A TOTAL of 116 students from 29 schools in Seberang Perai learned a valuable lesson during the ‘River Care Education’ programme at Taman Rimba Cherok Tok Kun in Bukit Mertajam recently.
The half-day programme was organised by Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) and Water Watch Penang (WWP).
MBSP councillor Michael Tan Cheong Heng said the programme’s main objective is to educate the younger generation with best practices to protect the quality of rivers as water resources.
“Through this programme, students were taught by facilitators from WWP on how to carry out river water quality assessments.
“They carried out physical, chemical and biological tests on the river by using various water testing equipment.
“With this training, the students will be able to identify and further understand about the quality and health of the river.
“And from there, hopefully, they will be able to join hands to help upgrade the river water quality,” Tan said in his speech before officiating the programme on Saturday (Feb 22).
Also present was WWP vice-president Dr Tan Mou Leong.
Meanwhile, Dr Tan said the programme is carried out once per month since 2017.
“Until now, MBSP and WWP have carried out the programme 23 times involving 35 schools and 703 students in Seberang Perai.
“Thus, I hope the programme will be continued in the following months so that more students will be able to join it and learn more about river conservation,” he added.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Eng Kok Wei