Beris Dam

Kedah gets another big lake, the 5th one in the state, as a result of the completion of the Beris Dam, near Sik, an hour and 15 minutes drive from Alor Star. More water required for irrigation, domestic and industry use hence more water need to be stored. 500 families was moved to make way for this lake of about 1,000 hectares. A new housing area complete with all facilities was put up so the people affected did not lose out, even the graves were dug up and relocated near the new settlement. So there is a lot of water being kept but for who? I'm told that so far the State of Penang has requested that some water be released to the river to be used in that state. Looks like the early beneficiary of the water stored are the people of Penang. No problems here, since Kedah has its water demands adequately met by the present systems. But demand is growing and in the future Penang might not have the water she require so easily (or for free). Water wars might arrive sooner or later hopefully the authorities would realised this and be careful about how water resources is protected.