River of Life project faces tons of human garbage, sewage every year

River rehab is ongoing as seen here at Masjid Jamek, KL, where the Gombak river (left) meets the Klang river. Photo: The Star/M. Azhar Arif

Envision yourself strolling along or enjoying snacks at the landscaped riverfront of two historic rivers in Kuala Lumpur, Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak. In three years, that and more are set to materialise as part of the RM4.4bil River of Life (RoL) project, which involves those two rivers plus another six tributaries, all located within the Greater KL and Klang Valley region.

The three major components of the project are river cleaning and beautification, plus commercialisation and tourism. A total of RM3.4bil has been allocated to clean up the eight rivers, which cover a combined 110km. The goal is to get the current Class III-Class IV water quality (not suitable for body contact) to Class IIB (suitable for recreational usage) by 2020.