The Malaysian Association of Tour Agency (MATA) is urging the government to expedite the implementation of the National Economic Regeneration Plan (PENJANA) related to the tourism sector financing facility worth RM1 billion.

Its president Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun said the financing facility should have started in early July before its launch was postponed to July 15 but until now there had been no announcement on the matter by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) or the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC).

He said when involved in discussions with BNM on June 16, MATA told BNM to scrutinise three main items to boost the tourism sector, namely, providing travel grants, soft loans and extending the moratorium period.

Therefore, Mohd Khalid said, MOTAC should play a role as a mediator in facilitating discussions with fund providers as meant by BNM, and the relevant government agencies, so that tourism industry players could meet to facilitate the distribution of the funds.

He said MOTAC should rightly use existing funds such as the Tourism Infrastructure Fund of RM1 billion and the Special Fund for Tourism (SFT3) to be given to tourism industry activists in order to restore the industry immediately.

"The Malaysian Tourism Promotion Scheme (GAMELAN Malaysia) should also expedite repayments to tourism sector activists as this is not the time to entertain the bureaucracy such as waiting for all officers to meet before an approval is made," he said in a statement yesterday.

MOTAC Secretary-General Datuk Dr Noor Zari Hamat on July 9 said the ministry and BNM would announce a mechanism under the PENJANA Tourism Financing (PTF) scheme in the middle of this month worth RM1 billion.

Meanwhile, Mohd Khalid suggested that the state governments, through local authorities, could give assessment tax and land tax exemptions to tourism activists to help the industry recover.

-- BERNAMA