RM27m spent on Million Youths meet

Datuk Seri Najib Razak (centre) and Cabinet minister gesture during the Youth Assembly in Putrajaya, May 28, 2011. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — Putrajaya said today it spent a total of RM27 million for the Million Youths Assembly held last month, 18 times the initial RM1.5 million budget for the National Youth Day event.

Youth And Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek stressed today that the government did not use any “additional expenditure” for the event, and said a “large” amount of the RM27 million was obtained via sponsorship from the private sector.

“The allocation which was prepared by the government to carry out the National Youth Day amounted to RM1.5 million. However, the total costs amounted to RM27 million, where most of it was obtained via sponsorship from the private sector,” Ahmad Shabery said in a reply to Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang (Marang-PAS).

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