PETALING JAYA: A research team appointed by the Kedah state government, tasked with investigating historical documents concerning Kedah and Penang, will help re-evaluate Penang’s lease rate based on their findings.
Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor stated that the team, comprising legal experts and historians, has examined over 20,000 documents from sources including the British Library, which are set to be presented next month.
“We will examine the most suitable proposal for the current situation. We will only decide at that time what should be done,“ Sanusi was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian.
The state government remains committed to the investigation, despite high expenses, with the aim of addressing what Sanusi describes as “distorted historical narratives.”
“The study will provide a justification after examining various aspects and facts. It will also resolve the problems related to Sungai Muda water payments, border issues, lease payments, the actual value of Penang that should be paid to Kedah, all of that will be tried to be resolved,“ he explained.
Sanusi pointed out the significant increase in Penang’s lease payments, which rose from RM10,000 to RM10 million in 2018, plus an additional RM10,000 special payment.
“What Kedah did is not wrong. The state government has a responsibility. We have to look back at the documents that bind us and to what extent the bond is valid. I have to fulfill my responsibility, that’s what I did, not against the constitution.
“I want to reclaim Penang because it is Kedah’s right. Who dares to erase that history? That is the truth. We hope that in the future, after presenting the undeniable facts, the situation will change,“ he added.
In 2021, the Kedah government had previously demanded RM100 million in Penang lease royalties from the Federal Government, arguing that the lease had not been revalued since 1786.
Earlier, it was reported that Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari expressed interest in potentially reclaiming Kuala Lumpur, while recognising the 1970s agreement that transferred the city to federal control, conditioned on the presence of the federal administrative centre and the Parliament building.
“It’s not possible yet (to reclaim Kuala Lumpur). We’ll wait for any leader who plans to move Parliament, and then we can request Kuala Lumpur to be returned as a district under Selangor,“ he said.
This follows the announcement of the 2025 Selangor Budget, in which the state revealed plans to develop the Greater Klang Valley 2035 Action Plan, including a proposal for Malaysia’s first metropolitan city.
