JITRA, July 13 — Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said he would meet Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng over Kedah’s request to charge Penang for raw water supply from Sungai Muda.
He said this followed a report that Lim had broached the idea of a meeting to discuss the matter while the date had yet to be set.
Mukhriz said Lim had misconstrued the water charge request even though Kedah was after a win-win situation for both states.
“That’s what we want to present to Guan Eng, but even before we could convey this, he had already opposed it.
“As we are neighbours, we can help each other,” he told reporters after presenting aid to 280 Quran voluntary teachers and village midwives from the Jerlun constituency after breaking the fast in Kampung Pida Tiga, Tunjang near here last night.
Mukhriz said talks, which had been held by both states at the official level, could continue at the state government level.
Lim is adamant that Penang would not pay for the water charges by stating that water was God’s gift while the state constitution stated that it did not have to pay a single sen to Kedah for raw water.
On the other hand, Kedah claims that the charges are justified as Penang draws water from Kedah’s rivers and the money would be used to maintain a water catchment area at the Pedu dam. — Bernama
