SELANGOR, January 21, 2022 – The organiser of ASIAWATER 2022, ‘the region’s leading water and wastewater event for developing Asia,’ and the Malaysian Water Association (MWA) co-organised a River Cleaning 2022 campaign, teaming up with local communities within Serendah, Selangor to clean the riverbanks of Sungai Selaru.
This river cleaning initiative, with the theme “It Should be Everyone’s Dream to Keep the Earth Clean”, is a joint effort between ASIAWATER and MWA in raising awareness and giving back to local communities by working together with them in protecting our local rivers, ensuring its sustainability for the next generation to enjoy.
Dr. Ir. Ts. Hj. Mohmad Asari bin Daud, the President of the Malaysian Water Association (MWA), said “The primary aim of this river cleaning today is to protect the riverbanks of Sungai Selaru from further erosions. When Friends of River Selaru Division (Sahabat Sungai Selaru) identified parts of the river as being at high risk of erosion, we decided to take immediate actions to take necessary steps to further protect and reinforce the riverbanks of Sungai Selaru”.
“We managed to gather a team consisting of those from the organisers of ASIAWATER, the Malaysian Water Association, Friends of River Selaru, as well as the residents of KRT Taman Desa Anggerik, Serendah, to reinforce the riverbanks of Sungai Selaru by using sandbags with sands collected around Sungai Selaru,” added Dr. Ir. Ts. Hj. Mohmad Asari bin Daud.
Mr. Gerard Leeuwenburgh, Country General Manager, Informa Markets in Malaysia commented: “ASIAWATER has always been an advocate of environmental sustainability. We implement sustainability practices and efforts into all our events. Aside from this, we have also organised several conferences and seminars with topics related to environmental sustainability, especially on river preservation. ASIWATER Expo & Forum is not just a business centric event, but also about championing sustainability effort within the water and wastewater industry, making ASIAWATER a holistic water industry event”.
“Being part of this river cleaning initiative is a second nature for us at Informa Markets and organiser of ASIAWATER, as we are passionate about keeping the earth clean, especially our rivers and other water sources. Aside from the importance of keeping our rivers and environment clean, we also believe that community engagement is equally as important. We believe that working with local communities is an effective way in keeping our rivers clean. This will not be our first and last river cleaning campaign as we and MWA will organise more within this year and years to come,” added Mr. Gerard Leeuwenburgh.
Aside from river cleaning, there were other activities such as hiking and archery. With such a variety of activities, the River Cleaning 2022 campaign attracted a variety of age groups, including children. This is a good way to nurture our young generation and ingrain into them the importance of keeping our environment and rivers clean.
