PETALING JAYA (Feb 24): The Penang Development Corp (PDC) has made a request for proposals (RFP) for its outlay-heavy “International Theme Park and Mixed Development East of Batu Kawan” – this time on more flexible terms, reported The Edge weekly.

The latest RFP will see the corporation removing some “stumbling blocks” that have dulled the appeal of the project, causing the previous two rounds – in 2013 and 2016 respectively – to receive only two serious bids each.

“We are giving more flexibility. We don’t want to dictate the terms as we want them [investors] to recoup their investment as we know it will be huge. We want more people to put in their proposals. They can be very creative. Let us see what they come up with,” said PDC general manager Datuk Rosli Jaafar.

In 2013, PDC’s RFP was for two parcels of land earmarked for an international theme park and residential, commercial and golf-related components over 215 acres. Of this, the theme park was to occupy 170.5 acres.

The project was worth over RM100 million and was to be on a 30-year plus 30 years lease.

The tender closed on Oct 31, 2013.

Then, in November 2016, PDC issued another RFP – this time for an international theme park and mixed-use development at Bandar Cassia, Batu Kawan, with 120 acres allotted to the theme park.

The proposal deadline was Feb 6, 2017.

The non-refundable documents for the latest RFP is available for RM3,180 and the deadline is April 30 this year.