VIRTUAL TOUR
2024
8 JunUCSI River Watch: Klang Gates Dam
KLANG: While they may not be typical early risers, 35 UCSI University students and staff were up with the lark, heading to the Klang Gates Dam at first light.
Their mission: To clean up the river, to plant new trees and understand more about the river ecosystem.
The visit is the first initiative of the UCSI Riverbank Cleanup Project - a continuous effort to galvanise eco-warriors across Malaysia.
Highlighting the significance of the effort, UCSI vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir said that the Klang Gates Dam was chosen as it was a vital water source for the Klang Valley.
“The Klang Gates Dam produces 145mil litres of clean water every day,” she said. “If its waters are compromised, our lives will be severely affected as well.
“Today’s river cleanup will be the first of many future initiatives around Malaysia. We plan to organise such efforts two or three times each semester.”
For the effort, UCSI teamed up with Friends of Rivers Malaysia - an NGO that is dedicated to preserve and rehabilitate rivers - and The Blue Ribbon Global - an organisation that promotes environmental awareness and sustainability.
Friends of Rivers representatives Mansor Abdul Ghani and Mazelan Jamaludin were on site to show students the ropes.
And they also taught students a thing or two about the medicinal value of plants in the area like mahkota dewa and belimbing buluh that have been used for centuries in traditional Malay medicine to treat ailments like hypertension and diabetes.
The initiative opens up a new front for UCSI’s conservation efforts in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, better known as the SDGs.
It directly supports SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).
UCSI is ranked fourth in the world for environmental sustainability in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024 exercise.
The University is also ranked in the world’s top 1% in the QS World University Rankings 2025 by virtue of its top 265 ranking, standing out as one of Asia’s top private universities.
