Residents casting a net to see if there is any fish in the Class III Sungai Batu.
DESLUDGE your septic tank every two years, connect your tank to a public sewerage pipe and do not forget to pay your Indah Water Konsortium bill.
That was the advice from the Drainage and Irrigation Department Malaysia (DID) to residents of Kampung Kasipillay, Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur during a river cleaning session.
The department’s deputy director-general 1 Datuk Mohd Nasir Mohd Noh also cautioned business owners of the township to install grease traps and maintain them regularly.
Mohd Nasir told stakeholders that a healthy living river is priceless to a community.
“In order to care for the river, you must take steps to keep it clean and one way of doing that is to make sure nothing goes into the drains,” he said after launching the River of Life public outreach programme (ROL-POP) Phase 5 to clean up Sungai Batu.
Kampung Kassipillay residents turning out in full force to clean up Sungai Batu.
He added the ROL-POP programmes were challenging as they involved engaging the communities and changing mindsets on keeping rivers clean.
About 500 volunteers comprising residents of Kampung Kasipillay and Maybank staff spent their morning cleaning an 800m stretch of Sungai Batu and the drains, besides painting the railings and sprucing up the area.
The event was part of the Sungai Batu adoption programme initiated by the Rukun Tetangga Kampung Kasipillay. It was held in partnership with Maybank Group Risk (Federal Territory), Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Global Environment Centre.
Also present were National DID river basin management division director Ng Kok Seng, DBKL project management executive director Datuk Mahadi Che Ngah, Maybank group chief risk officer Dr John Lee Hin Hock and GEC director Faisal Parish.
Sungai Batu is a tributary of Sungai Jinjang and passes through areas such as Selayang, Batu Caves, Taman Wahyu and Sentul.
It is categorised as Class III which is considered polluted and not suitable for recreational purposes.
