Mr Ken Pan Ying
KOTA KINABALU: Chairman of the Sabah Tourism Board (STB), Ken Pan Ying On has chided Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) candidate for the Api Api seat, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming for saying that the caretaker State Government has come up with a ‘ridiculous’ plan to stimulate the ailing state tourism sector.
He said Pang should check his facts before opening his mouth to criticise the caretaker State Government’s Domestic Tourism Stimulus Package that was launched by caretaker Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Christina Liew on September 17 on behalf of caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
Pang had questioned why only RM2 million was allocated for the stimulus package and why the caretaker government made the announcement during this election time, and not before.
In response, the former STB Chairman explained that the State Government had in June this year announced the second phase of COVID-19 Aid Package, dubbed ‘Sabah New Deal’ worth RM240 million to Reactivate, Rejuvenate and Revitalise the State’s economy due to the pandemic.
“Of the sum, RM22 million is specifically allocated for revival of the Sabah tourism industry. And from the RM22 million, RM5 million was allotted for travel incentives and matching grants for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) programmes to bolster the Sabah tourism promotion incentives.
“Of the RM5 million sum, we have awarded RM2 million for the Domestic Travel Stimulus Package (proposed by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents or MATTA). This package serves as a financial incentive to Sabah-based tour operators to stimulate domestic travel to Sabah.
“Against this backdrop, the Domestic Travel Stimulus is not really a new package. We are just readjusting the RM5 million (under the Sabah New Deal) to suit the current situation, given that MICE activities will be slower than envisaged.
“I know it’s election time now but he (Pang) is dead wrong on his comments. Do not belittle our efforts. Together with the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), I had helped to organise the ‘Domestic Tourism Stimulus Package’ in good faith and with sincerity of intention. It is something useful to boost the morale of tour operators and assist them in these trying times,” Pan said in a statement issued here, Saturday.
According to Pan, in April this year, (Datuk) Liew had requested the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) to return 100pc of the tourism tax collected from Sabah for 2019, in view of the current COVID-19 pandemic. “The Minister made the request during a zoom meeting with the Minister of MOTAC, Dato’ Nancy Shukri,” he recalled.
On Pang’s suggestion that the RM2 million be given directly to all the registered tour operators to be divided among them, Pan said it was not workable.
“STB cannot simply hand over cash to the private sector and this is in line with financial procedures,” he added.
Replying to Pang’s query as to the whereabouts of the RM20 million in tourism tax from the Federal Government for 2019 that Sabah (purportedly) received this year (as announced by Minister of MOTAC, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri early this month), Pan clarified that to his knowledge, the State Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment has not received the sum yet.
“To clear the air, the Federal Government paid the sum of RM12 million in tourism tax to the Sabah Ministry of Finance earlier this year. The amount was for 2019,” he shared.
At the Domestic Travel Stimulus Package launching, President of MATTA (Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents), Datuk Tan Kok Liang on behalf of the association expressed his appreciation to the caretaker Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment for having approved the incentive scheme specifically designed to support the local tourism industry.
“We are appreciative of the State government’s approval on our request for a specially designed incentive scheme to boost visitor arrivals from Peninsular Malaysia and our neighbour Sarawak.
“We (MATTA) had proposed that RM2 million (out of the RM5 million allocation under the Sabah New Deal) be allocated for this initiative (Domestic Travel Stimulus Package) to enable our local tour operators and travel agents to survive in this difficult COVID-19 period,” he was quoted as saying.
Under the Domestic Travel Stimulus Package, all Sabah-based licensed tour operators selling domestic tour packages which include accommodation, transportation and tours are eligible to get a RM50 incentive per travellers as per the criteria set by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment.
