COMMENT | Sanusi, don't play with water
COMMENT | Penang and Kedah are states in Malaysia and not foreign countries and therefore it is illogical for Kedah Menteri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to treat its neighbour like an outsider over the issue of water supply.
Sanusi cited a law to buttress his argument that the days of free water are over for Penang. But he interpreted the law his own way.
In his befogged mind, he sees the law as an agreement to supply water to Penang but not as a guarantee of "free raw water supply forever". It follows that an agreement is not biding because it does not have the quality of a rock-solid guarantee. Absurd.
So, this PAS politician is now banging the table, demanding Penang pay RM50 million in annual compensation for drawing water from its (Penang's) side of Sungai Muda, which flows from Kedah.
Sanusi is playing politics with water, which is as dangerous as playing with fire. Water, which is a gift from God and not from Sanusi, is what sustains life. It is what moves the economy. Without water, no...
COMMENT | Penang and Kedah are states in Malaysia and not foreign countries and therefore it is illogical for Kedah Menteri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to treat its neighbour like an outsider over the issue of water supply.
Sanusi cited a law to buttress his argument that the days of free water are over for Penang. But he interpreted the law his own way.
In his befogged mind, he sees the law as an agreement to supply water to Penang but not as a guarantee of "free raw water supply forever". It follows that an agreement is not biding because it does not have the quality of a rock-solid guarantee. Absurd.
So, this PAS politician is now banging the table, demanding Penang pay RM50 million in annual compensation for drawing water from its (Penang's) side of Sungai Muda, which flows from Kedah.
Sanusi is playing politics with water, which is as dangerous as playing with fire. Water, which is a gift from God and not from Sanusi, is what sustains life. It is what moves the economy. Without water, no living thing can survive.
Water is precious and should never be under the sole jurisdiction of states. When a state controls its supply, especially when it shares water with another state from a common river, it can be opened to abuse and even lead to hostility.
When the source of water originates from a state, and flows into a neighbouring state, the former can play politics with its supply. In Malaysia, it is all too clear that politics is at the centre of the "water war" between Kedah and Penang.
PAS and DAP are bitter enemies
PAS controls Kedah and DAP is the political master of Penang. The two parties are bitter enemies. Since the source of water flowing into Sungai Muda originates from the forest area of Ulu Muda in Kedah, the opportunity to "dirty" the water - to play politics - is not to be missed.
Hence, Sanusi saw an opening when Penang expressed concern over Kedah's move to approve large-scale mining of rare earth elements near the water catchment area of Ulu Muda. This lit the fuse.
Immediately, Sanusi retaliated by raising hell over the water issue with Penang. In essence, it is PAS hitting out at the DAP in a continuing political struggle for the soul of Malaysia.
Sanusi doesn't want to or refuses to see the danger posed by such mining activities to the water catchment area in the Ulu Muda forest reserve. The forest reserve is an important water catchment area for Kedah, Penang and Perlis.
The Muda river supplies raw water to these three states and, thus, any mining or logging activity in the forest reserve can severely disrupt water supply to all the three states. But does Sanusi sees the red flag?
Penang has a robust economy, but its goal of becoming a high-income economy will be put in jeopardy if it has no water security. Sanusi knows this and so is the federal government.
But the federal government appears not too keen to help resolve the water war. Why? One can only surmise that it will play into its hand to see Kedah squeeze Penang dry to the extent that the people might be frightened into jettisoning the DAP in the coming general election.
In fact, by its behaviour, the federal government doesn't even want to see Penang succeed under an opposition party because such a bright narrative can be seen as a damning indictment of Putrajaya's national policies.
If Sanusi can do the job of disrupting the economic progress of Penang, that would be music to the central government. But it would not be easy to turn off the taps.
In the event Sanusi makes good on his joke to dam up the Muda river and deny the 1.7 million people in Penang access to water, it would only drive resilient Penangites to come up with alternative solutions that would make Penang more vibrant, more prosperous, more dynamic than sleepy Kedah.
PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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