A MASSIVE gotong royong campaign at the Bayan Lepas Waterfall in Kampung Perlis here brought back the lustre to the popular picnic site.
The waterfall was turned into a dump site many years ago by residents living further up the stream.
Intensive effort by the state Irrigation and Drainage Department in the past had managed to breathe life into the waterfall.
However, their effort was short-lived as rampant dumping of rubbish continued.
Last Sunday, some 200 volunteers comprising members of the Village Development and Security Committee in Bayan Lepas, residents, and staff of various federal and state government agencies gathered near the waterfall to remove the piles of rubbish that have accumulated in the area.
The exercise saw the removal of tonnes of garbage which were strewn around the waterfall and on an adjacent hillslope below the Mutiara Perdana 2 Flats.
The volunteers diligently cleared the ground of fallen twigs and litter before loading them onto a lorry.
Meanwhile, state Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow urged the residents living nearby to not dispose of household garbage at the waterfall.
“Our challenge is to maintain the cleanliness of the waterfall so all the good work done will not go to waste.
“My fear is that the residents are still throwing their garbage bags indiscriminately at the waterfall and jeopardising its surroundings,” Chow said, urging the public to love the environment.
He added that lorries had made at least 100 trips per day to ferry the junk out from the waterfall.
Sungai Air Terjun or Bayan Lepas Waterfall was made famous by former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who as a child used to picnic and swim in the crystal clear and invigorating pool amid the lush greenery.
Abdullah had once lamented about the poor condition of the waterfall in 2004, which led to the restoration of the natural heritage site.
- Harian Metro
- Berita Harian
- Business Times
- My Gadget Planet
- Travelific
- Harum
- Eats
- Properties
- News Image Bank (NIB)
- New Economic Model
- NST Reviews
- NiEXUS
- Friends of Travel Times
- Property News
- NSTLIVE Archive
- Spell-It-Right
