MANJUNG: The Perak state government has agreed to sell treated water to Penang following a unanimous agreement between the state secretaries on Thursday.
Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad confirmed this, saying a joint committee was set up between the two state governments to pursue cropped-up matters.
The committee will study all costs before applying for an allocation with the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry to build a water treatment plant in the Kerian district in north Perak.
He said the project would benefit Perak folk by assisting in resolving the agricultural sector issues in Kerian.
It will also prepare to build the high technology industrial park spanning 400ha in the same district as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced in the 2024 Budget.
"The Perak and Penang state governments have agreed that Perak will supply treated water to Penang, not raw water.
"The state government indeed wants to move water north of Perak to assist in resolving agricultural water issues in the area.
"Secondly, when the prime minister announced the proposal to set up the High Technology Industrial Park in Kerian, this means we have to provide sufficient water supply for industrial purposes," he said after the launch of the 'One Stop Centre Kesejahteraan Rakyat Negeri Perak' programme at Dewan Merdeka, here, today.
Saarani said this in responding to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who had said that the water supply issue between both states through the Sungai Perak Raw Water Transfer Scheme had entered a phase of positive discussions.
On the programme, Saarani said it was meant to eradicate poverty by collaborating with various federal and state government agencies.
"We use the definition of one Stop Centre where all agencies, whether federal or state, must work together solely at this platform so that recipients will not get overlapping assistance or abuse their data.
"The list of data on poor people from the Perak Islamic Religious Council, the Welfare Department and eKasih from various agencies must be consolidated at this centre to ensure that we assist truly deserving recipients," he added.