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PETALING JAYA: Former Prime Minister Najib Razak responded to P Ramasamy about the Penang-Kedah water dispute after Penang Vice Minister II gave him a lecture on the state’s “riverside” rights.
In a Facebook post, Najib also said that he never claimed that Penang had no right to draw water from Sungai Muda without paying Kedah, but noted that Kedah also had rights.
“Does the Penang government have the right to constantly inform or prevent the Kedah government from tale Ulu Muda?” He asked Ramasamy, adding that this also applies to Kedah’s plans to extract rare earths.
“What law states that Penang can require the Kedah government to carry out cloud seeding whenever there is a drought? There aren’t any, right?
Najib asked why Penang’s chief minister Chow Kon Yeow had previously said that he was open to negotiating with Kedah on the water issue if there was no need for Penang to pay his neighbor.
This, Najib said, was why he felt it reasonable for Penang to pay Kedah if he wanted to tell Kedah what he can do with his resources.
“It is reasonable because the money paid by Penang can be used by Kedah to preserve raw water sources that benefit both states.”
Previously, Ramasamy criticized Najib for saying that it was reasonable for Penang to pay Kedah in the same way that Melaka and Selangor paid Pahang.
In the case of Penang, Ramasamy said it extracted most of the water from Sungai Muda on its side of the border and therefore had riparian rights. Melaka and Selangor, however, needed water transport from Pahang.
The Penang and Kedah governments have been locked in a war of words over Kedah’s mining plans in Ulu Muda, which serves as a catchment for the state, Penang and Perlis.
The area’s water supply is said to serve about 4.2 million consumers in all three states.
