THE water quality of Sungai Kinta in Ipoh has improved tremendously and is now classified as a Class Two category river.

Perak Environment Department director Norazizi Adinan thanked Spark Foundation’s six-year smart partnership with various government agencies and local communities in making the effort a success.

Norazizi said Class Two meant the water needed to undergo treatment before it could be used for consumption and recreational use.

“I hope people will continue to preserve and conserve rivers in the state and the country as a whole.

“We are very proud of this achievement and we hope to raise the water quality to Class One,” he said after the foundation’s appreciation ceremony in Ipoh.

Spark Foundation is part of Heineken Malaysia Bhd’s corporate social responsibility for the Water Project initiative.

Shagivarnam (second from right) being briefed on the Water Project at a hotel in Ipoh.

Present at the event held at a hotel in Ipoh were the foundation’s representative Shagivarnam Ratnam, Global Environment Centre’s river programme manager Dr K. Kalithasan and state Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) district engineer Mustafa Murad.

Shagivarnam said after recognising the success of the Water Project in Selangor, the Perak DID approached the foundation to address water pollution in Sungai Kinta.

“The project was initiated in Perak in 2012 to focus on educational outreach programmes by informing local communities along the three tributaries of Sungai Kinta- Sungai Senam, Sungai Buntong and Sungai Kledang.

“The foundation invested RM1.6mil in Perak over the last six years, and more than RM8mil was invested over the past 10 years in programmes under Water Project,” he added.More than 100 educational outreach programmes were held to engage over 500 people in and around the Water Project.

“The foundation, with other agencies, also established seven River Care Communities and 10 business communities along the three tributaries in the past six years,” he said.

He said the foundation also built Perak’s first River Care Education Centre, a community-based, one-stop learning centre in Buntong.

The centre is equipped with various resources and equipment to engage the community on river rehabilitation and perform water quality testing.

“After this, we will be moving our focus back to Selangor, as we are satisfied with the work done in Perak,” Shagivarnam said, adding that a photobook on their efforts for the past six years had been published.

Dr Kalithasan said the public and youths now have a better sense of shared responsibility in caring for the environment and rivers.

“Through the education programme, we empowered 48 Rukun Tetangga areas and Sungai Kinta Youth Rangers to protect and conserve the rivers in their local communities.

“The conservation of Sungai Kinta will continue under a different agenda, and regardless who takes over, there will be a continuous effort to preserve our rivers,” Shagivarnam said.