projectised: River of Life flowing smoothly

Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, who visited four of the project sites yesterday, said he was pleased with the progress of the project.

    "To date, 18 out of the 47   projects under ROL have begun construction, while many more are progressing on schedule. We will continue the momentum of the project, which will complete in 2020," he said.

    The delegation of ministers first visited the Batu Dentention Pond where the river cleaning project will take place.

The Department of Irrigation and Drainage is constructing a Water Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Batu Detention Pond. It is expected to complete in March 2013. The project aims to improve the water quality of Sg Batu from Class 4 to Class 2. Once the WTP is completed, water from Sg Gombak will be channelled to the Batu Detention Pond where the water will be treated and diverted to Sg Batu through Sg Keroh.

    The second site they visited was the Bunga Tanjung Food Court in Ampang, where two communal grease traps were built last October. The grease traps will reduce oil and grease entering the river by 90 per cent. The Ampang Jaya Municipal Council were given RM2.3 million under the ROL project to install 20 communal grease traps in nine food courts in their municipality. Another 46 grease traps will soon be installed at eateries in the city and Selayang.

    The next site they visited was the Bunus Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Titiwangsa which will be upgraded by the Sewerage Services Department (SSD). The upgrading project is expected to start next year. The upgraded Bunus STP will be able to handle 1,100,00 metre cubic of waste from 352,000 metre cubic   per day.

    Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd spokesperson said that once completed the waste from three catchments areas will be treated at the Bunus STP.

The ministers then visited Precinct 7 of the river beautification project in Masjid Jamek.

AECOM, which won the bid to beautify the river, will be producing detailed designs for   Masjid Jamek. The beautification project is expected to begin towards the end of next year and completed in five years.