PUBLIC cooperation and support is needed to ensure the billions of ringgit spent on the rehabilitation and cleaning of Klang River does not go to waste.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the state wanted to restore the glory of Klang River, once an unpolluted waterway that was the pride of the residents of Klang Valley.

Now, the river is heavily polluted with garbage and even bodies and carcasses were found floating in the river.

Much to do: Two workers cleaning up part of the Klang River.

“It shows that we need radical changes in the way we think and act,” he said during the two-day Klang River carnival held at Taman Pengkalam Batu recently.

The carnival, which was also attended by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, was held as part of the state’s efforts to promote rehabilitation and development of the river.

Selangor tourism, consumer affairs and environment committee chairman Elizabeth Wong said throwing of garbage into the river and restaurant operators flushing greasy stuff down their sinks were the main cause for the river’s pollution.

Another cause of worry is the discharge of untreated industrial waste into the river.

Wong said the state government had appointed an environmental non-governmental organisation, Global Environment Centre (GEC), to carry out river beautification and cleaning studies.

Taking off: Some of the participants at the Klang River carnival run.

Eighty river rangers from GEC would conduct community chemical monitoring, pollution-mapping and river-cleaning and report the outcome to the state government for further action.

The phase one of the Klang River rehabilitation and cleaning project costing RM2bil would begin in the royal town soon.

The total cost of the project on 120km of the river, stretching from Klang to Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and Ampang Jaya, is estimated at RM50bil.

Klang River is the fourth largest river after Sungai Langat, Sungai Selangor and Sungai Bernam.

The purpose of the rehabilitation and cleaning up project is to turn Klang River into a new resource to generate the state’s economy and for urban regeneration as well as commerce and tourism.

The state also aims to improve the water quality and make the river an alternative water resource for the consumption of the Klang Valley residents.