Perak MB says not to worry, Tanjung Tualang adventure park won’t turn out like Animation Park Studios

IPOH, Feb 16 — Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad today sought to allay public fears of another white elephant being created with a new adventure park in Tanjung Tualang as the state moves to increase its tourist attractions post-pandemic.

He said the project being built at the Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No. 5 is a full private financing initiative (PFI) and will not end up like the RM520 million Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) here, a public-private joint venture that opened in 2017 and closed in early 2020 and has since been abandoned.

“This is not a theme park per say but a tourism attraction. It’s basically a tourism product that will be managed by MB Inc, but fully funded based on PFI.

“So no one has to worry as it does not involve any government or public fund,” he told a press conference at the Stadium Indera Mulia here.

TAFI Home & Office Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tafi Industries Bhd, was yesterday reported to have been awarded a contract by TT5 Theme Assets Sdn Bhd to fully build from start to finish a theme park in Tanjong Tualang.

TAFI Group CEO Datuk Seri Bryan Wong said the RM11 million contract is for 18 months that started yesterday to August 14, 2024.

“Obtaining the contract from TT5 Theme Assets will contribute positively to TAFI's earnings and net tangible assets for the financial years ending December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2024,” he said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia.

MB Inc chief executive officer Anuar Zainal Abidin told reporters that the state company only owns the land and will generate profit from leasing and profit sharing.

“One of the mandates given to MB Inc is to preserve the Tin Dredge. So one of the ways to generate profit in order to preserve the dredge is by building tourism products around it.

“The private company, which is our partner, will supply the fund for the construction of the tourism attractions and will develop the area around the dredge.

“Therefore the issue of risk or liability does not exist here as we (MB Inc) only function as land owners,” he said.

Like Saarani, Anuar said the Tanjung Tualang project is not a theme park, but an adventure park which is similar to the one in Penang known as Escape Penang.

“We already have an attraction called maze garden there and we are in the process of building another product called Ipoh Escape, which is basically an obstacle course. Our target market is from Singapore and Thailand, apart from the domestic visitors,” he said.

Anuar also said the whole project for the tourism products around the Tin Dredge with a total of 66.36 hectares of land is worth a total of RM35 million.

“The RM11 million that was reported was only for a part of the project. We will gradually build more attractions. I can’t announce all the attractions now as we need to get the approval from our partners,” he said.