ALOR STAR: Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said he would continue to demand for the rights owed to Kedah and its people, even though it might irk certain quarters.
Sanusi said this includes the RM111 million compensation the state is seeking from the Federal government for retaining its lands for padi cultivation.
"Today I received a letter of reply from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) informing that it could not consider Kedah's application to seek compensation for retaining our lands for padi cultivation.
"We had also sought another RM100 million compensation for retaining our reserve forests (for water catchment) and RM50 million from Penang for the raw water.
"I will continue to raise these matters in our meeting with MoF until they give up and who knows, they will finally agree to pay Kedah.
"I consider this is my (Kedah's) rights and I will persevere with the demands even it costs my life, this is how I do things," the Jeneri assemblyman said in his state Budget 2022 winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly here today.
Sanusi added the demands were not made for his own personal interest, but for Kedahans and the state's future.
Last month, Sanusi irked his state's northern neighbour when he demanded the Federal government to pay Kedah RM100 million a year as "lease payment" for Penang island and Seberang Prai.
He had demanded that the honorarium of the federal government had been paying on Penang's behalf to be raised by RM90 million to RM100 million.
The honorarium was set at RM10,000 for decades but was raised to RM10 million a year by the federal government from 2018.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow had swiftly dismissed Sanusi's demand, stressing that the Penang government did not owe Kedah anything.
Chow had also urged the federal government not to entertain the demand.