Hands-on effort: About 2,000 volunteers taking part in cleaning efforts during the Southern Volunteers Go Green @ Johor Bersih programme.
JOHOR BARU: Johor will be spending RM9mil to clean up and rehabilitate polluted rivers in the state this year, says Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
The Johor Mentri Besar said at present, nine of the state’s rivers were categorised as polluted, an improvement over the 14 polluted rivers listed last year.
“This is a positive trend and we will continue efforts to further reduce the number of polluted rivers until we have zero polluted rivers in Johor,” he said at the Southern Volunteers Go Green @ Johor Bersih programme at Sungai Tebrau, near Kampung Bakar Batu, here yesterday.
The nine polluted rivers are Sungai Danga, Sungai Buluh, Sungai Tukang Batu, Sungai Kempas, Sungai Segget, Sungai Pandan, Sungai Sebulung, Sungai Sengkuang and Sungai Tampoi.
Onn Hafiz said RM7mil has been allocated in this year’s budget to clean up Sungai Skudai, Sungai Tebrau and Sungai Kim Kim through efforts such as law enforcement, use of technology and ecosystem rehabilitation programmes.
“During our river clean up works, we noticed that a lot of the rubbish found in the river came from housing and squatter areas.
“We will get the local councils and relevant authorities to work with the grassroots and involve local communities to instil a stronger sense of responsibility towards the environment,” he said.
Johor health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon, who also attended the programme, said that another RM2mil has been set aside by the state to improve water quality at Sungai Buluh and Sungai Tukang Batu in Pasir Gudang.
“The two rivers lack raw water and are mostly wastewater from domestic and industrial use, making the water quality the biggest concern.
“This has caused the water quality in the two rivers to be categorised as Class 4, meaning they are dirty and have long been listed as polluted rivers,” he said, adding that RM1mil would be spent to clean and rehabilitate the two rivers.
Ling added that the Environment Department (DOE) would also continue its enforcement and awareness efforts.
“At the same time, the state government has also taken the initiative to do awareness programmes, as well as engage with the local and private industries to do more river rehabilitation programmes,” he added.
The DOE has five classifications of river cleanliness levels, with those in Class 1 being the cleanest while Class 5 means the water is so polluted that it is not suitable for water supply, even for irrigation use.
Class 2 rivers require conventional treatment and can be used for recreational purposes with body contact.
Class 3 rivers need extensive treatment, while Class 4 rivers can be used for nothing more than irrigation.
