IPOH: Efforts to restore the Kinta River “to its former glory” has started, with a task force set up to look into beautifying and cleaning its banks and water.
Perak executive councillor Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said the task force, headed by the Ipoh City Council, also included representatives from the Drainage and Irrigation Department, the Batu Gajah Municipal Council and other authorities.
The task force would start a clean-up campaign of the 110km-long river by next week, he told reporters here yesterday.
Cause for concern: Dr Mah pointing to a video clip showing the polluted Kinta River in Ipoh Monday.Dr Mah said the cleanliness of a river was classified under five categories – with a Class One river being the cleanest and Class Five the most polluted.
He said the task force would not only be looking at cleaning the river but also clearing the rubbish strewn in its surroundings, adding that the initial clean up would cover a 3km stretch between Gunung Cheroh and Kampung Paloh.
“The quality of the water there is mostly of Class Two level and about 20% of it is Class Three,” he said, adding that the Class One quality water was near Tanjung Rambutan.
“We want it to be restored to its former glory,” Dr Mah said, adding that the Kinta had been clean and clear river in the 1970s .
He said sewerage management company Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) contributed to about 40% of the pollution, followed by wet markets (29%) and restaurants (28%).
The rest of the pollution was from waste and residue from industrial factories, poultry farms and housing development projects.
Dr Mah said IWK had been plagued with problems involving its sewerage treatment system after people started dumping rubbish at its sewerage plants.
“They are currently handling the issue,” he said, adding that two IWK treatment plants had been set up near Gunung Cheroh and near the Yik Foong shopping centre in the city.
Dr Mah said four other plants at Canning Garden, Pengkalan, Waller Court and Wah Keong Park would be upgraded, adding that restaurant owners and wet markets should install grease traps at their premises.
Hey, interesting to note that the last write up involving a celebrity clean of Sg Kinta appeared Nov 09. It's been a year before Dr Mah makes another claim of a clean up. Good eh ??? 110km makes a long river but a year for this exec councillor picks up the baton ?? Hhhmmm ... Well let's see what happens, and just hope for the best. Much talk, much time, much hope !
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