00:00 Many facilities under the River of Life project in Brickfield, Kuala Lumpur are underutilized
00:08 and their condition are deteriorating.
00:11 Recent checks showed that at least four structures and some public toilets along a 3-kilometer
00:16 footpath along the Sungai Klang river bank stretching from the Central Market Area to
00:21 the Mid Valley Shopping Mall are being used by vagrants and drug addicts as sleeping quarters
00:27 at night.
00:28 Originally secured and locked, these facilities were forcibly opened and used as shelters
00:34 by the homeless.
00:36 In a bid to prevent further encroachments, City Hall has stationed security guards to
00:41 protect these assets around the clock.
00:46 At a structure near the Jalan Sultan Sulayman Traffic Light Junction, no proper signage
00:51 was installed and it was used by workers to store their brooms and sometimes used by the
00:57 public to park their motorcycles.
01:00 The security guards said their job was to ensure no one sleeps there or damage the property
01:05 and added that during the COVID-19 pandemic, homeless people used to sleep there.
01:10 There are also other structures designed as so-called guiding galleries for people to
01:14 rest or seek information, but joggers and cyclists say they rarely stop by as they are
01:20 not safe.
01:21 The River of Life project comprises 11 precincts stretching from Titiwangsa Lake Gardens in
01:27 the north to Mid Valley in the south.
01:30 This includes a 10.7-kilometre stretch along the Klang and Gombak rivers and it was developed
01:35 to support recreational activities along the rivers such as walking, jogging, cycling and
01:41 picnicking.
01:47 Since the launch of Phase 1 of the project in August 2017, there has been no designated
01:52 ministry or agency to operate and maintain the sites.
01:56 City Hall said it was aware of the present state of the vandalised structures and added
02:00 that the project implementation and building maintenance department will conduct repair
02:05 works on the structures.
02:06 [no audio]
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