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By NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK / Pic By MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

THE River of Life (ROL) Project-Public Outreach Programme is expected to introduce a mobile application called “Citizen’s Eye” that will allow Kuala Lumpur citizens to be part of the city’s river management project.

Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) river basin management division director Md Khairi Selamat said the application, currently in its trial stage, is expected to be launched on Oct 10.

“We are evaluating if there are bugs or issues in the application, and have contacted all relevant agencies to request for a person-incharge that will review all entries sent to them via the app,” he said at the ROL log boom cleaning yesterday in Kuala Lumpur.

The launch is expected to be officiated by Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar at the International Islamic University Malaysia.

Md Khairi said the application is developed in order for the public to share photographs or videos of any river-related activities, whether it be beneficial for the local rivers or create solutions for pollution issues.

DID river basin management division senior principal assistant director Wan Marhafidz Shah Wan Mohd Omar said based on the current water quality, the necessary river clean-up requires too much money.

“At the moment, we spend roughly RM500,000 per month just to collect litter that gathers at the log boom we have in our rivers to ensure that the waters in the middle of the city are clear,” he said.

He added that currently, the ROL project is in the works of building larger sewage treatment plants in Batu, Jinjang Kepong and Bunus in Kuala Lumpur.

“These are still non-preventive measures that we should be taking, so hopefully in the future, the money for our rivers can be used for development and beautification more than for cleaning up,” he said.

A total of RM4.4 billion has been allocated for the ROL project itself, with the bulk of RM3.4 billion being channelled for cleaning the rivers, while the remaining is allocated for landscaping.

The target for river water quality classification under the project is IIB by 2020, which allows for recreational use of river water with body contact.

Currently, the average river water quality is classified at IV, defined as irrigation.

Details at: https://themalaysianreserve.co...