PETALING JAYA: Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy has challenged the Kedah menteri besar to “walk the talk” and block off the raw water supply from Sungai Muda.
“I challenge Kedah MB to deny water supply to Penang. The threat of cutting off water supply to Penang is a serious and seditious one.
“Just imagine if Sanusi succeeds in cutting off the supply. More than a million people would be without water. It is not a joking matter, but one of life and death,” he said in a statement today.
Last week, Sanusi had demanded that the Penang government pay RM50 million every year to Kedah as compensation for drawing raw water from its side of the border.
More than 80% of Penang’s supply is drawn from Sungai Muda, but on the Penang side of the river where it later flows into the sea.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow rebuffed this demand by saying that his government would not pay Kedah for the extraction of water from its side.
Ramasay said this rebuff must have agitated Sanusi so much that he threatened to cut water supply to Penang.
“He responded by saying that he would get villagers to place sandbags on the Sungai Muda to choke off water supply to Penang.”
The battle for raw water between the two states was initially triggered by Sansui’s announcement that Kedah would be embarking on a RM60 billion rare earth elements (REE) mining venture that would also involve water catchment areas.
The Penang government, environmental agencies and civil societies urged the federal government to halt the extraction of REE as it could cause irreparable damage to the environment that could result in floods, landslides and the disappearance of the crucial water catchment area in Ulu Muda.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Sanusi’s recent insensitive remarks and discriminatory statements, by using stereotypes, had created widespread anger nationally.
“Sanusi remains unrepentant and has now unleashed a shocking threat to dam up Sungai Muda and redirect its water away from Penang to deny raw water to 1.7 million Penangites.
“Clearly, these latest incidents have not only portrayed Sanusi as a ‘big bully’ but also made him look cruel. No leader has ever threatened to deny water to fellow Malaysians,” he said in a statement.
The former Penang chief minister said the PAS leader would be tinkering with nature if he carried out his threat, adding that he would also be going against the will of God by wanting to redirect Sungai Muda, which is the natural border between the two states.