JOHOR BARU: People are dumping garbage by the truckloads into Sungai Tebrau here causing its water to turn smelly and slimy.

       The river, which used to be clean and rich in marine life, has been categorised as the 53rd dirtiest river in the world in 2021 by the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Ocean Cleanup.

       Residents nearby recalled how they could bathe and have picnics there before the 46km-long river became badly polluted in the 1990s.

       A check at Sungai Tebrau in Bakar Batu found that the issue of illegal garbage dumping has yet to be resolved.

       A resident of Bakar Batu, Rosli Osman, 60, wants to see the river return to its former glory, the way he remembers it in his younger days.Rosli and his two friends spend two hours daily, from 7am to 9am, to realise his dream of a clean and pristine Sungai Tebrau.

       Rosli said that within a year, they collected rubbish that could fill 160 RORO (roll-on roll-off) bins which were equivalent to 240 tonnes.

       “Just imagine, the weight of the rubbish collected could cover half a football field,” he said.

       “The condition of the river now is very different compared with before. In the past, many people came to have picnics and swim here as it had beautiful clean sand. Now not only are people squeamish about stepping on the sand, but even crabs run away because it is very dirty,” he told Bernama.

       Rosli said he became a fisherman when he was in his 40s and he had gone through ups and downs, including losing his source of income due to the pollution of the river.

       “It used to be easy to get 10 to 15kg of fish as well as crabs and mussels in the river, but now it is difficult even to get 1kg.

       “In the past, this river was rich with prawns, crabs, lokan (clams) and kupang (green mussels) but now it only has clams and tilapia fish,” he said.

       Hamid Yusof, 64, who lives in the same area and regularly fishes at the river, also expressed disappointment with the attitude of many parties who did not care about the environment.

       “What more can I say, I am very disappointed over this pollution. Last year, I saw a truck dumping garbage in this river. How much longer do we have to put up with it? I am so tired,” he said.