LETTER | Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad has reportedly apologised to Penangites as the state cannot share raw water with the “Pearl of the Orient”.

According to him, Perak was unable to supply raw water from Sungai Perak to Penang as studies had shown that Perak did not even have enough for its own use.

Recently, we also read about Kedah talking about imposing tariffs and even threats of putting some sort of blockade along Sungai Mudam, which supplies water to Penang.

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is reported to have said that he would get the villagers located on the bank of Sungei Muda to place sandbags to choke off the water supply to Penang.

It increasingly seems like a case of “my state over yours”. If states start thinking like this, I wonder what will happen to our country?

This is a valid question and concern as our beloved country has 13 states and three federal territories – each with its specific jurisdictions.

We are already engaged in verbal battles in the media over religious matters that pit state administrations against the Federal Constitution. Now, this raw water issue adds to our confusion and pains.

Truly, is there a water shortage in Malaysia? That is mind-boggling too for a country that is deemed a tropical climate on the equatorial zone where rainfall is a characteristic recurrence in this rainforest belt.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, citing the Asian Development Bank, it states that “an increase in rainfall is also projected and is expected to be larger in Sabah and Sarawak than in Peninsular Malaysia”.

It also noted that “Malaysia is particularly vulnerable to flooding, with this natural hazard contributing more damage than any other the country experiences. The frequency and extremity of flood events have increased in recent decades with projections showing they will continue to increase with continued global warming.”

So, we need to ask if it is truly a case of less rainfall, changing patterns in rainfall, sheer failure in environment management and harnessing of resources or willful political decimation of a country using each state’s resources as pieces on our nationhood chessboard.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.