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Tourism, Industry and Investment Promotion Minister Anura Bandaranaike at the London Heathrow Airport, on his way to Colombo yesterday, was informed of a proposed trip to Singapore by 10 Tourist Board officials who were to go to Singapore on a "familiarisation" tour.

As this proposed trip did not have the Minister or the Secretary's approval, the Minister immediately ordered the cancellation of the trip.

Wasting public funds on useless trip by Government officials was one of the reasons for the previous Government's defeat, he said.

The outraged Minister on his arrival said though this is only a small gesture, it will be the beginning of stopping the waste of valuable public funds by Government officials.

The Minister said if the officials wished to 'familiarise' themselves with Singapore, all they have to do was to buy the book. The Biography of Lee Kwan Yew freely available at leading bookshops.

The Minister has cracked down on acts of corruption and waste in institutions under his purview. Earlier, the Minister ordered an urgent, full-scale investigation on the squandering of public funds by the Board of Investment (BoI) during the last two years. This investigation is now underway.

The investigators will focus especially on the appointment of non-qualified personnel to top posts at the BoI for huge salaries without Cabinet approval. It was revealed that the BoI has borne a massive monthly salary bill of over Rs.1.67 million during the two years of the previous regime.

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