KLANG, April 4 — The amount of rubbish collected in Klang River here showed a drop from 1,500 tonnes to 800 tonnes a month ago following use of the Interceptor since 2019.
The Interceptor is a boat-like machine that is used to remove plastic waste from bodies of water.
State Infrastructure and Public Facilities, Modernisation of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Committee chairman, Izham Hashim said they targeted the amount of waste to be further reduced to 500 tonnes a month by the end of this year.
Izham said that apart from reducing the amount of garbage, the water quality in the river also showed an improvement from class four and five previously to class three now.
“The quality is getting better with 48 per cent of the water in Klang River at class three and above (class two and one).
“So, we are now targeting up to 70 per cent of Klang River to be in class three,” he told reporters after attending the Interceptor 005 programme with Gerbang Maritim Selangor (SMG) at Klang River, here, today.
Also present were the founder of the #SayNo2Plastic Malaysia campaign, Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and chief executive officer of The Ocean Cleanup, Boyan Slat.
The placement of the Interceptor 005 in Klang River near Port Klang, here, in October 2021 was a follow-up to the success of Interceptor 002 which was placed at Taman Awam Pangkalan Batu, here, in 2019.
Meanwhile, Izham, who is also the chairman of Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (LLSB), the main developer of the SMG project, said the company would be collaborating with four local authorities to install traps at specific localities before going into Klang River.
“We have four local authorities along Klang River, namely, Klang Municipal Council (MPK), Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ), Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) which had been informed about this at the SMG meeting.
“With this cooperation, we are confident that the amount of garbage in Klang River will continue to be reduced,” he added. — Bernama
