Muddy, murky and anything but beautiful

Even at its upper reaches, Sungai Gombak is not as pristine as it used to be.

 

THE River of Life (RoL) project to transform the heart of Kuala Lumpur was named one of the world’s 10 best waterfront districts by British online newspaper The Independent.

It would be great if the RoL corridor, which covers 10.7km of Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak, lived up to that honour. Sadly though, that stretch of river now is anything but.

Lately, the point where the Klang and Gombak rivers converge at Masjid Jamek has been sporting an even murkier hue than usual.

It is learnt that land clearing upstream of Sungai Gombak has sent hundreds of tonnes of silt and sedimentation downstream, turning the river and its tributaries into a brown sludge.

Although land clearing carried out on private land was the main culprit, road projects around the area as well as sand washing activities had also been blamed.

Satellite photos at upper Sungai Gombak show massive land clearing taking place. The situation has been made worse by incessant rain over the past few months.

Poorly executedThere was much celebration when The Independent featured Masjid Jamek’s waterfront.

Sand washing in Kampung Sungai Pusu, Gombak, is contributing to the bad water quality of the river.

It said: “This colourful chunk of KL sits on the banks of the Klang River, the focus of the huge River of Life, a regeneration project described as one of the most expensive urban river restoration projects ever undertaken.

“But it’s paid off – today, there are riverside cafés, hi-tech fountains, bicycle paths and night time light shows which turn the water a stunning cobalt blue.”

Other waterfronts which made it into the top 10 were Japan’s Shibuya Stream in Tokyo, Holzmarkt (Berlin, Germany), Tampa Riverwalk (Florida, United States), Seaport District (New York, US), Elizabeth Quay (Perth, Aus-tralia), Clarke Quay (Singa-pore), Charoen Krung (Bangkok, Thai-land), Sugar Beach (Toronto, Canada) and Victoria Dockside (Hong Kong).

The RoL project is aimed at reviving Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak by cleaning and beautifying the rivers as well as developing the surrounding land.

The first phase involving historical sites such as Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Jamek and Pasar Seni – located at the confluence of the two rivers – was launched on Aug 28, 2017.

Silt has reached the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang near Masjid Jamek, marring the RoL project.

The Government allocated RM3.4bil to clean the Klang and Gombak rivers as well as six tributaries, covering a combined length of 110km.

A further RM1bil was allocated for beautification and landscaping of the two rivers.

Muddy rivers

Frequent visitors were the first to notice the worsening water quality of Sungai Gombak near Masjid Jamek.

“It is looking better today,’’ said George Peter, an IT specialist working near the Medan Pasar area.

“It was pretty bad two weeks ago but much worse early in March. Back then, the river was almost a chocolate colour,’’ Peter said.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) sources told StarMetro that things got so bad that high-ranking officers from various government agencies had gone down to the site for a first-hand look.

They were told that the pollution was much worse upstream where many of the tributaries of Sungai Gombak had turned muddy brown.

“Sedimentation and siltation from land-clearing activities and sand mining have contributed to the river’s current condition,’’ said water quality specialist Dr Zaki Zainudin.

The sediment runoff travelled downstream right up to the Masjid Jamek area.

Zaki said land-clearing activities, whether sanctioned or not, were undermining the multi-billion ringgit RoL.

Global Environmental Centre’s (GEC) river care programme manager Dr K. Kalithasan said pollution was also happening upstream at Kampung Nakhoda in Batu Caves.

One of the main causes of siltation and sedimentation was land clearing at a tributary of Gombak river, Sungai Semampus.

“Rampant development and land clearing are polluting the network of river systems,’’ he said.

“Since it is happening at the source of the river, sediment runoff is bound to happen, which is why continuous enforcement is important.

“At the same time, developers and contractors must self-regulate as well,” Kalithasan said.

He said developers’ usual response that they were unaware and it was the sub-contractors’ fault was not acceptable.

“Enough is enough. Developers must take responsibility,” he added.

Kuala Lumpur Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director Nishad Mohamed Mohd Shaffy confirmed that land-clearing activities upstream were among the factors causing the Klang/Gombak confluence to become especially murky recently.

“The most recent cases involved private land where land clearing was sub-contracted,’’ Nishad said.

Recent land clearing had turned the usually pristine Sungai Semampus the colour of teh tarik.

“Sungai Semampus was badly affected.

“I was informed that Selayang Municipal Council and the Selangor Water Management Authority had taken action against the landowner.

“Everything upstream comes down. But the level of pollution is not so bad now; it was much worse earlier in April and is getting better now,’’ said Nishad.

Herculean taskThe Government has been trying for over 30 years to rehabilitate the two rivers, without much success.

Part of the problem was the ad hoc way river cleaning was done, with multiple government agencies working in silos.

There was no ministerial coordination or follow-up action, which was why RoL was seen as being different. It involved multiple agencies working together to ensure transparency and accountability.

The aim was to transform the RoL stretch from its current Class III and Class IV water quality (not suitable for body contact) to Class IIB (suitable for body contact and recreational usage) by 2020.

“When they launched the project in 2012, they set a Class IIB target by 2020. It was a pretty high benchmark to begin with,’’ said Zaki.

“Class IIB was supposed to be at the Mid Valley City part of the river; that is where the 10km stretch ends. I doubt the project will achieve Class IIB by next year,’’ he said.

The authorities’ lackadaisical attitude in maintaining the river has been disappointing to say the least.

Samantha Edwards is one of those disappointed with how RoL has turned out.

“There is no point in cleaning up the middle when things are messed up upstream and downstream,” said Edwards, who often volunteers for river-cleaning activities.

“It is very sad, especially since a lot of work and money went into the RoL project.

“There seems to be a disconnect between the agencies responsible. This should not be happening,” she said.