Eyesore: The Klang River continues to be filled with rubbish, mostly plastic waste, despite the efforts of the ‘trash trawler’, the boat pictured above that’s used to remove floating waste. — KK SHAM/The Star
IT is coming up to almost a year since it attained city status, but Klang has not been able to shed its image as a dirty town.
It was once called the dirtiest town in Malaysia and it doesn’t look like any clean-up has been carried out since it became a city in February.
Incidentally, it’s also the royal city of the state, and the Sultan of Selangor obviously has very good reason to be furious over the cleanliness standards there.
There are three other cities in Selangor, namely Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, and Shah Alam, but none of them has a royal tag to it like Klang, which, sadly and unfortunately, has the worst reputation for poor upkeep.
Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah pointed out many areas remain dirty and poorly organised, with rivers filled with garbage.
He shared that he had received numerous complaints from both local and foreign tourists, including those arriving by cruise ships docking at Port Klang.
These visitors, he said, had expressed their displeasure over the rubbish strewn in Port Klang and the Royal City of Klang, describing it as disgusting.
“It’s meaningless for us to be proud of our rapid development if we cannot even tackle fundamental issues like hygiene,” His Royal Highness said when officiating the launch of Masjid Jamek Cina Muslim Klang on Thursday.
Sultan Sharafuddin said rivers filled with rubbish and poorly maintained drains have also led to frequent flooding in the city.
His Royal Highness said that he had repeatedly reprimanded and advised local authorities and the state government to take effective action and plan carefully to resolve the flooding issue in the Royal City of Klang and several other districts in Selangor. Yet, floods continue to occur every year.
“We should not use climate change or excessive rainfall, attributed to an ‘act of God’, as an excuse for the floods.
“I’m tired of raising this issue with the government and local authorities every year, only for it to be ignored. Why can’t we solve this problem?” he asked.
Indeed, Tuanku has brought up these issues in the past while the media has also regularly reported on the pathetic situation in Klang.
One would have expected the Klang City Council to focus on cleaning up after attaining city status but for most Klang residents and visitors, nothing has changed. It remains the same dirty place.
As His Royal Highness has said, one can imagine the impression tourists from cruise ships get upon landing at Port Klang and then heading to Kuala Lumpur. The entire stretch of road from the port remains poorly lit, and with unkempt landscaping. Unfortunately, this is what greets foreigners first when they arrive in Malaysia.
Many tourists who flock to Klang for its food also share the same negative perceptions about the city.
Tuanku also pointed out the state of the river in Klang, which is strewn with rubbish, adding that clogged drains have also resulted in floods in the city.
It has been more than 48 hours since His Royal Highness made his statement but there has been no response from the authorities. What a shame!
No one from the Selangor state government or Klang City Hall has taken responsibility or even made a commitment to clean up Klang.
It doesn’t look like any appointed contractors will be losing their jobs despite failing so badly in their duties. They should be blacklisted and should not hide behind shell companies. The tender process should also be made more transparent and accountable.
They had better be warned – the Sultan of Selangor will now keep a personal eye on this shoddy state of affairs.
In 2019, the Federation of Consumers Association reported that, “Taking a drive around town will reveal poor infrastructure along the roads, shoddy or incomplete work done by contractors, broken drains, unclean roads, and even uncut grass. With even the most basic services such as cleanliness and proper infrastructure upkeep not met, residents in Klang are getting fed up.’’
Five years on, we are now at the end of 2024, and it is as if time has stood still in Klang. It remains a dirty and badly run place.
Klang doesn’t deserve city status, really.
