Tun M Backs Kedah S Rm100mil Annual Claim On Penang Citing Soaring Land Prices

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FORMER prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has thrown his weight behind Kedah’s demand for RM100mil in annual “lease royalty” from the federal government for Penang, arguing that the figure is modest given today’s soaring land prices.
Speaking in a podcast on Friday (Nov 21), Dr Mahathir said the federal government inherited Britain’s obligation to pay Kedah for Penang, which began at RM100,000 yearly before rising to RM10mil in 2018.
“If valued by current land prices – around RM7,000 per square foot – RM100mil is realistic. Kedah could ask for far more,” the 100-year-old statesman said, stressing that Kedah has no intention of reclaiming administrative control over Penang.
Meanwhile, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Nor announced the state is in the final stage of appointing a legal team to take the Penang “lease” dispute to court.
Tabling the 2026 state budget on Thursday (Nov 20), Sanusi said a special task force of historians and legal experts completed its report in April 2025, following a 2023 directive from the Kedah Sultan Tuanku Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah, to clarify the historical status of Penang and Seberang Perai.
The report has been presented to the state executive council, assemblymen and MPs, with court action expected within one to two months. Sanusi insisted the move is not a constitutional challenge but an effort to restore Kedah’s historical rights, claiming the territories were only leased to the British East India Company in 1791 for 10,000 Spanish dollars annually.
Penang maintains the areas were permanently ceded after independence, and some historians note no formal lease document has ever been found. —  Focus Malaysia

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