Good news for Seputeh residents:
THE Government plans to close old sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley and turn them into playgrounds. After the STPs were dismantled, sewage will be channelled to the new treatment plant being built in Lembah Pantai.
The Pantai 2 Sewage Treatment Plant (P2STP) will treat sewage generated from Bangsar, Bukit Kiara, Seputeh, Kerinchi and Old Klang Road. Residents living near STPs will no longer have to bear with the stench and the move will also increase the value of their property.
Sewage Service Department director Mohd Omar Mohd Haris said residents with houses facing STPs could use the empty space to play football, basketball and badminton or even carry out community activities.
“Converting sewage treatment plants into community parks and playgrounds may be a new thing in Malaysia, but is practised in Europe, particularly in France where there are strict laws governing waste treatment.
“Decommissioning old STPs and transforming them into green areas is still new in Asean countries,’’ he said.
He said the project was one of the nine entry-point projects (EPP) under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to be implemented to achieve the Greater Kuala Lumpur National Key Economic Area.
Mohd Omar said the primary aim of the project was to complement programmes to rehabilitate and clean the 10km stretch of Sungai Klang known as the River of Life,
“The first phase of the project will be carried out in the Seputeh constituency in Kuala Lumpur.
“We have identified 25 STPs in the area to be dismantled and turned into parks or playgrounds,’’ he said.
He added that other areas identified were Setiawangsa, Segambut, Titiwangsa as well as some parts of Selangor.
Mohd Omar said the project contractor Kiara Kilat Sdn Bhd was expected to start the Seputeh project next month and complete in July next year.
He said apart from creating 25 green areas for the community, the RM28mil project would improve the water quality of the Klang River from category 3 to category 1.
“It is no secret that STPs in the city discharge water into our rivers and is a contributing factor to river pollution.
“And no doubt the Klang River is one of the dirtiest in the Klang Valley,” he said.
Kiara Kilat project operations manager Kee Soon Ngeit said for the next one-and-half years they would be laying 263m of new pipes and constructing more than 200 manholes in Old Klang Road,
He added that everything would be done employing green technology and to minimise public discomfort.
“These STPs are built by housing developers and managed by IWK. However, many of the STPs are old and are in need of an upgrade.
“So it is time to do away with them,’’ Kee said.
The project under the 10th Malaysia Plan involves the upgrading of existing sewage treatment plants by using an advanced system.
The new system reduces the space required for the new treatment plant by half compared with a conventional one using extended aeration.
Desludging work at the new plant in Lembah Pantai has started ahead of the groundwork for the underground STP which will be completed by 2016.
The plant will have a public park built on top for sports and recreational activities, including a multi-purpose hall, futsal and tennis courts and a jogging track.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said the projects in Seputeh would benefit the residents as the additional green areas mean that their quality of life would be better.