By: Zaki Salleh
IPOH – The business failure of the Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) theme park to the point of forcing it to close has given a negative image to the state of Perak.
In this regard, the people who view the proposal to build a new theme park in the state need to understand more in detail so that there are no question marks.
Although the project to be developed later is a private initiative, the location involves government land and the public has a right to know.more.
Private worker Hafiz Majid said the state government, especially the agencies involved in the project, should not remain silent but instead explain to the people the purpose of the project.
He said the people need to be given an understanding of a matter if it involves the interests of the state.
“I only found out about this new theme park project through social media and a question mark arose.
“The people do not have absolute power to protest but at least explain to them who is involved in this project,” he said.
A similar view was voiced by the caretaker, Shima Ramli because he did not want a similar fate to happen to MAPS in Meru Raya.
“Do you want to open a theme park for ordinary people or foreign tourists? We don’t want people to only be able to watch.
“What happened at MAPS is like that. At first, it was opened grandly but the people themselves couldn’t get in because the tickets cost hundreds of ringgit.
“When it went bankrupt and closed, only then did we know the real problem, but that time and energy is wasted not to mention the funds involving tens of millions,” he said.
A theme park will be built in Tanjung Tualang, Batu Gajah through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) without involving state government money.
The theme park was built to generate income for maintenance work to conserve Tanjung Tualang Dredger No 5 (TT5).
Citing the statement of the Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, it was built on land owned by the Menteri Besar Corporation (MB Inc).
“The theme park is part of the existing products there such as the Maze Garden and the petting zoo (tamed animal zoo) to generate income to conserve the dredgers,” he said.
