Kedah MB said to be asking RM100m a year for ‘lease’ of Penang

PETALING JAYA: Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor (pix) is said have demanded that Kedah be paid RM100 million a year as “lease payment” for Penang island and Seberang Perai.

According to news portal Free Malaysia Today, Sanusi wants the honorarium the federal government has been paying on Penang’s behalf to be raised from the RM10 million.

The honorarium, which was set at RM10,000 for decades, was raised to RM10 million a year by the federal government from 2018.

“This is a small amount for the federal government, I believe. And Penang has high revenue,” he told reporters at Wisma Darul Aman here today.

In 1791, the island of Penang was leased to the British by the Kedah Sultanate in 1791 for an annual payment of 6,000 Spanish Dollars. In 1800, Seberang Prai was leased for 4,000 Spanish Dollars.