PARIT, March 31 — The Perak government has not decided yet on whether to sell raw water to Penang.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the state government was instead giving priority to channelling the natural resource to the domestic areas first, especially the Kerian district.

"At this stage, we are studying whether the water in Sungai Perak is sufficient or not for domestic use. We want to help the farmers and padi growers in the Kerian district as they often face water supply shortage during the dry season.

"There’s no final decision yet. We have to study the matter (selling water to Penang) first due to the urgent need for sufficient water supply for farmers in the Kerian district.”

He said this to reporters after officiating at the opening of the Lambor Community Digital Centre at the Mukim Lambor Penghulu Office in conjunction with the ‘Mentri Besar Bersama Rakyat’ (Mesra) Programme, Perak Tengah district, here, today.

Earlier, Saarani visited the Lambor Bridge that connects Kampung Lambor Kiri and Kampung Lambor Kanan across Sungai Perak and Kampung Dusoon Sara (Kampung Chicken) Farm in Lambor Kanan, and officiated at the ‘Santai Mesra Bersama Orang Asli’ event in Kampung Suak Padi, here.

Asked whether the raw water supply matter was still being discussed with the Penang government, he said he had recently met with Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow unofficially, with Chow still stating his state government’s interest in buying raw water from Perak. — Bernama