KUCHING: Residents of Tabuan Dayak are now happy that the Tabuan River which flows through their residential area is finally getting the right attention.
Basil Daus, 19, who lives along the river, said the river was constantly dirty, littered with rubbish and dead animals which emitted foul smell especially during high tide.
“My grandmother who has been staying here for the past 30 years sometimes vomit in the middle of her lunch as the stench gets unbearable,” he lamented.
Besides the stench which gets extremely unbearable during high tide (after 1pm), Basil also complained that his family would be overwhelmed by flies which thrive among the rubbish.
“During Gawai, it was also shameful for us to hold an open house as flies were everywhere threatening to contaminate the food that we served,” he added.
To eliminate illegal dumping into the river, Basil suggested that the authorities install CCTVs at the bridge to detect vehicles or anyone throwing rubbish there.
“With the CCTVs in place, at least there is hard proof for the authorities to slap offenders with a fine for illegal dumping,” added Basil.
Meanwhile, leading more than thirty volunteers to clean up the river in the searing midday sun yesterday was Dr Tang Sie Hing.
They did it around 1.30pm to time with the high tide.
Arming themselves with rubber gloves and nets, the cleaning-up campaign was also joined by several other NGOs and residents who lined the river banks and bridge to do their part for the environment.
A few others however went the extra mile by hopping on boats and floatsam to reach the middle and other parts of the river.
“This is an immediate problem that needs solving,” said Dr Tang, who is special assistant to Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen at the river bank yesterday.
He also said the campaign would not end by just cleaning up the river but would include educating and creating awareness among the people on the health and environmental problems that could spring from a polluted river.
“Within the next two weeks, we will be visiting households to promote the campaign. If we do not take prompt action, this river could be an environmental disaster,” said Dr Tang.
He also said Tabuan river would be the first of many more rivers for them to launch the cleaning-up campaign. He was grateful the volunteers took time off to clean up the river on Sunday.
“This is true 1Malaysia spirit which you cannot see anywhere else,” said Dr Tang, adding that the volunteers also donated trash bags and drinking water for the campaign.
Dr Tang said he was disappointed that when the issue of the polluted river was highlighted by the media two weeks ago, several authorities were not too keen to tackle the issue.
“The residents here (Tabuan Dayak) until those living in Jalan Foochow have written countless letters to the council for it to take the necessary action, but nothing has been done so far,” he added.
Dr Tang also urged the authorities to enforce a heavier compound on those caught for illegal dumping.
Chong, who is state Democratic Action Party (DAP) secretary, was also at the campaign.
He said the council should review the rubbish collection by Trinekens, which is paid RM10 million for rubbish management.
He said residents had informed them that they resorted to dumping their household wastes into the river as they (rubbish) were not collected for over a few weeks.
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