ALOR STAR – Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammed Sanusi Md Nor has questioned the federal government for failing to allocate any amount in next year’s budget to the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve area, the main water catchment of the northern region.
The highly sensitive area, which is a target of the timber industry, supplies almost 90% of the water needed by Kedah, Perlis, and Penang.
The Kedah government has been asking compensation or a special fund for the state to conserve the forest in lieu of not allowing logging to take place over it.
Earlier, Penang had also championed the same cause, lobbying Putrajaya to provide compensation so that Kedah does not need to open its huge forest area for commercial exploitation.
Logging projects may generate lucrative revenue for Kedah, but on the same token would certainly damage the frail ecology of the area by endangering nature’s ability to catch and store the massive deposits of rainwater.
Ulu Muda represents 163,000ha of prime catchment land. Sg Muda, which both Kedah and Penang rely on for water supply, originates in Ulu Muda.
In his statement marking the tabling of the national budget for next year, Sanusi confirmed that the state sent an application to the federal government for a special fund for Ulu Muda to ensure that the economic needs of some 2.2 million Kedahans can be met.
“Besides being the main supply for the daily water needs of Kedah and Penang, the area is also a catalyst for the irrigation of padi fields in the northern region.”
Kedah supplies 43% of the country’s domestic rice supply, he noted. The state is willing to continue conserving fertile land at the expense of the more lucrative returns from converting such parcels into commercial or industrial lots, said Sanusi.
“We want to help the country in terms of food security, but the sacrifices made by Kedahans should be appreciated at the national level,” said Sanusi.
It is only because of Kedah that the country is not forced to import more rice, he stressed.
The state and its people will lose billions for not converting farming plots into industrial or commercial land, said Sanusi.
“We could have been on par with other states that have aggressively embraced the industrialisation process but the reality is that we are not.”
On the positive side, Sanusi expressed appreciation to the federal government for allowing the upgrading of rural roads and allowing the usage of farming routes as public access roads.
“Overall, the budget for next year is bold and emphasises the people’s welfare needs.
“It can help sustain the recovery we are craving after our lives were disrupted for the past two years due to Covid-19.”
Sanusi also congratulated Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz for instilling confidence in the economy with a far-reaching Budget 2023.
“We cannot deny that our growth of 8.9% in the second quarter (this year) is the most impressive in Southeast Asia,” he said, referring to the national economy.
He said that Kedah is also indebted to Tengku Zafrul for approving the allocation of RM25 million to develop the digital and alternative data storing centre at the Special Economic Zone between the border township of Bukit Kayu Hitam and southern Thailand.
With such infrastructure in place, the state will find it easier to lure investors to develop the location as a hub for industries and logistics along the border, which is also the central point of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle.
Sanusi also thanked the government for allocating RM200 to each padi farmer in case floods damage the rice crops in the coming months – The Vibes, October 8, 2022.
