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PETALING JAYA: Kedah deserves compensation of RM100 million for protecting the water catchment areas in the Ulu Muda forests to supply water to the northern states, said Penang Senior Vice Minister P Ramasamy.
However, he said, compensation should come from the federal government and not from states that use the water, such as Penang.
“Kedah deserves compensation for being the ‘Malaysian Rice Bowl.’ It should urgently join the federal government’s water supply restructuring initiatives.
“By doing so, it can cancel the water debts, something Pahang did when the federal government paid off its RM2 billion debt,” Ramasamy said.
He was referring to an earlier proposal to provide a federal grant of RM 100 million to Kedah to preserve its water catchment areas.
In fact, he said, Penang’s water supply debts were rolled over when the Mengkuang Dam was recently renovated free of charge for RM1.2 billion.
Yesterday, Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Nor said he was open to negotiations with the Penang government, facilitated by the federal government, on payments for raw water to his state.
He was responding to Ramasamy’s earlier comment that Penang would not pay a single sen to Kedah to draw water from its side of Sungai Muda.
Ramasamy said Penang was ready to speak, but would not negotiate the cost as requested by Sanusi.
He said he was not sure why Kedah was delaying participation in water supply restructuring initiatives with the federal government.
“If this is done, Kedah will get a good deal. There is no point blaming the Penang government all the time. We are not stealing water from Kedah, we are only drawing water from our side of Sungai Muda.
“I don’t understand why Sanusi is so harsh on Penang. Perhaps it is because we are on the other side of the political divide. We are open to discussions, but the negotiations are closed, ”he said.
Ramasamy emphasized that it was not that Penang did not want to pay, but should not pay when water was drawn from its side of the river.
