IPOH, July 23 — The Perak Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Abdul Manaf Hashim today said that the committee has not received the forensic report on the Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) from the auditing firm Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) despite completing the full payment.
Abdul Manaf, who is also the Pengkalan Hulu assemblyman, said that the Perak Corp Bhd and the state government had each paid RM200,000 for the detailed audit report on MAPS.
“The previous PAC chairman, Leong Cheok Keng had said that the report is ready and will be tabled, but until today we have not received the report,” he told reporters after chairing the committee’s meeting today at State Secretariat Building here, referring to the Malim Nawar assemblyman.
Abdul Manaf said that the PAC had also sent a letter on the matter to the PwC in order to expedite the process of submitting the report.
“We are still waiting for the report and we hope we can receive it before our next meeting. A lot of people, including the public, are eager to know what transpired from the finding,’ he added.
On Jan 28, the RM520 million animation park was closed until further notice.
The closure notice was issued by the Receiver and Manager of Animation Theme Park Sdn Bhd (ATP) from Messrs Ernst & Young.
Last year, local media reported that Affin Investment had appointed Datuk Duar Tuan Kiat of Messrs Ernst & Young on December 4 as the receiver and manager of property belonging to ATP which is the operator of MAPS.
The future of MAPS is still uncertain as earlier this month the state’s tourism committee chairman Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohd Radzi said that the government is looking for private investors to take over the animation park.
She said the theme park was now undergoing a liquidation process.
“We are looking for private investors to take over its management so it will not be under the state government anymore,” she explained.
MAPS was opened to the public in June 2017.
