Clean-up activities are held at Sungai Way during the River carnival. — Picture by Luqman Hakim Zubir

PETALING JAYA: The 2.5-kilometre Sungai Way is no longer categorised as Class V, the dirtiest in the five river categories.

In just one year the cleanliness of the river has improved from Class V to Class IV, with some parts even in Class III.

The progress is attributed to "Working Actively Through Education and Rehabilitation" (Water), a three-year programme started by Guinness Anchor Berhad Foundation (GAB) and the Global Environment Centre (GEC) last year.

The programme, supported by the Department of Environment (DOE), Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and Selangor Water Management Board, is aimed at improving the water quality and raising public awareness of urban rivers in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Sungai Way is a tributary of Sungai Penchala, the river selected for the One State One River programme launched by the government in 2002.

Under the programme, it is hoped that the selected rivers from the states nationwide would achieve Class II, which means its water is drinkable, by 2015.

"For Sungai Penchala, we are aiming for Class IIB, which means the river can be used for recreation, including swimming. When we first started, this river was polluted and categorised under Class V," said GEC director Faizal Parish after the launch of the second River Carnival, which is part of Water programme activities.

He said Class III and IV rivers have living creatures including fish but are still not suitable for recreational use.

"The contributing factors for pollution include garbage and even discharge from households. In Petaling Jaya, most of the houses have a direct flow from the kitchen sink straight to the river. So it will help if the householders change their old system.

"The most important thing is to engage the residents around the river by getting them involved in river management," he said.

He added that the programme is proved to be effective and hoped it could serve as a model to be implemented on other rivers.

The carnival, which was held at SM Sungei Way, was officiated by DID river basin and coastal zone management director Datuk Ong Siew Heng.

Some 1,000 students, volunteers and residents participated in games and activities. There were also exhibition booths set up by the supporting agencies.

Also present was GAB Foundation chairman Tan Sri Saw Huat Lye.

A resident representative from Desa Mentari, Zainal Abidin Kamarulzaman, said there was increased interest among residents on the river maintenance.

"There is a bigger turnout this year. Also, just a few years ago, people here would not even dare to go near the river. But now, we can even see fish swimming in it near our housing scheme. We have started planting small trees around it.

"Another improvement that we can see is that we do not have flash floods on Federal Highway, which is next to the river. This is because the river is now cleaner, without rubbish which could also lead to flash floods," he said.