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THE recent remarks by Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor on Penang belonging to Kedah are uncalled for.
The federal government must take all steps to set the record straight. As a Penangite, I am deeply troubled by the remarks and claim by Sanusi on this matter.
The issue has the potential of causing unnecessary conflict and friction between Penangites and Kedahans and must be addressed immediately.
On the other hand, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s admission that he was the one who persuaded the former finance minister to approve an allocation of RM 10 million to the Kedah government seems to suggest sinister motives on his part.
Why did the federal government need to increase the annual payment of RM10,000 to an extra allocation of RM10 million?
Mahathir needs to come clean on this! We also need to know if the extra payment allocated is made in terms of a payment for a “lease” basis or is it a general development budget allocated to assist poor states?
It is time the federal government reconsiders the annual RM10-million payment to the PAS-led government of Kedah if this was indeed made on terms of a lease, topping up the existing RM10,000 annual payment.
If so, it is my personal opinion that we need to stop this payment because it could be used by people like Sanusi to further strengthen their sinister motives and make baseless claims that Penang belongs to Kedah.
We have set a wrong precedent in increasing the payment to the Kedah government on this basis and this may backfire in the future and can even be used in court proceedings against the state.
There is no doubt that Kedah is in dire need of federal assistance economically.
This assistance should be done by allocating various development and social improvement budgets in the way other poor states are assisted financially by the federal government. Not by way of increasing any yearly lease payment if it ever existed in the first place.
The decision taken by Mahathir is wrong, raises many doubts on his motives and should be rescinded.
How we term such payment is of utmost importance and this must be corrected now to prevent people like Sanusi from taking political advantage and creating unnecessary unrest between states. – The Vibes, June 7, 2023
K. Sudhagaran Stanley is a good governance and anti-corruption activist
