MP SPEAKS Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said announced that he will lead a Malaysian delegation's 15-day visit to Antarctica beginning Jan 17.
 
A statement from the Menteri Besar's Office said the working visit "is initiated towards enabling Malaysia to contribute to research on climate change which has become increasingly unpredictable."

First of all, how is this 15-day jolly luxury cruise to Antarctica going to benefit Malaysia? If Malaysia has scientists involved in climate change, they would be better served studying the impact of climate change through massive deforestation happening in our country.

Why should we be spending any tax-payer’s money at all to "research" an area where we have no competitive advantage?

Worse, even if there are academics interested in the study of climate change in Antarctica, why should our ministers be given a beautiful tour of faraway Antarctica at tax-payers’ expense?
 
Even worse, he isn't even the country’s minister of science and technology, or the minister of natural resources and environment.

He is the menteri besar of a state, Terengganu who has no business gallivanting in the unpopulated South Pole!

Ahmad Said can't claim that he is going to Antarctica for a trade mission to draw foreign investment or attract tourists, unless you count a waddle of penguins.

He can't even give the incredulous excuse used by former Selangor menteri besar, Mohd Khir Toyo who went to Disneyland around the world purportedly to study theme parks while visiting Mickey Mouse and friends.

Mind bogglingly expensive tour

Based on a conservative estimate of RM50,000 per head for a return business class flight to Chile and a standard-room (as opposed to suites) Antarctica cruise, a delegation of 20 persons will cost the state RM1 million without taking into account other side tours and expenses.

Ahmad Said (right) has no right to abuse the rakyat’s money on such an extravagant junket when Terengganu remains the poorest state in peninsular Malaysia after Perlis and Kelantan.
 
What’s more, under his administration, the state has now been nicknamed Terengganu Darul Runtuh for the never-ending roof collapses in the state.

Last year alone, the roofs of Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium collapsed in February, Kg Binjai Kertas Mosque in May, Kg Tebauk Mosque in September and Dewan Chancellor, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in December.  

These problems have are repeating themselves in the state because the government has failed to punish and blacklist the errant contractors.

Ahmad Said must give a full account of the expenses of the trip and provide a full report on its benefits to Malaysia, and particularly to the state of Terengganu.  

It is such defiant arrogance and exorbitance in BN government expenditure that Malaysians cannot tolerate Najib administration’s call for the people to accept subsidy cuts and higher prices.

 Hence we call upon Najib Razak who must be praised for falling “kangkung” prices, to reprimand Ahmad Said for such blatant extravagance while the people are struggling under higher cost of living.


TONY PUA is MP for PJ Utara.