Abuse in the name of economic stimulus package: Money spent on luxury items!

The economic stimulus package announced in November 2008 was also misused, the National Audit Department says.

The 2009 Auditor-General's Report says the RM250 million allocated under the stimulus package was meant to restore or carry out maintenance work on military camps and quarters but money from this allocation was also spent on luxury items for the Labuan air base, Wilayah Laut camp (Mawilla 3) in Langkawi and the Lumut naval base.

For Mawilla 3, the contentious items included:

• Washable solid vinyl wallpaper with PVC (RM95,880)
• Two sofa sets (RM26,000)
• Carpets (RM13,320)
• Home theatre set (RM12,000)
• Chandelier (RM10,000)

On the Mawilla 3 dining room alone, RM144,118 had been spent. The contentious items included:

• Replacement tiles (RM72,960)
• Nine air-conditioners (RM32,200)
• Plaster ceilings (RM31,008)
• Cornice (RM5,950)

The report said that the audit found that these works were not supposed to be performed as no serious damage to the dining room had been reported.