We Should Keep Our River Clean

River is the source of life. We get protein from the fish we caught in it. We also use its water for drinking, washing and bathing. Furthermore, the electric we get to power our electrical items at home, offices and factories, is also derived from it. Even the farmer uses its water for farming.

We are so dependent on the river that we feel uneasy when the rain does not fall for a long stretch of time. We will begin to see the Imam leading a prayer asking for rain from Allah.

There are times when we feel fear of the river. What if the rain continues to fall for days in row? We are reluctant to see the water level increasing fast and over flooding the road, then the village and finally the whole city. We dare not think of the damage it may bring to us. We do not want to think about the lost it may incur.

Yet, have we ever thought of the harm we have laid upon our rivers? What have we done to save the marine lives which have been there longer than most of us? Have we stopped the developers and loggers from cutting the trees by its side? Have we punished the industrialists for dumping waste in it as they like?

We, who named ourselves human beings, the caliph of the earth, who differ from the animals because we have brain, have for so many years been destroying the river consciously for the sake of development.
It is high time now for us to begin cleaning our river. It is not too late as a proverb goes “It’s better late than never”.

Let us plant some trees along the river banks so that its bank will stay intact for thousand of years to come. Let us collect all the debris floating in the river so as to enable the fish and its like to move swiftly along their dwellings. Let us put a halt on any attempts to throw waste into our rivers in order to allow the plankton and other aquatic plants grow proudly. Let us keep our river clean for the generations to come so they can savour the beauty of our Malaysia and taste its sweet lovely water.

Most important of all let us lift fear from our heart and instill only love for our rivers.




By fuzie
9 Jan 2006