THE government needs to step up efforts to gazette Sungai Johor as a protected water source in view of its importance to both Malaysia and Singapore, say experts.
The Star noted that the expert point out that the Sungai Johor basin, which covers about 2,636sq km and flows through four major districts, is under stress because demand has significantly exceeded natural supply.
Research shows that a “highly stressed” river may not be able to supply adequate water in the future.
At least 10 water treatment plants, including those belonging to Public Utilities Board (PUB) Singapore, draw huge amounts of water along the 122.7km-long river, which supplies two million people in four districts: Johor Baru, Kota Tinggi, Kulai and Pontian.
The river does not just supply water domestically; 946 million litres of raw water go to Singapore daily.
In the article, Johor Green Earth Society president P. Sivakumar was quoted as saying that the state government should work on gazetting the river as soon as possible, as it was slowly dying.
He noted that pollution of Sungai Johor due to sand mining activities, which affected more than a million people, was a major wake-up call.
“The state government should form a special secretariat to empower non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and village heads as river rangers, who could alert the authorities before disaster strikes.”
“Besides stricter enforcement, we also need people to provide tip-offs to avert such cases, which cause a lot of hardship to the public,” Sivakumar said after visiting local fishermen in Kampung Orang Asli Sayong Pinang, Kota Tinggi.
