KLANG, Aug 14 — The state government’s efforts towards a cleaner, trash-free Sungai Klang has drawn positive reactions from fishermen.
Sungai Sireh Tambahan fishermen’s base chief Satarudin Kamal, 56, said cleanups are showing clear results, with around 80 per cent less garbage in the river.
“If you compare it with last time, it was difficult to even pass through… all you could see was trash, what more at night. Cleanup efforts were seen since 2012 and when Landasan Lumayan (Sdn Bhd, LLSB) took over in 2016, it got even better.
“It’s not that it’s fully clean, because the garbage in Sungai Klang has (accumulated) over decades. Cleaning it takes a long time, but there has been a change; a decrease of between 70 and 80 per cent,” he told Media Selangor when met recently.
Satarudin lamented that piles of trash along the river have led to fishing boats suffering damage such as broken valves, faulty gearboxes and dented fans from collisions with driftwood or being clogged with rubbish.
This has affected the fishermen’s daily income.
“Because of the damage, fishermen have to bear costs not in the hundreds of ringgit, but tens of thousands … depending on the damage. If there is serious damage, repair costs are high… the more powerful the engine, the higher the cost.
“Other than fishermen having to bear repair costs, the piles of garbage means our catch is smaller as fish breeding ecosystems are damaged from all the rubbish,” he said.
Fisherman Jafri Judin, 57, expressed gratitude over the Sungai Klang cleanup initiative taken by the state government.
“Thank God, Sungai Klang is getting cleaner, we can see a change with the Interceptor, trash traps and cleanups done by different people.
“There is less rubbish and the water is cleaner, too, except when there is heavy rain. Where there was lots of trash, boats would get damaged and the repair costs were too high; not comparable to our catch,” he said.
Jafri said as his income dwindled, his children would go to school without pocket money, and his family was evicted as they were unable to pay rent on time.
“My wife is a homemaker and I’m the only breadwinner. At one time, my boat engine was damaged from a rubbish clog in Sungai Klang, and it took time to repair, so I could only go out to sea with my friends and my income was limited.
“Remembering and speaking about that time is difficult, but this is what fishermen have to deal with when their boats and engines are damaged from so much garbage in Sungai Klang,” said the fisherman of 20 years.
