All set: Azmi (in red cap) applauds as he launches the project.

Community members, along with members from the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), the Environment Department (DOE), Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and Alam Flora, cleaned up the river from Sept 5 to 7 in preparation for the project. 

After the clean up, nets were placed along the river to catch waste, with the success indicators being the reduction of solid waste found in the river. 

GEC would monitor the river’s cleanliness throughout the three months until the end of November. 

Natural Resources and Environment Minster Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid launched the project. Also present during the launch was Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Yong Dai Ying. 

“Today, we are developed and we will continue to develop further, but let us note that 50% of our country’s 180 rivers are polluted,” said Azmi. Of those polluted rivers, 17 are so polluted they cannot support life. The dirtiest rivers are where there are most people,” he said. 

Azmi urged the community to safeguard the river they had and said that rivers are the indicators of the environment’s health. 

The project is funded by a grant scheme under the National Resource and Environment Ministry for assemblymen and parliamentarians to promote environmental awareness within the community. 

Results of the project would be announced during the closing ceremony on Dec 16.