And local actress Maya Karin wants you to know that.
Bad habit
The 'Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam' star recently took to her social media pages to raise awareness about littering and the effects it has on our rivers.She posted a selfie of herself standing in front of a mountain of trash, with the caption: "This is one of the causes of the flash floods; littering. The drains and water channels are blocked with trash. It's OK, continue littering; at our own cost".
Antara punca banjir hebat, sampah dibuang sewenang wenangya.. longkang dan saluran air kena block dengan sampah. Ok tak pe, keep buang sesuka hati. At our own cost nanti. #jangancakapakaktakpayung pic.twitter.com/x7rMm82pbo
— Maya Karin (@maya_karin) September 15, 2020
After the 40-year-old actress' image went viral, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) took the opportunity to share more photos of another river in the Klang Valley that is overflowing with garbage after a round of flooding and heavy rain.
JPS also claims that the photo uploaded by Maya was taken last year, but that didn't mean that Malaysians have stopped littering.
“Take a look at the types of garbage that you see here, is it natural waste or is it from man-made waste?
“When are we going to change this sort of behaviour?” JPS said in their Facebook post.
JPS River Basin Management Division director Md Khairi Selamat told Malay Mail that the photos were taken at the Kolam Delima on 12 September.
He explained that Kolam Delima is connected to the Jinjang river stream and the Keroh diversion stream, which is the reason why a lot of garbage would accumulate in the location.
“The garbage is carried by river currents upstream from the river that’s connected to drainages in residential areas.
“Some of it also comes directly from the surface brought by the rain straight into the river,” Khairi was quoted as saying.
JPS also shared photos of the location after it was cleaned up, but doing that requires a lot of hard work becase that would require manual labour as its workers would need to clear the garbage using a canoe.
Guys, it's high time we stop littering, and start throwing rubbish in proper rubbish bins!