecotourism business
Cherating beach was once, a very famous destination to international travelers. Rantau Abang was once a popular destination for tourists to watch turtles…Chalets, restaurants, service shops that were run by small-scale entrepreneurs were sprouting alongside the two tourist destinations. Where are they now? Years ago the government was promoting the establishments of small chalets along the beaches of Pahang, Terengganu, and Kelantan. And also on small islands of Malaysia. How are they doing now? Not good!
5. Public ecotourism sites.
Forest departments are developing and maintaining tourist facilities at forest reserves. Marine departments with the marine parks. District offices with their beaches and rest houses. Agricultural departments and research organizations with their agricultural tourism facilities. Does the general public knows the name of all these facilities, and know how to use the facilities? Our initial survey shows that only 50% of these facilities are safe to be visited…
6. Our tourism industry and promotion needs a complete overhaul?
A total of 17.55 million tourist arrived in Malaysia in 2006; which is said to bring in RM37 billion Ringgit receipts…A close analysis of the “tourist arrival data” shows that 79% of the tourists comes from five countries… People that come to Malaysia seeking employments, or weekend visitors in Johor and Miri might not bring widespread tourism benefits to the country.”
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