KDEAH Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor now says that he merely wants the federal government to pay Kedah more for an alleged lease of land to Penang, denying that he had wanted to have the constitution amended for the.

By definition, a lease of immovable property such as a state’s land is a transfer of a right to enjoy such property, made for a certain time, express or implied, or in perpetuity, in consideration of a price paid or promised, or of money, or any other thing of value, to be rendered periodically or on specified occasions to the transferor by the transferee, who accepts the transfer on such terms.

The transferor is called the lessor, the transferee is called the lessee. If Penang (leased property) is leased to the state of Penang (lessee) by the state of Kedah (the lessor), then the lease must relate to an alleged part of Kedah state’s land, and there must be attached to the instrument of lease a plan and description sufficient to enable the part to be accurately identified.

Late last month, Sanusi had the opportunity with the Survey and Mapping Department to accurately identify the leased property while claiming that Penang was under the ownership of Kedah, and that Perak and Perlis were the only states that had a border with Kedah.

“There is no such thing as the Kedah-Penang border. Our state border ends near the island there (Balik Pulau). How can it (Kedah-Penang border) be measured? Which gazette should we use?” he was reported to have said.

Even so, the current borders of Penang must be accurately identified. Only then can one identify the alleged state land allegedly leased to Penang.

Sanusi has also been reported to have denied that he had demanded that the Federal Constitution be amended to reclaim Penang, claiming that this was misreported by a news portal.

“They accused me of calling for an amendment (of the Constitution). I did not say that. I never said such a thing anywhere,” he said. 

But he only clarified after having his statement recorded by three policemen from the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman who arrived at Wisma Darul Aman yesterday. The police have launched investigations following four police reports lodged against Sanusi, including a report filed by Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng.

Sanusi faulted Lim for referring to the news portal, which was also referred to by the prime minister. The fact that Sanusi only clarified himself a week after the news portal report may be lost on him.

That we are “pening” (feeling confused) over his Penang claim may also be lost on him. But he is no ordinary politician; he is Kedah menteri besar. – June 9, 2023.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.