The Perak Environment Society (PES) disappointed with desk-bound officials's indifference to river pollution has decided that people power is the only choice left.

The next step is to get volunteers to keep track of pollution in the state's rivers, said its president Abdul Rahman Said Alli.

He explained how PES was forced into taking the initiative in these words, "We've been unhappy with the way these departments and the local authorities maintain the cleanliness of the rivers.

penang to rehabilitate dead rivers sungai pinang and sungai juru 270409 03"They are not optimising their work output when compared to their fat salaries."

He added that most are good at working at their desks and do not take the trouble to find out for themselves how badly the rivers are polluted and take the necessary remedial measures.

Rahman also brought politicans into his cross hairs, saying all they are good for is making public speeches on the topic then move on without even bothering to look at the situation they are talking about.

"So, we decided to train Perakians to be the eyes and ears of PES to keep track of the pollution levels in our state rivers and alert the authorities," he said.

River ranger to the rescue

Also, PES volunteers will be taught how measure pollution levels in rivers and be coached on other aspects of keeping the environment clean and safe.

This pioneer watchdog project named 'River Ranger' was started at the popular tourist spot of Alor Teluk Batik, Teluk Batik, Lumut on Nov 14.

Out of the eighty volunteers, only five will be selected to be the watchdogs for Lumut, the state constituency of Mentri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir.

At the prompting of PES the state government agreed to sponsor this River Ranger project which involves the state Drainage and Irrigation Department, Manjong Municipal Council, the rest of the districts scheduled to be covered within two years.

In PES's Nov 19 letter to Zambry, the society listed five shortcomings that contribute to the pollution of Alor Teluk Batik which should be rectified:

  • Development activities in the area are blocking the flow of the river;
  • Illegal digging of earth and cutting of trees in forest reserve area is hampering the flow of water which has to take an underground route to reach the river, weakening the river banks;
  • Hotels, restaurants and food stalls situated by the river are polluting the river with waste water;
  • Horses which are housed by the river are also polluting the river with their dung and urine; and,
  • The throwing of rubbish into the river while open burning is polluting the air.