KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the first phase of River of Life (RoL) project and Blue Pool Project (Kolam Biru) at Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad, here tonight.
The beautification project, covers the river stretch around Masjid Jamek - Daya Bumi.
Situated at the convergence point of the Klang and Gombak rivers, the Blue Pool, is designed to visually transform the rivers into a stunning, sensory experience.
"The RoL project will bring a stronger impact to the country's progress through the nation's capital.
"As we focus to increase the liveability index of the city through this project, Kuala Lumpur will be on par with other world-class cities," he said during the launch.
He said Kuala Lumpur was going through major changes in stages and in 50 years, with the completion of all the major rail projects, the city would be placed among other first-class cities of the world.
Najib also called for greater enforcement to ensure the cleanliness of rivers.
He said rivers are the nation's heritage and should be preserved by everyone.
Equipped with a dancing symphony fountain, blue corridor, fog and lightning effects, the Blue Pool will enhance the focal point of the historic Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad and create a cool recreational area for locals and tourists to gather.
In addition to the Blue Pool, a new bridge, Jambatan Sultan Abdul Samad has also been build to connect the mosque with the Sultan Abdul Samad building and Dataran Merdeka; reducing 50 per cent of the travelling time for pedestrians.
The RoL is an Entry Point Project, identified in the Greater Kuala Lumpur national key economic area under the Economic Transformation Programme.
Najib said the launch of the Blue Pool will be another iconic attraction for Kuala Lumpur and everyone, including the vendors and the people must ensure the cleanliness of the river.
"This is just the beginning. With continues support by the people to the current government, Insyaallah, there'll be more to come," he said.
There are three major components to the RM4.4 billion RoL project — river cleaning; river master planning and beautification; and river development.
The RoL project aims to transform the Klang and Gombak rivers into vibrant and bustling waterfronts.
The river cleaning process is being conducted along a 110km stretch along the eight rivers covering three municipal areas; Selayang Municipal Council, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
The economic viability of the area would be increased through master planning and beautification works carried out along the 10.7km stretch of Klang and Gombak river corridor.
As for river development, potential government land will be identified and tendered out to private developers through competitive bidding to catalyse development along the corridor.
As of August, 80 per cent of the RoL project has been completed.