IPOH: ONGOING efforts to rehabilitate Sungai Kinta has received a significant boost as Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the GAB Foundation and Global Environment Centre (GEC).

The memorandum will see 50 Utar students in various fields play an active role in the three-year Water (Working Actively Through Education and Rehabilitation) Project Sungai Kinta Education Programme, which is aimed at educating communities in the Sungai Kinta basin.

GAB Foundation chairman Datuk Saw Choo Boon, Utar president professor academician Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik and GEC director Faizal Parish signed the MoU.

The ceremony was officiated by state Irrigation and Drainage Department director Datuk Abdul Razak Dahalan.

Also present was Utar Council chairman Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik.

Saw commended Utar for taking part in the project, saying that it would instill moral values and character in the students who took part in the various projects.

"Education is not only about books, it is also about building character. What you students gain from this will determine how successful you will be in the future," he said.

Saw said the foundation would commit RM1 million to the campaign.

Meanwhile, Chuah outlined Utar's commitment to the preservation of the environment.

"We educate our students on the importance of protecting our resources. One of the most important resources is water, and Sungai Kinta is a major local water source," he said.

"Thus, this MoU between our three organisations share a common goal of conserving a precious natural commodity."

The Sungai Kinta campaign will focus on raising river conservation awareness among the people who live along the tributaries of Sungai Kinta -- Sungai Senam, Sungai Buntong and Sungai Kledang.

It is the second major GAB Foundation project, after the Sungei Way river project, which managed to elevate the water quality of the Sungei Way river from an extremely polluted river (class IV/V) to a river capable of supporting living organisms (class III)

Faizal said one of the lessons learnt from the previous programme was that awareness of water pollution in Malaysia was not at a satisfactory level.

"Through our surveys, we found that only around 30 per cent of the people we queried knew that their household waste goes into the river.

"We need to change the behaviour and attitude of the public," he said.

Certificates were presented to 20 students who will be in the frontline of the operation.

Known as River Rangers, the students will assist in observing the water quality and biodiversity of the river. One of the team leaders, Alexanderrayar Singarayah, 23, expressed confidence that the Utar team would be successful in playing its part in the project.

"We have already conducted tests on a smaller scale in Kampar. We hope this will translate effectively into our activities when we start work on the largest rivers," he said.