By Zareef Muzammil
SHAH ALAM, Nov 25 — The Friends of River (FoR) programme proves the commitment of the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) in creating awareness among the people to appreciate the state’s rivers.
Luas acting director cum principal assistant director (River Basin and Coastal Management Division) Haslina Amer said the initiative helps protect the river from being polluted and would also benefit the local community.
“Various agencies and NGOs are grouped under the FoR and they will carry out their own efforts through gotong-royong activities to clean up the river areas.
“We believe the community living near the rivers would benefit from this because the area can then be used for recreation and family activities,” said Haslina during the Media Selangor’s talk show titled Pencemaran Air: Siapa Buat Onar? broadcasted live via Facebook on Monday night.
At the same time, Haslina advised all parties to jointly help safeguard the cleanliness of raw water resources for the benefit of future generations.
“The responsibility of maintaining the rivers does not lie solely on the shoulders of the government or agencies but requires the cooperation of all parties,” he said.
On January 25 last year, the Selangor State Executive Council approved the establishment of the Selangor State River Conservation Implementation Committee to be chaired by the state executive councillor for infrastructure and public amenities, with Luas as the secretariat.
One of the river conservation initiatives introduced by the committee is FoR programme in every river in the state.
To date, a total of 40 FoRs have been established in 40 tributaries which acts as the ‘eyes’ of the state government to ensure the environment surrounding the river remains clean.
