WHEN Abdul Shukor Mohd Shariff, 58, was a schoolboy more than 40 years ago, one of his favourite pastimes was to take a dip in the pristine waters of Sungai Bayan Lepas in front of his home in Kampung Permatang Tepi Laut.
Today, he won't even allow his children or grandchildren anywhere near the river.
The fisherman believes the level of pollution in the river is dangerous.
"I don't let my kids or grandchildren play by the river, let alone swim.
"Don't talk about fishing. This river used to be teeming with siput, kepah, ikan belanak and belangkas. Now, even the hardy balacak (mudskipper) can't survive in it.
"Just look at how dark the water is. It is worse during low tide. And the stench is unbearable. Like a rotting corpse.
"People here have complained about skin problems after coming into contact with the water."
Shukor says pollution in the river worsened about 20 years ago due to the mushrooming of high-rise developments in the Bayan Lepas area.
"I believe most of the waste that ends up in Sungai Bayan Lepas is domestic waste. Just look at the number of skyscrapers around."
Echoing his sentiment is fisherman Shoib Ibrahim, 65, who believes that industrial waste is the main cause of the pollution in Sungai Bayan Lepas.
He says he has seen Department of Environment (DoE) officers collecting water samples from the river following complaints from fishermen, but nothing came from it.
"Sometimes, you can see layers of a thick oil-like substance on the river surface.
"It stinks during low tide. Sometimes, when I get home, my family will ask me why I stink. We're embarrassed to invite friends to our house."
DETERIORATING RIVER QUALITY
River pollution in Penang remains a thorny subject for a lot of long-time residents, many of whom have seen the water quality deteriorating rapidly.
Last month, there was alarm following a report that about one tonne of rubbish was fished out of the log boom in Sungai Pinang by the Penang Island City Council.
The rubbish, mostly plastic waste, included large items such as sofas, bed frames and refrigerators. Among the debris was dead marine life.
While there have been efforts to rehabilitate the rivers in Penang, they have been largely unsuccessful.
Sungai Pinang and Sungai Juru on the mainland were once seen as among Malaysia's most heavily polluted rivers in the late 1990s and mid-1970s.
In 2008, the state government set a target to rehabilitate the rivers from Class V to Class II by 2015.
A Class V river is classified as "most polluted" with no marine life and a Class II river is clean enough for people to swim in.
The rivers are now in Class III, a stage that allows fish to survive in the waters.
Sungai Pinang was briefly upgraded to Class II in 2020 and last year before it dropped to Class III this year.
A majority of rivers in Penang are in Class III. Of the seven main rivers in the state, six are in Class III, according to Water Quality Index readings from 2016 to 2022.
They are Sungai Pinang, Sungai Kluang and Sungai Bayan Lepas on the island, and Sungai Juru, Sungai Jawi and Sungai Prai on the mainland.
Only Sungai Kerian on the mainland is in Class II. It has been a Class II river since 2016, but was downgraded to Class III in 2020, then was upgraded again.
Sungai Juru, Sungai Jawi and Sungai Prai have been in Class III since 2016.
Sungai Pinang has been in Class III since 2016 before it was upgraded to Class II in 2020 and 2021, possibly thanks to Covid-19 restrictions. It was downgraded to Class III again this year.
Sungai Kluang has been in Class II since 2016 before it was downgraded to Class III in 2019 and upgraded to Class II again in 2020. It was downgraded again to Class III in 2021 and this year.
Sungai Bayan Lepas has been in Class III since 2016 before it was upgraded to Class II in 2020, possibly due to pandemic restrictions. It was downgraded to Class III again in 2021 and this year.
A Class I river is very good quality, Class II is good, Class III is average, Class IV is slightly polluted and Class V is polluted.
Class III rivers can be used for water supply with extensive treatment, and are suitable for fishery and source of water for livestock.
THE FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN
In Permatang Tepi Laut, fishermen are worried about their future as the area will have several coastal reclamation projects.
