[ad_1]
GEORGE TOWN: Gerakan today urged the state government to clarify how much it has spent on the Asian Comic Cultural Museum since 2016 after it was revealed that more than RM400,000 was allocated to pay the rent for the space it occupies in the ICT Mall. in Komtar.
Penang Gerakan Vice President H’ng Khoon Leng said that following the state assembly figures, the state would have easily spent about RM2 million on rent alone since the museum’s inception in March 2016.
“Imagine, this is just rent. What about the other costs? While it could be operated by a private company, the taxpayers’ money is gone, so we have a right to know, ”H’ng said at a press conference today.
“We believe this money could be used for frontline tourists, who have been experiencing a drop in business due to the motion control order.”
Recently, it was revealed that the state had allocated RM 413,940 to rent 13,000 square feet of space in the ICT Mall for the comic book museum.
A response from the state assembly dated October 12 showed that the money came from federal tourism taxes collected in 2018 and 2019, amounting to RM20.1 million.
The chief minister, Chow Kon Yeow, had previously said that the museum’s rent would be paid until the end of December, as part of an agreement signed in 2016.
He also denied that the museum was owned by the state government, but said the funds were awarded to support local tourism.
But H’ng said a search by the Malaysian Business Commission (SSM) yielded no results, raising questions about the museum’s ownership and legal status.
He said it was unreasonable for the state to fund the museum when other more deserving tourism products could have benefited from it.
“For the sake of transparency and integrity, the CM must disclose all agreements signed with the museum,” he said.
He said Gerakan filed a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday to examine the museum.
Last year, former Prime Minister Najib Razak had asked if the museum was part of the Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC) linked to the state government, after seeing a “PYDC wholly owned” sign next to the signage of the Museum.
Penang Front Party Youth chief Jasper Ooi also said funding for the museum should stop if it was a private entity.
He said the funds could be used to help other SMEs in the tourism industry.
The museum’s curator, Hew Kuan Yau, said a statement would be released later.
