ALOR STAR – Penang and Kedah have escalated their dispute over water by heading to court after Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammed Sanusi Md Nor was quoted as saying he would seek legal action to compel Penang to pay for raw water it extracts from Sg Muda.
The river originates from the Ulu Muda water catchment area in Kedah.
Sanusi told a ceramah recently that he has instructed the state legal division to act on a legal redress on the matter following a dispute between two states over rights to the Sg Muda water.
Kedah claims that Penang needs to pay for the raw water it receives from Sg Muda, seeking more than RM50 million annually from its neighbouring state.
According to Sanusi, Penang only borders less than 20% of the Sg Muda territories, while the majority and origins of the river comes from Kedah.
“I expect the matter to go to court by year-end. We will talk in court,” said Sanusi.
Earlier he also lambasted Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin at the same ceramah for instigating that it was Kedah that was to be blamed for the pollutants in the Sg Muda river for allowing logging and farming concessions upstream.
Sanusi has taken up the challenge of Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who had last year asked him to bring the matter to court as both sides traded barbs over the issue of water supply.
The unease over the sustainable and consistent level of water supply from Sg Muda, has since seen Penang reaching out to Perak for supply.
Sg Muda supplies water to 80% of Penang’s 1.8 million households after it is treated at the Sg Dua water treatment plant in Butterworth.
However, in the past two years, there have been up to three major supply disruptions in Penang when muddy floods upstream in Baling, Kedah, which sits beneath Gunung Inas, undermined the water quality. – The Vibes, October 21, 2023
