River of Life project on track

KUALA LUMPUR: SOME 53 per cent of cleaning and 14 per cent of beautification works on the River of Life (RoL) project has been completed.

Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who visited the site yesterday, said it was not far behind the original schedule of 54 per cent for cleaning and 17 per cent for beautification works.

“Of the total RM2.98 billion allocated for the cleaning work, about RM713.45 million has been spent and of the RM1 billion allocated for the beautification work, RM67,853 has been spent.

“We are focusing on Precinct 7, which is the heritage area that includes Masjid Jamek, China Town and Dataran Merdeka.

“Of the 60 packages in the RoL project, one has been completed — the Heritage Trail, from Lebuh Pasar, Jalan Tun HS Lee to Jalan Kasturi. The other five packages are ongoing, while 10 others are still being designed.

“It is hoped that this project spurs real estate development along the river and attracts new investments in the city,” he said.

Besides initiatives carried out by government agencies to achieve cleaner rivers, Tengku Adnan said the public could do its part by not littering.

“All must be committed and refrain from treating our rivers as a dumping ground.”

The visit also included Wisma Karangkraf, which will be converted into an open air public square, as well as the area behind Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, which is being developed into a Guiding Gallery, comprising three galleries with a deck overlooking the Klang river.

The visit included a view of the restoration works for the supporting waterway structures alongside St Mary’s Cathedral near Dataran Merdeka.

As part of the project, river cleaning initiatives are ongoing along a 110km stretch of the Klang river to improve water quality standards from Class III, which is not suitable for body contact and consumption, to Class IIb for recreational activities by 2020.

Among the efforts undertaken for the cleaning process were the installation of communal grease traps to reduce oil and grease levels, pollutant traps to tackle floating items in the rivers, as well as the establishment of waste water and river water treatment plants at selected sites.

Present were mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib, Federal Territories deputy secretary-general (planning and development) Datuk Mohd Sani Mistam and Malaysia’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) director of Greater Kuala Lumpur Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah.

RoL is one of nine Entry Point Projects under the government’s National Key Economic Areas to transform Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley into a world-class urban conurbation with excellent economic growth.

The project is carried out in three phases — cleaning, beautification and development along the 10.7km stretch of the Klang and Gombak rivers.

The project starts at the first precinct in the north of KL, in Kampung Puah, and ends in Brickfields, covering 11 precincts in total.