Nearly 59,000kg trash collected from Klang Valley rivers

KUALA LUMPUR: As much as 58,847kg of trash were collected from rivers in the Klang Valley area during the first six months of this year under the River of Life project, said Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.
"Based on data collected by the Drainage and Irrigation Department, the trash collected in 2015 amounted to 59,316 kg during the corresponding period, while there was a two-fold increase or 123,154 kg of collected trash in 2016.
"The government is taking this issue seriously because we are worried about the increasing trend of the collected trash from the rivers every year," he said during the opening ceremony of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya level of National Environmental Day 2017, here today.
His speech text was read out by the ministry's deputy secretary-general (Planning and Development) Datuk M Noor Azman Taib.
Tengku Adnan said in order to overcome the issue, the enforcement to control the illegal dumping activity and awareness programmes had to be expanded. — Bernama