Fostering unity through clean-up at Sungai Lipis

Participants with the rubbish they collected after the ‘Sayangi Sungai Lipis’ programme held at Mukim Batu Talam.

RESIDENTS of Mukim Batu Talam in Pahang and Gibbon Conservation Society came together to clean Sungai Lipis as part of the “Sayangi Sungai Lipis” programme in conjunction with World Environment Day.

Themed “Only One Earth”, the residents of Mukim Batu Talam were from five villages (Kampung Tersang, Kampung Batu Malim, Kampung Batu Talam, Kampung Ulu Sungai and Kampung Kela) and eight Orang Asli villages (Pos Buntu, Pos Klang, Pos Ruai, Kampung Satak, Kampung Rensong, Kampung Sungai Kelik, Kampung Sungai Bel dan Kampung Sungai Rempan).

Gibbon Conservation Society president Mariani Ramli said the programme was aimed at raising awareness about the importance of caring for rivers while fostering unity among the residents.

“The programme was also organised to introduce the different river and nature activities available in Mukim Batu Talam.

“I am overwhelmed by the residents’ amazing support. They all came together for this clean-up and most importantly, everyone had fun,” Mariani said.

Meanwhile, Batu Talam assemblyman Datuk Abd Aziz Mat Kiram, who is also state executive councillor, said this was the first river clean-up event to be organised in Raub district.

“I hope more of such programmes will be organised so that the beauty of Sungai Lipis can be enjoyed by future generations.

“I also hope the river can become a key tourist attraction in Mukim Batu Talam, as many river and camping activities can be carried out there,’’ he added.

The clean-up programme took four hours and covered almost 10km of Sungai Lipis using kayaks, rafts and floats.

A total of 306.7kg of rubbish was collected.