Yen Yen denies overpaying RM270m for ads
By Lisa J. Ariffin
Ng maintains her ministry spent more for advertisement, but not more in total. File pic
She provided no explanation, however, as to why the Auditor-Generals report tabled in Parliament this week had singled out her ministry for breaching Treasury rules.
Ministry of Tourism Malaysia did not overspend, did not spend more... The report says that the amount of direct buy is more but not the total amount of promotion is more, theres a difference, Ng told reporters today following the launch of Art Expo Malaysia 2011 here.
The Auditor-General had reported that the ministry had overpaid in advertising fees when it chose to use direct bookings instead of open tenders, to which Ng said, Direct [negotiations] can be conducted.
[With] direct [negotiation,] you deal directly with the media, you do away with intermediary. The prices we paid are never above the market price, she said.
However, I have instructed my secretary-general to do a full study of this report and take all necessary steps to fine tune and strengthen the management.
When asked if the ministry would be opting for open tenders in the future, Ng said the ministry will do whatever is best for us.
When you buy from media directly, a lot of intermediaries are off. Their price is standard, she said, adding that it was impossible for companies to overcharge the ministry because we know the price.
So we admit that the report is true, but we did not overspend. In fact our promotion budget was the lowest in 2009 and 2010, but the amount of direct [negotiations were] higher because we wanted to go right! on and get as much value for money as possible, she said.
Ng then pointed out that her ministry had obtained a Sijil Bersih in the Auditor-General report, which she described as very important.
The Auditor-General Report for 2010 showed the Tourism Ministry overpaid nearly RM270 million for advertisements when it chose to use direct bookings instead of open tenders.
The report noted that in doing so, the ministry had also breached the Treasurys regulations as laid down in a circular in 2007.
The ministry also spent a whopping RM1.95 million to buy 1,000 racks RM1,950 per rack to hold its tourism pamphlets for the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign, the report said, again pointing out the move was done without the treasurys approval.
Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said the ministry must hold an open tender so the price offered will be more competitive, transparent and provide better value for money.
In addition, this method would have avoided power abuse as well as created internal controls and good governance in booking advertisement space, he said in the report.
He noted further that if the ministry had held an open tender, its advertising spending would have cost RM75.38 million.
The Auditor-General said it was also unable to confirm the distribution of 22 of the 1,000 racks as the ministry could not supply the note of delivery as proof of claim, while another 127 racks were also not accounted for.
It noted the ministrys explanation that 622 racks had been distributed to hotels, 127 were expired by the contracted company, Leo Communications Sdn Bhd, due to financial complications and lack of storage space, and as many as 85 racks were locked in the companys storage hold.
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