River pollution has always been one of the biggest problems in our country and it has increasingly become a large environmental problem due to public attitudes. With this in mind, Global Environment Centre (GEC) together with over two hundred volunteers gathered on January 30 to clean Kinta River and its area.
The programme was organised in collaboration with The Star ‘Do Good Volunteer’ Initiative and Indah Water Konsortium (IWK), supported by Perak State Department of Irrigation and Drainage Perak (DID), Ipoh City Council (MBI) and GAB Foundation under their WATER Project. Officiating the event was director of DID, Dato’ Ir Hj. Abdul Razak bin Dahalan.
“River clean-up is not an easy task. I am pleased that proactive actions are being taken by fellow stakeholders to educate the community especially younger generations about river care including river clean-up,” said Abdul Razak in his opening remarks.
The event was also joined by a few schools and colleges including Raja Perempuan School and Ipoh Sunway college. Trustee for GAB foundation, Renuka Indrajah hopes the public will take river clean-up as a serious matter.
“Water is an essential part of our lives and it should be monitored and protected. The WATER project aims to engage immediate community members in a monitoring programme to interest them in rivers as a community asset.” added Renuka.
The half-day programme involved river clean-up, constructed wetland cell management, river walk and education, river water quality monitoring and a site visit to a nearby IWK sewage treatment plant.
Ili Aqilah
