MIRI, June 18 — The classification of Sungai Adong here as one of Malaysia’s polluted rivers comes as shocking news to Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) chairman Musa Musbah.
He says the river may not be the cleanest or the least polluted one in the country, but its present state does not warrant such status.
Sungai Adong was recently listed by the Department of Environment (DoE) as among the 25 polluted rivers in Malaysia, which included Sungai Bakar Arang in Kedah, Sungai Jawi in Penang, Sungai Buloh in Selangor, and Sungai Kerayong in Kuala Lumpur.
The monitoring by the DoE involved the classification of ‘River Water Quality’ as Class 3 and 4, indicating presence of various organic pollutants, including wastewater from industrial, domestic and commercial activities.
The assessment covered 672 rivers across the country.
Recently, Musa brought The Borneo Post to observe Sungai Adong, beginning from Point C — a popular fishing spot at a bridge near Permyjaya’s go-kart race track.
It could be seen that the river was clean, with fish frequently jumping over the water’s surface.
“Among the various species of fish caught by locals here are the ‘toman’, ‘haruan’, ‘baung’, ‘betutu’, ‘bulan-bulan’, ‘bandang’, ‘patin’, ‘puyu’, ‘sepat’ and ‘seluang’, as well as ‘tuntong (river terrapins).
“Locals usually fish during the weekends, especially on early Sunday morning or late evening.
“My brother-in-law is among the regulars at this spot because he lives nearby,” said Musa.
He pointed out that the presence of fish indicated acceptable water quality.
“The tea-coloured water is perhaps due to peat soil, rather than pollution.
“The discolouration is caused by tannins, a common compound found in peat swamps.
“This understanding should prevent us from assuming that all tea-coloured water is polluted,” he pointed out.
Further along at Point B, about 554 metres from the traffic light junction of Permy Mall, it was noted that at 2pm, the water was flowing up north into Sungai Adong — a sign of high tide, indicating active water flow, said Musa.
“If the river was polluted, it would have bad smell and the water would be stagnant, with little or no fish in it.
“Instead, the water here is flowing with no visible oil. There are even healthy water lilies and ‘kangkong’ (water spinach) growing along the banks.”
A similar situation was observed at Point A near the South Lake, Permyjaya.
However, at Point E near SMK Merbau, a stream from a residential area connecting to Sungai Adong was stagnant and emitted bad odour, and it was filled floating rubbish with flies hovering over it.
In this regard, Musa said: “This is due to the wastewater and organic waste from the nearby residential areas; most likely caused by indiscriminate disposal of waste into the drains.
“Undeniably, pollution caused by human activities has done damage to certain sections of the river, but I believe that in general, the river is still acceptable.”
Musa also called upon the relevant authorities to set up rubbish and grease traps to the drains so that the waste would not flow into the river.
“The indiscriminate dumping must be stopped. Water pollution is harming aquatic life and plants.
“When others catch fish from the river, they consume the fish. Any pollutant may harm those consuming their catch,” he said. — The Borneo Post
