Sg Bakap water issue: Akmal calls Sanusi's claims 'shallow'

Deputy Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Akmal Nasir has described Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s allegations regarding the issue of water supply in Sungai Bakap as “shallow”.

Akmal (above) said this was because Sanusi chose to play up the issue from a racial point of view.

“In the many discussions on water supply issues, the most shallow argument is insufficient water supply (in Sungai Bakap) because the area is a Malay area.

“It is not a criticism of competence, not on the mitigation measures taken, but a matter of race. And this is what the Kedah menteri besar mentioned in his ceramah at Sungai Bakap the other day.

“If you use the same logic, Merbok, Langkawi and many other places where the percentage of Malays is much higher than in Sungai Bakap have had water supply problems for a long time because these are also Malay areas,” he said in a post on Facebook today.

Discrimination

Earlier, Sanusi, who is also the Perikatan Nasional election director, reportedly claimed that the water problem in South Seberang Perai had not been resolved due to discrimination by the Penang government.

“Why is there no water in this area but in Tanjung? This is the area of tok lebai (PAS supporters),” he reportedly.

Akmal said instead of playing up racial issues in his speech, Sanusi should focus on completing five water treatment plants in Kedah.

“Four plants with federal government grants that should have been completed in 2023.

“Don’t say you’re waiting for me to come down again?” he asked.

Further, the Johor Bahru MP added that Sanusi’s argument was completely unreasonable because the area is at the end of Penang’s water supply system, which is 53km from the Sungai Dua treatment plant which also supplies the North and Central Seberang Perai districts.

“Seven mitigation measures through small projects - upgrading the pump house, installing a compact plant which is all ready, to a certain extent address the situation.

“The state government also through the Water Contingency Plan 2030 last year planned to build the Sungai Kerian treatment plant with the cost of construction covered by the state government itself,” he said.

“The game changer would actually be if the water transfer between Kerian and Seberang Perai becomes a reality.

“This is one of the earliest things I discussed with the Penang chief minister as soon as I moved to the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry last January," he said.

Akmal said that as a result of the efforts of many parties and the intervention of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the water transfer proposal was successfully agreed to, thus ending the 51-year dependence on the water source that is 53km from the north to Sungai Bakap.

“The most meaningful thing is when we are able to realise the water transfer negotiations from Perak to Penang that have been going on for so long, and we make sure the next step goes smoothly,” he added.

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