Ketum export for Kedah if PN wins GE15?
KEDAH Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has expressed hopes that the export of ketum overseas will be allowed by the federal government if the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition wins the 15th general election (GE15).
The PAS lawmaker said he had raised this matter several times in the past but there was no time to look into its implementation before Parliament was dissolved.
“Insya Allah our 10th prime minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) will work something our for ketum growers, and we will work at it until it happens for real,” Sanusi was reported as saying by Berita Harian in his speech at a PN Best ceramah in Pendang, Kedah last night.
“I am confident that the federal government will consider this matter. We are a poor country, if you sell ketum here for RM30 per kilogram (kg) and if you sell it for contraband in Siam (Thailand) it will be RM150.
“This is why we must legally allow for ketum exports. We were close to getting it that day but then they dissolved Parliament, otherwise everyone who plants ketum in Pendang would have been millionaires.”
Also present at the ceramah last night were PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin and PN candidate for Pendang, Datuk Awang Hashim.
According to Sanusi, who is also the PAS election director, while it is not a crime to plant ketum, it is a crime to harvest and sell it for profit, and as such, he wants to allow the export of the plan or else people might harvest it for their own use at home.
He pointed out that he wants to sell ketum to Thailand as the neighbouring country has the technology to make medicine [and] health beverages with the plant.
“I hope that when export is allowed, a licence can be given to a subsidiary company of the state government or other specific companies to have better control [of the export activities],” he added.
It was previously reported that the federal government is considering allowing Kedah to legally export ketum to Thailand.
However, Sanusi was reported as saying that the export process requires certain regulations and legislations to better control the industry so that it adheres to the country’s existing laws. – Nov 8, 2022
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