Sunday February 17, 2013

Kedah’s demand illogical, says Muhyiddin

<b>Creative touch:</b> Muhyiddin, accompanied by his wife Puan Sri Noorainee Abdul Rahman, trying his hand at batik painting at a gathering of young teachers at SMK Hutan Kampung in Alor Setar. —Bernama

Creative touch: Muhyiddin, accompanied by his wife Puan Sri Noorainee Abdul Rahman, trying his hand at batik painting at a gathering of young teachers at SMK Hutan Kampung in Alor Setar. —Bernama

ALOR SETAR: Kedah’s demand for the Federal Government to pay it RM100mil annually to discourage it from logging in water catchment areas is illogical, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“We know that Kedah does not have huge resources and has to rely on the Federal side. But they should not have approved projects which can destroy the environment,” he told reporters at a gathering of young teachers from Kedah, Penang, Perlis and Perak at SMK Hutan Kampung here yesterday.

Muhyiddin said there was no logical reason for the Kedah Government to demand the payment when the approvals for land and logging come under the purview of the state.

On Thursday, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak had said the Federal Government should pay Kedah RM100mil annually if it does not want the state to conduct any logging activity.

He had claimed there was a verbal agreement over the payment between the two parties when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister because Kedah provided water for agriculture and gave water to Penang, too.

However, the amount was purportedly reduced to RM60mil when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became prime minister and then mentri besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid did not push for the payment.

Azizan had said under the National Land Code, the state government was allowed to log 2,400ha of land annually and the state had abided by the ruling.

He denied there was logging in any water catchment area, adding that a 400ha land cleared for an agro-tourism project in Charok Batang Padi, Pedu, would not damage the nearby Pedu Lake.

At another function in Kuala Kedah, Muhyiddin said he did not want to see Kedah falling behind other states when the nation achieves developed status by 2020.

He urged the people to work together with the Barisan, saying the PAS leadership in the state had failed to discharge their duties in keeping to the promises made at the last general election.

He said this when opening the Kolaborasi 2013 programme, organised by the Kuala Kedah Barisan group at SK Seri Pantai here.

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Sunday February 17, 2013

Kedah’s demand illogical, says Muhyiddin