IT is up to the federal government to decide whether Penang should compensate Kedah if logging is halted in the Ulu Muda water catchment area, the Penang government said today.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said this following comments that Penang should compensate Kedah as the former draws water from Sungai Muda flowing out of the latter.

“We can discuss this, but Penang did not cause this (logging) problem. We have been extracting water from Sungai Muda within our own state borders.

“But if the compensation issue is raised, we can deliberate on it. The decision is up to the federal government,” he said after launching the German Dual Vocational Training industrial management programme and witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Wawasan Open University and the Penang Skills Development Centre.

Ulu Muda covers 163,103ha of rainforest in Kedah, which makes revenue from logging.

However, logging activities in Ulu Muda, which serves as a water catchment area for Sungai Muda to supply water to Kedah, Perlis and Penang, has been a concern for years.

The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBA) has been vocal in championing for logging to cease in the catchment area to ensure water supply sufficiency for the three states and prevent a water crisis in the future.

Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said yesterday that the state, now under Pakatan Harapan like Penang, was ready to discuss the water issue with its neighbours. 

Chow welcomed his counterpart’s remarks, which he called a “life and death” issue for the three states.

“We will discuss an end to logging in Ulu Muda. If it doesn’t stop, 20 or 30 years from now, people across these three states will be affected.

“Kedah’s compensation request to the federal government in lieu of forest premiums will also be discussed.”

Chow said that the meeting would likely to be spearheaded by PBA.

“With Penang and Kedah agreeing to talk, we hope the meeting will be expedited.”

Meanwhile, civil society group Penang Forum said that Kedah should be compensated for its loss of logging revenue.

It said the meeting would allow all parties to develop a framework for stakeholders benefiting from the Ulu Muda forest to contribute financial resources for the management and conservation of the area through approaches based on the user-pay principle and payment for ecosystem services (PES).

“The Kedah Water Resources Enactment, gazetted in 2008, provides for the creation of a water resource fund and a water development fund, which could be used to receive payments,” Penang Forum said in a statement.

The civil society group also lauded Penang’s push to stop logging in the Ulu Muda forest reserve, highlighting the importance of the water catchment area and Sungai Muda, which supplies 80% of treated water supply to Penang, besides another 96.5% to Kedah and 70% to Perlis. 

“Water security provided by the Ulu Muda catchment extends beyond the northwestern peninsula states, as it also contributes to food security for Malaysians at large.”

The Ulu Muda catchment area is also the main source of irrigation water for 96,500ha of padi fields in Perlis and Kedah’s Muda Agriculture Development Authority’s (Mada) granary area. 

It is also the water source for Penang’s 12,800ha Integrated Agriculture Development Area (IADA) in Seberang Perai. 

“Over the years, shortage of irrigation water from Ulu Muda during dry months has already caused delay and reduction in the off-season rice crop area in Mada and IADA.”

It said Ulu Muda must also be preserved for its ecosystem services, such as acting as a carbon sink and home to rare and endangered wildlife species. – June 25, 2018.