GEORGE TOWN – Kedah claims Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow made misrepresentations to his state assembly by saying Penang has not received any official communique from Kedah over the payment for raw water abstracted from Sg Muda.
Muhamad Mat Yakim, the political secretary to the Kedah menteri besar, wrote in a column in Berita Harian today that Chow had lied to the Penang assembly.
He said Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor had raised the issue during an online meeting of the National Physical Planning Council with the prime minister – an event attended by both Sanusi and Chow on October 21. He said Sanusi had also raised the issue during a meeting of the National Water Resources Council on December 15.
Mat Yakim said that during the assembly proceedings in George Town on November 30, Chow said that the Kedah menteri besar was only brave in issuing media statements and interviews but had never raised the issue during the prime minister’s meetings with the state menteris besar and the chief minister, which are the official platform for the matter.
He said Chow’s statement in the assembly contradicted what is on record.
“The Kedah government had in fact raised the issues of fee for the raw water abstracted from Sg Muda since 2014.
“The state executive council decided to send a delegation to Penang to discuss the matter. However, the move to send a delegation was halted when Penang did not want to have any discussions on the matter at the state secretariat level,” he said.
Mat Yakim said a Kedah state delegation visited the Penang chief minister’s office in October 2018. However, no agreement was made then.
“In a follow-up, the Kedah government sent a letter to the Penang Water Supply Corporation demanding ‘payment for ecosystem’,” he said.
“The payment for ecosystem was for the cost of maintenance and conservation of the reserve forest and the catchment area in Ulu Muda, which is the source of Sg Muda.
“Penang abstracts 1,100 million litres or 1,100 MLD of raw water from Sg Muda daily, whereas Kedah abstracts 800 million litres daily, showing that 80% of Penang’s water consumption comes from Sg Muda, which runs mostly in Kedah and the cost should be shouldered by the two states to preserve the catchment area,” he added.
Mat Yakim said Syarikat Air Darul Aman, a Kedah state government agency and its authority for water supply, has to pay three sen for every metre of abstracted raw water to the Kedah State Water Resources Board for the treatment of water. – The Vibes, December 17, 2021
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