HK$250m Mega Events Fund bungling is 'inexcusable', say lawmakers

It was unacceptable and inexcusable for a HK$250 million big-events fund to be fraught with administrative and operational flaws, lawmakers said in censuring government mismanagement that led to a waste of taxpayers' money.

Members of the Legislative Council's Public Accounts Committee condemned the incompetence of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Tourism Commission in managing the Mega Events Fund - which was already criticised by the audit watchdog in April.

The fund was set up in 2009 to sponsor events and promote Hong Kong as the events capital of Asia. Its chairman, Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung sits on the executive and legislative councils.

"The committee expresses grave dismay and finds [the fund's mismanagement] inexcusable," committee chairman Abraham Razack said.

In its report yesterday, the committee echoed the Audit Commission's April 16 report that slammed operators of the fund for overstating turnouts at events it sponsored.

The operators were found to have exaggerated the number of jobs the fund created and failed to chase up invoices for expenses.