Developer: Change in public mindset can save rivers

Several tonnes of rubbish are accumulated in log booms across Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang every day because people throw trash into rivers indiscriminately.

THE developer of River of Life (RoL), Ekovest Bhd, is not surprised to hear news of the deteriorating condition of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang.

Its managing director Tan Sri Lim Keng Cheng said he had been constantly monitoring the river condition.

Sungai Gombak, he said, had been inundated with sludge many times from land-clearing activities upstream.

“I have seen the river’s two-tone muddy colour so many times and it is very disappointing, especially when so much work and money have gone into the project.

“However, this is not a government problem but a community problem.

“We cannot make any difference if people do not change their mindset and how they see the river,” he said.

Lim was responding to StarMetro’s front page story on April 30, titled “Blue over brown rivers” about land clearing upstream of Sungai Gombak sending hundreds of tonnes of silt and sedimentation downstream, which turned the river, its tributaries and the river confluence into a brown sludge.

“I am a Gombak boy, and it has been my dream to turn the rivers in my neighbourhood into clean rivers,” he said.

"The community around San Antonio River Walk collectively care for the river. This is what we want to see here, that the private sector develop a sense of belonging to care for the river." - Tan Sri Lim Keng Cheng

“But I have personally seen people throwing rubbish into the river upstream from the RoL site.

“Once I saw a woman getting out of a BMW near Hulu Kelang

highway and threw three rubbish bags into the river.

“Another time, I saw a woman in the Titiwangsa area, where I live, throw rubbish onto the side of the road.

“I got out of my car to tell the woman off, and that was the only thing I could do,” he said.

He reiterated that only a change in mindset and habit can bring change to the condition of rivers and the environment, adding that hope laid with the younger generation.

That is the reason why Lim initiated recycling projects at Chong Hwa Independent High School, Kuala Lumpur, where he is chairman of the school board.

“They are the next generation and the hope of a better future lies with them,” he said.

Speaking further on the RoL project, Lim said he modelled the RoL dream on the San Antonio River Walk in Texas, United States.

“We never oversold the concept to the extent that river water should be clean enough to be drinkable.

“As long as it is safe to be touched, it would be fine,” he said.

He noted that the community living in the area around San Antonio River Walk, including businesses surrounding the riverfront, took the initiative to collectively care for the river.

“This is what we want to see practised here, that the private sector manage the place, absorb the maintenance cost and develop a sense of belonging to care for the river.

“It is the holistic way to go about it,” he added.

Ekovest is the main developer of the RoL project that aims to revitalise the Klang and Gombak rivers into vibrant liveable waterfronts.