STUDENTS throughout the country will be roped in to be the “eyes and ears” of the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) in combating river pollution.
Global Environment Centre (GEC) River Care Programme Coordinator Dr K. Kalithasan said students at selected schools would be appointed river rangers to help monitor rivers in their respective areas.
“Twenty students from each school will be trained as rangers and they will in turn train their peers on the need to preserve our rivers,” he said during a river ranger training workshop in Butterworth yesterday.
He said the river ranger unit would be set up under the respective schools’ Environment Clubs and the students had to submit a quarterly report on their observations to the centre and DID.
“As part of club activities, the river rangers will upload information on their observation of the river cleanliness situation on a website set up by GEC, a non-governmental organisation promoting environmental awareness.
“They will check if there are any effluents discharged, conduct tests using simple and harmless test kits as well as monitor the river’s biological composition.”
The reports submitted will help the DID have a better picture of the country’s rivers, he added.
”Putting young people in charge will make them realise that river conservation is a collective responsibility,” he said.
Dr Kalithasan said the river ranger programme was part of a community outreach strategy in the One River, One State campaign.
He added that 60 schools in Kedah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan were already involved in the river ranger programme.