Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the state was considering replacing the current 62m ferris wheel following a breakdown in negotiations with the Belgian company Fitraco NV. “We have offered to lease it from the company with 20% profit sharing but they seem to be more interested in looking for a buyer,” he said.
If negotiations were to fail, he said the state was looking at a 90m Chinese ferris wheel, which only cost about RM7mil, to replace the current Eye On Malaysia.
“We may reuse the name Eye on Malaysia for the new wheel or even change its name to the Eye on The Straits of Malacca,” he said, adding that the company must then remove their wheel in due course.
It was learnt that the state had offered RM10mil, including profit sharing to the company that was seeking RM18mil for their wheel.The ferris wheel, the tallest in the country, was brought in by MST Ad Suria Sdn Bhd after taking a lease with Fitraco, a specialist in leasing entertainment equipment.
The wheel was placed at Tasik Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur as part of the Visit Malaysia Year campaign in 2007.
Ad Suria subsequently entered into a joint venture agreement with state subsidiary Kumpulan Melaka Berhad in September 2008 to bring the Eye On Malaysia to Kota Laksamana next to the Malacca River.
On Sept 15 last year, Fitraco filed a suit at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to recover a RM17mil debt owed to the company by Ad Suria.
Fitraco succeeded in gaining control of the ferris wheel on Jan 7 this year and was subsequently granted the right by the High Court to take possession and remove it.
**taken from theStar Metro Section (11 May 2010)
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