Checks by the New Sunday Times at Sungai Bayan Lepas, which flows into the Permatang Tepi Laut sea inlet, found that the seawater was black around the shore and bluish-green in the middle of the sea.
Rubbish also washed ashore to the Permatang Tepi Laut seafront flowing from Sungai Bayan Lepas.
Muhadzir Subli, 58, a villager from Kampung Bukit, says the Air Terjun Bayan Lepas, which flows into Sungai Bayan Lepas, brings with it tonnes of domestic waste from nearby high-rise buildings.
At the waterfall, the NST team found slopes covered with mainly domestic waste, believed to have been thrown there by residents.
"They started cleaning the waterfall a few days ago. Before this, you can't even see water flowing from the waterfall, only domestic waste," says Muhadzir.
"The waste flows into Sungai Bayan Lepas, polluting the river."
Villagers in Kampung Pengkalan and Kampung Tok Keramat, near Sungai Juru, long for the days of cleaner rivers.
A senior citizen in her 60s, who wishes to be known only as Mak Siti, says she used to follow her father to fish for ikan sembilang in Sungai Juru as a girl.
She recalls how they cooked and savoured their catch.
"There are no more ikan sembilang in the river. What is left are weird species that one would never catch, let alone eat.
"Sungai Juru has gone from bad to worse in the last 20 years due to the mushrooming of factories nearby."
Another villager, who wants to be known only as Mohd, in his late 30s, says locals often smell nauseating oil-like fumes coming from the river.
He says there is not much residents can do except bear with it.
"I have seen people throw industrial waste into the river, especially in the afternoon when people are at work."
But he could not capture the incidents on time as evidence for the authorities.
A FOULNESS IN THE AIR
During the visit, the NST team saw a tributary that flows into Sungai Juru covered in layers of thick oil. The water was black and emitted a strong stench.
The NST team also drove along one of the tributaries that flows into Sungai Jawi. We saw what appeared to be piping from some small- and medium-sized industries in the Juru Estate leading to Sungai Jawi.
As soon as we stepped out of our vehicle, we were hit by a foul, nauseating stench. A thick layer of industrial waste was seen on the water's surface.
The NST spoke to Mohd Khairul Hisham Razali, 27, from Sungai Bakap, who was fishing in another tributary that flows into Sungai Jawi.
Khairul, an avid angler, says he has been fishing at the end of Parit D Valdor and Parit Paya Mahang since he was 10 years old.
"The river is very bad compared with how it used to be. I will only fish when it rains and when the tide control gate is closed. When it is open, the water is dark, filthy and very smelly.
"Nearby, there are pig and chicken farms. I believe the thick layer of gunk on the river surface is from the farms.
"I have seen DoE officers taking water samples in nearby Changkat for testing."
He says he used to catch udang galah and ikan belanak, but not any more.
"This is just a hobby. No way I am eating the fish that I catch here. I catch and release them. I am just doing this for fun."
BAD ATTITUDE
State Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari attributes the pollution to the poor attitude of people who throw rubbish indiscriminately.
"Many efforts have been taken by state authorities to ensure the cleanliness of rivers such as Sungai Pinang.
"However, irresponsible people hinder our efforts.
"We collect rubbish from the log boom daily. The next day, we see the same amount of rubbish there again.
"This is only one log boom. There are many more in rivers throughout the state. So you can imagine the amount of rubbish people throw," he said after a visit to the log boom in Sungai Pinang recently.
Will Penang's main rivers be rehabilitated to Class II soon?
It seems possible for Sungai Pinang. A flood mitigation project that will be implemented soon can hopefully address the rubbish problem.
Two parallel drains will be built along Sungai Pinang to trap rubbish from entering the river.
By doing this, the authorities will be able to address the rubbish issue in Sungai Pinang once and for all.
Tenders for phase two of the Sungai Pinang flood mitigation project, which costs RM150 million and will be borne by the federal government, will open in the third quarter of this year. The project will take four years to complete.
For the other rivers, time will tell if their conditions improve.