Kuching: The city must maintain its reputation as one of the cleanest places in the world by continuously maintaining clean and healthy air in the environment.

Prime Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said that in addition to clean air, Kuching needs to prioritize physical cleanliness and practice sustainable urban development.

“This is an important fact in measuring the cleanliness of cities: the air in cities is clean and contains less carbon dioxide.

“That is why our government is taking an approach from the perspective of traffic flow and the use of vehicles as a mode of transportation,” Abang Johari said.

He said this at the Kuching North City Committee (DBKU) Hari Raya rally held at UCSI Hotel here last night (May 3).

Earlier, Prime Minister Abang Johari congratulated both the municipality DBKU and the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) on Kuching being ranked as the 11th cleanest place in the world.

He cited the example of developed countries such as Tokyo, Japan, where air pollution remains a major concern despite good infrastructure.

“Despite the beautiful buildings, from a medical perspective, we are exposed to more pollutants in the air.

“That is why we have to abide by this and Sarawak is the only state that is prioritizing green fuels. That is why we started with hydrogen.

He said: “Our public transport is using cleaner fuels, and I hope we have a roadmap for cars to use the cleanest fuels, either electric or hydrogen.”

Elaborating further, Abang Johari said the state is currently introducing the use of autonomous rapid transit (ART) and focusing on hydrogen fuel to reduce air pollution from public transport.

“If that happens, our urban ecosystems will be really clean, air-wise and physically. That’s why DBKU and MBKS are so excited about how important it is for us to have public transport that doesn’t pollute the air. We want people to tell us.’ And this will further improve our rankings in the long run,” he said.