GUANGZHOU: Following last summer's successful "swimathon", this South China city is planning to hold another mass swimming event across the Pearl River in the very near future.

A timescale is not yet available but the municipal government will make the announcement soon, once the idea gets the go-ahead, its mayor said yesterday.

"The event is not just about swimming. It is expected to hone people's awareness of environmental protection as well as of the protection of the water quality in the mother river," Zhang Guangning, mayor of Guangzhou, said after assessing recent efforts to clean the Pearl River.

"We hope everyone will join hands to protect the river so the day will soon come when Guangzhou citizens can swim in it every day."

The mayor said the city government will double its efforts to repair sewer pipes along the Guangzhou leg of the Pearl River as well as stopping drainage from its 231 branches.

It aims to make the water clean by the year 2010.

In recent years, local governments have spent 27.5 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) reducing and controlling sewage discharge into the river.

Zhang said the municipal government of Guangzhou had urged related departments to prepare well for the swimathon to ensure the safety of those taking part.

About 3,000 Guangzhou residents joined last July's swim.

Local man Chen Liangde, who has lived on the river for more than 40 years, said that while he was positive about the swimathon, he hoped the local environmental watchdog would keep a closer eye on the water quality all year long.

"The water was much cleaner a few days before last year's event," he said. "But just two days after, I saw lots of garbage floating on the river, so the water was by no means clean."

(China Daily 07/03/2007 page5)