Johor seeks RM700m for river clean-up

Date : 290804
Source : Sun2surf (The Sun Online)
Title : Johor seeks RM700m for river clean-up

JOHOR BARU: Johor has applied for a RM700 million allocation from the federal government to clean up its three main rivers which are severely polluted.

State Tourism and Environment Committee Chairman Freddie Long Hoo Hin said on Tuesday the state government planned to clean up Sungai Tebrau, Sungai Segget and Sungai Skudai in the Ninth Malaysia Plan from 2006 to 2010. "The rivers are severely polluted due to the dumping of liquid and solid wastes in the last 40 years and they need to be cleaned up for the future," he said after launching a cleanliness campaign for Lido Beach themed "Return 2 De Sea" organised by Hotel M Suites here.

The federal government would be furnished with a detailed report on the pollution, including proposed action plans, prepared by the Danish Cooperation on Environmental Development which studied the rivers with cooperation from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2003. He also said the Johor Baru City Council was spending some RM30 million a year to get rid of 380,000 tonnes of garbage and to beautify the city.