Kedah MP insists Penang pays for river water

A Kedah MP said yesterday the Penang government was getting a huge profit from the sale of raw water from the Muda River, particularly to manufacturing plants and ships, and should pay the Kedah government for it.

Datuk Nawawi Ahmad (BN-Langkawi) said the Kedah government received nothing for having to forgo the timber to nurture the river's catchment area, build a dam and ensure that the river water was clean, he said.

Speaking during the debate on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat, he claimed that the Penang government harnessed up to RM245 million annually from the sale of the water.

Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir had reportedly said that the Kedah government had sound arguments to impose a charge for the water although Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had said that the state would not make any payment.

Nawawi said he was not questioning the sale of water to the people of Penang but the fact that it was being sold to commercial consumers at a high rate without any payment for the raw water.

"As a Kedahan, I urge the federal government to intervene and come up with a win-win solution in the matter," he said.

The Muda River, which marks part of the boundary between Kedah and Penang, supplies about 80 per cent of Penang's water needs besides being a source of irrigation for padi-growing areas. The house sits again today. - Bernama