KUALA KANGSAR: The Environment and Water Ministry is confident the Sungai Perak Integrated River Basin Development (PLSB) Phase 1 project which costs RM250 million can save it from becoming a garbage dump.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said, currently the river is categorised as first class and efforts to beautify and conserve the surrounding area must be done immediately so there is no pollution like other rivers.
"There are many rivers in the country which are no longer categorized as first class but we find Sungai Perak here, is still able to maintain a high level of cleanliness.
"Our strategy is that when the riverside area is alive, it will be taken care of by anyone including the community and NGOs (non-governmental organisations). That way, we hope this river will no longer be a garbage dump," he said.
Sungai Perak is the second longest river in West Malaysia after Sungai Pahang. The 400km river, begins at the Perak-Kelantan-Thailand border.
Currently, Malaysian rivers are categorised into five classes — I, II, III, IV and V — based on the descending order of water quality, with Class I considered good and Class V the most polluted.
Tuan Ibrahim said under Phase 1 of the PLSB, there are 11 main components which include flood mitigation projects, living rivers and environment-friendly drainage project.
For the flood mitigation component, he said the projects are the Sungai Siput Chandan Flood Mitigation Plan, Kampung Gajah Flood Mitigation Plan, Teluk Intan Phase 2 Flood Mitigation Plan and Lenggong Flood Mitigation Plan.
"The living river component involves four projects, namely Living River Batak Rabit, Living River Bike Trail Kuala Kangsar, Living River Sungai Bidor as well as the River Corridor Restoration Plan for the Perak Tengah and Kuala Kangsar districts.
"The final component is the Kuala Kangsar environment-friendly drainage project," he told reporters after opening a 25km Living River Bike Trail from Chenderoh to Victoria Bridge here, today.
He said in line with the ministry's vision to build 137km of river trails by 2021, the Drainage and Irrigation Department in collaboration with the state government has taken the initiative to build this bike trail.
"The objective of the bike trail project along Sungai Perak is considered to be a nature-based solution approach. Indirectly, it fosters a sense of responsibility and togetherness of the people to preserve and conserve the treasures of the river.
"If this project is developed more systematically, it will also be able to boost the tourism sector and mobilise domestic economic activity," he added.
The RM2 million Living River Bike Trail Project from Chenderoh to Victoria Bridge was completed on Dec 6, 2020 - about a year after the project kicked off on Oct 21, 2019.