Kedah MB hits out at Penang Water Company over Ulu Muda comment

ALOR SETAR:Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor today hit out at Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd (PBAPP), saying the Penang water supply company is not qualified to talk about activities at the Ulu Muda water catchment in Kedah.

He said PBAPP does not pay for the raw water supply it gets from Kedah but makes a huge profit from the free water that it sells to the industrial and shipping sectors in Penang.

"Even Syarikat Air Darul Aman (SADA), a Kedah government subsidiary, pays for the water it gets from Lembaga Sumber Air Negeri Kedah (LSANK)," he told reporters after chairing the weekly meeting of the State Executive Council, here.

Muhammad Sanusi was commenting on a statement by PBAPP chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa last Monday calling for the plan for large-scale mining of rare earth elements in Ulu Muda to be abandoned immediately.

Jaseni had reportedly said that the mining operations will adversely affect supply of water to Perlis, Kedah and Penang, involving 4.2 million consumers.

KEDAH-PENANG (ULU MUDA) 2 (LAST) ALOR SETAR

Muhammad Sanusi said the Kedah government had written several times to the Penang government claiming a RM50 million annual payment for the raw water supplied to PBAPP.

"The first claim was made in 2010. We also sent in a claim this year, but there was no reply or payment.

"It is not fair for PBAPP, a listed company, to obtain raw water for free and then make comments about Ulu Muda which is in Kedah," he said.

Muhammad Sanusi said any decision or action taken by the Kedah government is in the interests of the people and state.

-- BERNAMA