PADANG TERAP - The Kedah government is advised to resort to negotiation to resolve the prolonged issue between Kedah and Penang.
Kedah Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the issue of asking raw water fees from Penang had allegedly made Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor claim the state belonged to Kedah.
"I believe the issue began with Penang obtaining water supply from Kedah.
"The water from the upstream of Kedah flows through Sungai Muda in which the end of the river is located at the border between Kedah and Penang, causing the prolonged disputes.
"I believe it is best to hold a negotiation to solve this issue between Penang and Kedah. I assumed Sanusi said so due to the payment (lease) made by the federal government to Kedah and not to Penang government," said the former Kedah menteri besar.
He said this in a press conference after officiating the 7th Annual General Meeting of Kami Anak Felda (KAF) for Alor Setar region held at the Dewan Felda Lubuk Merbau, near here, today.
Mahdzir, who is also Kedah Unity Leadership Council chairman, said he had also held negotiations over the demand for raw water fees.
"Back then, we sat at the same table and negotiate about it. There are things we can pay attention to and there are things that come with pros and cons, so when we analyse these things we found that there will be certain things we won't be able to get," he said.
Additionally, Mahdzir said a demand for special payment amounting to RM200 million to Kedah for the sacrifice made by the state in contributing to the country's food security and water resources for neighboring states had been made since the reign of former menteri besar the late Datuk Seri Syed Razak Syed Zain.
He said the demands made by the state government under Sanusi's leadership in regards to paddy fields and forest areas in Kedah were not something new.
"When the late Syed Razak was menteri besar (1999-2005), he demanded an assessment to be conducted, to calculate how much the paddy area and forest areas that cannot be damaged by logging activities. He had also sent a letter to the federal government.
"I also wrote a letter to the federal government when I was menteri besar. I remember the former menteri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir writing the same letter," Mahdzir said.
In 2021, it was reported that Kedah government demanded RM100 million from the federal government as Penang land lease royalty payment after it had never been assessed since 1786.
Sanusi reportedly said the state government currently only receives a special payment of RM10 million a year since 2018 in addition to a royalty payment of RM10,000 a year.