Environmental threat: Struggling to source revenue for the state, Kedah has recklessly turned to logging, resulting in massive deforestation. — Filephoto/The Star
IT would’ve been natural to expect Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to kick off his campaign by convincing his voters with reasons for his re-election.
That would include listing achievements as well as those pending.
He’s there as the state’s head of government to improve Kedah’s economic performance and the livelihood of the people, many of whom are caught below the poverty line.
Kedah has one of the lowest average incomes and highest incidences of poverty. Likewise Kelantan, which continually struggles to measure up to the economic success and resilience of other states.
So it’s baffling to hear Sanusi dwelling on the purported ownership of Penang by Kedah, driven by half-baked historic arguments with little basis.
It reeks of a red herring, a distraction from the real problems. It may be good rhetoric at the party’s rallies but in the end, everything boils down to data and statistics.
Just look at Kedah’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) performance in 2021, where the state recorded only 3.2% in revenue.
In comparison, other states in the peninsula have soared with impressive figures. Penang achieved the highest GDP performance at 6.8%, followed by Selangor (5%), Terengganu (3.6%), and Perak (3.5%).
Struggling to source revenue for the state, Kedah has recklessly turned to logging, resulting in massive deforestation, which has threatened the Ulu Muda rainforests. According to the report revealing this, satellite data also indicates forest loss has been accelerating since 2022.
The 1,600sq km Ulu Muda rainforest is one of the last ranges of continuous tracts of forest in the peninsula, which provides a vital habitat for countless species as well as water for millions of people in the northern states.
The report divulged that “between 2002 and 2021, the greater Ulu Muda landscape lost 82.8sq km of forest,” saying the satellite data was collected by the University of Maryland and visualised on Global Forest Watch.
The staggering deforestation has led to serious flooding and clean water supply issues.
The worst flood was in 2022, when three people died and more than 3,000 were displaced when sludge, debris and flood waters buried several villages in Baling, one of the poorest districts in Malaysia.
Like Kelantan, which has failed to provide basic clean water supply for decades, Kedah is starting to face the same issue, except that the economic consequences are greater since Langkawi is a vital tourist spot while Kulim is home to Malaysia’s first fully integrated high-technology industrial park, covering 208ha.
Kulim is the beneficiary of Penang’s industrial expansion, as it’s just 46km away from the island state.
Kedah needs a long-term strategy to resolve its critical water problems, which includes the construction of a new water treatment plant.
When there are frequent massive floods and water supply cuts, politicians like Sanusi are to blame because they failed to do their jobs.
That’s the harsh reality of their irresponsible actions. Don’t blame God for these and certainly, don’t point the finger at non-Muslims. Who’s been running these two states, especially Kelantan, for 33 years? Surely not non-Muslims.
Visitors to Kelantan would know that PAS has failed to supply basic treated water from the pipes, and Kota Baru is poorly managed, too.
Against the backdrop of Kedah’s massive economic issues, the last thing it needs are harebrained projects like the expensive racing circuit resort project planned for Langkawi.
The project, Open Road International Circuit (ORIC) and Integrated Resorts, will be developed by state-owned company Permodalan Kedah Bhd (PKB) and Open Road Asia Sdn Bhd.
But the train has yet to leave the station, and that’s just as well.
It’s also good that the proposed RM7bil Kulim international airport championed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has been scrapped because it seemed counter-productive.
The quickest way to travel to the Penang International Airport from Kulim takes only about 40 minutes.
That RM7bil could be put to better use to improve the road and transport facilities between Kulim and Penang, instead of building an airport in Kulim. In fact, the upgrade would have cost a fraction of that gargantuan sum.
Then there’s this big announcement of building the RM40bil Widad Langkasuka mixed-used development in Langkawi, purportedly to be a tourist destination “built on the paradigm of the Malay vernacular architecture,” revealed news reports.
Taken straight from press releases with big words, these news reports intimate “it will establish a smart city using sustainable technology that preserves the island’s geographical nature.”
I bet reporters who filed their stories didn’t even know what they wrote, which the MB said was part of the state’s development plan for 2023. Well, we’re already mid-way through 2023 and there hasn’t been a peep since. Again, it’s good, although it was reported that the earthwork package was targeted to be completed by Aug 3, 2023.
Then, there was also the media-rocking announcement by Sanusi for rare earth element (REE) mining activities in Kedah. Once, an overly excited Sanusi told the media that it would earn Kedah RM43tril, which was later corrected to RM62bil.
Until now, no environmental impact assessment (EIA) report has been submitted to the Department of Environment (DoE).
Kedahans can’t continue to live on pipe dreams when their taps are running dry.
Kedah is a poor state like Kelantan, with PAS politicians continuing to use religion and race to keep themselves in power.
In both states, the non-Muslims are almost insignificant, and with its Malay-majority areas, it’s a given that PAS will retain its stranglehold on these states in the coming state elections.
In GE15, Perikatan Nasional swept all but one parliamentary seat in Kedah and even performed well in areas with tiny non-Malay presence, including Alor Setar, Kulim Bandar Baharu and Padang Serai.
So why does the government, state or federal, continue to keep these flops in power despite their comprehensive failure in supporting us?
