Federal territories minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the project had even been listed among the “World’s 10 best waterfront districts” by the UK news portal, The Independent.

She said this had given a positive depiction of the project to the public. This is despite the project being plagued by prolonged delays.

Zaliha also said the RoL project also received recognition like the “International Award for Liveable Communities 2021” and the “gold Singapore landscape architecture award” in 2015.

She was responding to a question from P Prabakaran (PH-Batu) who asked if the department had plans to rebrand the project.

The recent auditor-general’s report said the RoL project, which has already been delayed by over eight years, was unlikely to be completed this year.

The report made several recommendations, including for the federal territories department to evaluate whether projects which have yet to be implemented should proceed, considering the costs involved in implementation and maintenance.

Meanwhile, Zaliha said only 2.48% of river cleaning works under the project remained incomplete, adding that the delay was due to contractors’ inability to complete their work, the relocation of utilities and protests from the public.

“The federal territories department is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the entire RoL project.

“On the other hand, the implementing agencies are the irrigation and drainage department, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Ampang Jaya municipal council, Selayang municipal council and the local government department.”