KUCHING: The water quality in the upper part of the Sarawak Kiri River, also known as Semadang River, is still clean and safe for aquatic life like fish and prawn, or even ikan empurau, the most expensive fish in Malaysia.
This was revealed by the Controller of Environmental Quality at the Natural Resources and Environmental Board (NREB) Justine Jok Jau Emang.
“Based on our (NREB) monitoring and test, it was found that the oxygen level in the river is six milligrammes per litre which is still safe for acquatic life, even for empurau fish,” said Justin in an interview.
He urged those living along the river to always care for its river cleanliness and ensure the water was safe for human consumption and for sport activities.
He commended the Agriculture Department and the local communities for implementing the tagang system along the river. He said it was one of the effective approaches in river conservation.
Justine added the local communities should not just depend on the enforcement authorities to keep their rivers clean but should instead be actively involved in protecting their cleanliness.
He pointed out that clean rivers would provide local communities with sources of protein from aquatic life and also economic income.
Rivers, he added, were also potential tourism products, which could contribute to the local community economy.
SRB Assistant Controller (Enforcement) Lt Colonel (Retired) Ding Tiew Wong, said the tagang system had made riverine dwellers aware of the importance of river conservation.
He said SRB had and would continue to conduct river cleanliness programmes throughout the state.
“SRB also supports river conservation projects by non-governmental organisations as well as the local communities,” he said.
