Media centre to close from April 8

KUALA LUMPUR: The media centre for MH370, which opened on March 8, will be closed on April 8 due to the high operating cost believed to be in the region of RM1.5 million.
Sources said the high operating cost of RM50,000 daily was among the reasons the decision was made.
The centre was opened on March 8 at the Sama-Sama Hotel and moved to the Putra World Trade Centre on March 23. As the centre was operational for one month, the total cost would work out to some RM1.5 million.
According to a Transport Ministry statement today, the last day of operations for the media centre is April 7.
The statement said the decision to cease operations of the media centre was agreed upon during the technical task force meeting today.
"All press statements from April 8 onwards will be emailed directly to the media via the email addresses which have been provided to the media centre. In any occasion if there is a need for a press conference, the media will be invited with due notice," the statement said.
The sources added that lack of significant news updates and also the dwindling number of journalists, especially from the foreign media, are among the reasons the Technical Task Force on MH370 had decided to wind up the centre.