DBKL to study, improve Blue Pool safety features - Shahidan

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is studying the best method to improve safety features at the Blue Pool (Kolam Biru) area at the River of Life (RoL) project, following an incident involving a small boy falling through an uncovered hole, which went viral on social media last Thursday.

Federal Territories Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim said DBKL had cordoned off the exposed and unfenced part of the pool, by using barriers as a temporary measure.

"The pool area which was said to have a hole has been closed, and the fence is not damaged or faulty, instead it was designed in such a way as to enable visitors to enjoy and experience the cleanliness of the river water samples from the RoL project," he told reporters here today.

Last Thursday, a 47-second video clip went viral showing a small boy running and suddenly falling through a hole before disappearing from sight. The boy actually fell into an ankle-deep fish pond next to RoL, with captions that gave the impression that the child was at risk of falling into the river below the pool.

The post sparked anger, and netizens began to question and express their concern over the pool's design, which posed dangers to visitors.

The Blue Pool, located at the confluence of Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak, is a part of the RoL project, opened to the public in 2017 as a tourist attraction in Kuala Lumpur.

In the meantime in another development, Shahidan said DBKL will assist in replacing the damaged roofs involving four blocks of Taman Melati Apartments here, due to strong winds and heavy rain yesterday.

He added that DBKL would also arrange temporary placement for victims from the 40 units of the apartments until the repair work was completed.

Earlier, Shahidan presented cash contributions totalling RM40,000 to 200 asnaf (eligible to receive zakat or tithe) and poor recipients at Batu parliamentary constituency, in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration.

-- BERNAMA