KLANG: The Klang River contains a wide variety of rubbish, but the biggest bane creating havoc in the river bed was discarded old jeans.
State Infrastructure and Agriculture Committee chairman Datuk Izham Hashim said there were a large number of old jeans dumped into the Klang River.
“There are so many things in the river, such as mattresses, tyres, bicycles and even old cars, but we find the discarded jeans causing the most problems,” he said.
Izham said the jeans get tangled up and damage the cutter suction machines used to cut and remove rubbish found in the river beds.
“Despite the jeans having been in the water for years, they have not decayed.
“So, the moral of the story here is, do not dump your unwanted jeans into rivers,” said Izham.
He was speaking to reporters at the strategic partnership signing ceremony for Interceptor 02 involving Affin Group, MUFG Bank and Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd, which is the company spearheading the Selangor Maritime Gateway project.
The strategic collaboration was launched by Tengku Permaisuri Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin.
On the strategic collaboration, Izham said both Affin Group and MUFG Bank would be contributing towards the operational cost for the Interceptor, a solar-powered river cleaning machine that came from Dutch non-profit organisation The Ocean Cleanup.
Izham said that since 2016, the Interceptor had managed to clear some 95,000 metric tonnes of floating rubbish from the Klang River to date.
“The interceptor is not merely an asset but the symbol of our commitment to find a solution for contamination, especially plastics, in the Klang River, which is one of the main rivers in the state,” he added.
Currently, there are two interceptors placed along the Klang River stretch and a third one will soon be placed on another river in Selangor.
Izham also said the five-year plan to dredge the state’s rivers and clean them up can now be expedited due to the Federal Government’s allocation for flood mitigation works, which covers certain aspects of the clean-up initiative.
Meanwhile, Affin Group president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah said a rejuvenated Klang River can bring in eco-cruises, cultural tours and new livelihoods for the people.
