KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — As water is the source of life, it is the community’s collective responsibility to ensure the cleanliness of rivers, the main source of water in the country.
Internationally, the United Nations (UN) declared March 22 as World Water Day and this year’s theme is “Valuing Water”.
At the national level, we will be celebrating it on March 27.
The national-level theme for the 2021 World Water Day 2021 celebration is “Rivers Are Our Collective Responsibility”. True enough, the act of caring for rivers must be nurtured until it becomes a norm.
In an interview with Bernama recently, Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the notion that rivers’ cleanliness falls on the shoulder of the local authorities must be changed so that the community understands that they too are responsible for the cleanliness of our rivers.
“This theme was chosen to raise awareness that it is our collective responsibility to care for our rivers — whether non-governmental agencies, the community at large, individuals or the local authorities. Sometimes some of us feel detached from the responsibility because we think that we don’t own it.”
“This theme is to remind them otherwise so that when they see trash in the river, they will feel compelled to remove it. We want them to have a sense of shame when it comes to littering in the river,” he said.
At the same time, he also urged NGOs, communities and owners of industries set up near rivers to maintain and beautify the country’s main source of water, in a bid to protect it from pollution.
“Imagine if 1,000 rivers in the country have NGOs, communities or an industry that looks after it, making areas to lounge on the banks, beautifying it and providing toilets that visitors can use for a small fee. It would be worth it as the river would be clean and beautiful.
“There is enormous potential in this as it can improve the local economy. The government can also create awards appreciating such efforts,” he said.
Tuan Ibrahim said the government hoped that rivers would change for the better over the next 10 to 20 years. He believed this would be possible if everyone played their part.
“We want our water sources to have a different look, trails around the river to come alive and the people responsible for ensuring the creation of new water sources. For now, we are cleaning up and beautifying the Kim Kim River in Johor to ensure it attracts visitors in the future,” he said.
Tuan Ibrahim said in line with the theme, his ministry would work with Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia to organise the Waqaf Air programme to help provide access to clean water for people in rural areas.
For now, RM2.4 million has been collected for the project including building pumps and tanks and creating a filtration system to channel the water supply to houses in the rural areas.
— Bernama
