Its minister Khalid Samad said this was to facilitate activities there and increase the value of land near the river.

At present, he said, the river was filled with sediment which caused it to turn a murky colour.

“It should be people-friendly and clean enough for them to wash their clothes in,” he said.

“The condition of the river depends on the source. Due to that, it is difficult to control (the pollution). There are businesses and houses along the way, and garbage is thrown into the river,” he said during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a question by Tan Yee Kew (PH-Wangsa Maju) who asked why the river was still murky and what was causing the pollution.

Since 2011, he said, the ministry had been working to transform eight rivers in the Klang Valley, including the Klang river, Sungai Jinjang, Sungai Keroh, Sungai Kerayong, Sungai Gombak.

The River of Life project, aimed at transforming the Klang and Gombak rivers into vibrant waterfronts, is almost 70% complete. Phase one of the project involved seven precincts covering the area from Masjid Jamek to Daya Bumi.

Under the previous government, there were three major components to the RM4.4 billion project: river cleaning, river master planning and beautification, and river development.

Of the total, RM3.4 billion is for cleaning the river while the remaining RM1 billion is for landscaping.