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Lo (2nd right) presenting a pamphlet on the campaign to Ellron
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5th March, 2009
KOTA KINABALU: From campaigns to clean up the sea and rivers, next in the pipeline is clean up the drains.
A “Clean Drain Zone” has been introduced in the “Love our Drains” campaign to bring awareness to the general public the need to improve and maintain the condition of their drains.
The first pilot project will be at Taman Sri Gaya and scheduled to be launched by Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datul Ellron Alfred Angin at SK Sri Gaya on March 7.
Organising chairperson Christina Lo said that once declared, the campaign would be expanded to the other residential areas. Awareness talks would also be presented to schools and poster would be displayed at strategic location such as hotels, shopping malls, hospital and clinics.
She said the campaign was being launched to create awareness that indiscriminate discharging of unclean water through the drain would eventually pollute the rivers, the sea and endangered the environment.
“From the observation and data collected by the Working Committee on the Conservation of the Sembulan River, it was found that many residents from both upper and lower Sembulan are indiscriminately channelling out their water sewerage directly into the drains.
“Different type of harmful wastes such as fertilisers, insecticides, paints, oil, detergents from carwash agents and poorly maintained septic systems are being conveniently channelled into these monsoon drains by house residents and different business operators,” Lo said.
She said the committee felt that it was high time to educate and instil understanding and awareness among the general public on the important of caring for their respective drains and the need to abide by the regulations as stipulated by the local authorities.
This could be done by avoiding carrying out illegal channelling of waste water and harmful chemical directly into the drains. Strict enforcement on the rules and regulations should be observed to maintain the cleanliness of the drains and rivers, she added.
Lo said while the rapid development and urbanisation in and around the Kota Kinabalu areas in the last couple of decades had brought about vastly improvement in the quality of lives, it also came with costly consequences.
Coupled by the vast expansion in the industrial and agricultural sectors, she said the ever increasing amount of wastes produced by men such as human wastes, plastic bags and polystyrene containers had resulted in a large number of polluted rivers.
She said while many chose to turn a blind eye towards the issue or simply ignored the problem, a small group of people decided to do something to improve and clean the rivers before it was too late.
They believed that with the right kind of efforts and cooperation from the relevant departments concerned, non-governmental organisations, and local communities, those rivers could be rehabilitated, Lo said.
Organised by the Environmental Action Committee, the project gets the collaboration of the Kota Kinabalu Rotary Clubs, City Hall, Environmental Protection Department, Drainage and Irrigation Department, Department of Environment and Sabah Education Department.
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