By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
The Phnom Penh Municipality has reviewed and committed to continue with its 2005-2015 Master Plan to clean the city up by 2015. As the economic and industrial center of the nation, this is an imperative, according to Pa Socheate Vong, Deputy Governor of Phnom Penh Municipality.
Socheate Vong said in order to reach the goal, the Phnom Penh Municipality has now implemented the 2005-2015 Master Plan, forming part of Phnom Penh’s Second Vision. Under this vision, the city’s healthcare infrastructure and waste management systems will be improved.
He continued, “It is obviously our duty now to develop our city for the people in this country. In order to make this a success, it is very important that all government institutions, private organizations and members of the public be involved.”
He told the Cambodia Weekly that today, the Phnom Penh Municipality has been working very hard on developments. This work includes managing sewage and other hazardous wastes, ensuring regular water supplies, canal renovation, traffic calming measures and environmental education.
“With these activities, we hope that Phnom Penh will become as clean a city as any other in the region by 2015, free from waste and pollution problems. We also expect by the end of 2015 to be attracting many more tourists and investors.”
Mann Chhoeurn, Deputy Governor of Phnom Penh Municipality, tied these developments to greater development across the nation as a whole.
Chhoeurn said that in order to manage the wastes of Phnom Penh, the Municipality planed the introduction of technology to sift solid from liquid waste as well as machinery to deal effectively with hazardous medical wastes.
He added, “Yet before we get too ambitious, we need to educate the people that black plastic bin bags are the proper receptacles for rubbish, not the streets. To that end, any individual or organization caught polluting Phnom Penh will have to pay the price.”
He pointed out that normal wastes must put in bags provided by the CINTRI Company. Hazardous waste must be packaged properly and stored in safety boxes. Records are also to be kept before the eventual incineration or cremation is undertaken.
In addition, he said that in order to stunt the growth of Stung Meanchey’s garbage dump and improve the health of the people in the area, the Municipality planned to transport the wastes to a new site in Dangkor District by 2009. This new site will cover an area of over 30 hectares and will mark the destination of the entire city’s trash prior to incineration.
Var Moeurn, Executive Director of Mlup Baitong, a non-profit environmental organization in Phnom Penh, said that in his opinion, marked improvements had been achieved in the last year alone.
However, he went on to say that the quickest comparison with Cambodia’s near neighbors showed that Phnom Penh still had a long way to go, compared to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City, let alone Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. He sited the prevalence of syringes and every other imaginable form of solid waste on the streets, the poorly maintained roads and the tendency of the city to flood at the first sight of rain.
“I believe that if the Phnom Penh Municipality is given the means, it has more than enough commitment to see the job through to the end. I look forward to seeing Phnom Penh becoming a cleaner, more welcoming city in the future,” he said.
Mann Chhoeurn said May 21 that according to the Phnom Penh Municipality Report of 2008 about 1.5 million people are living in Phnom Penh. This figure increases by about 10,000 families of new inhabitants each year. About 1,000 tones of waste are thrown into Stung Meanchey Garbage site per day, with an increase of about 20% in volume every year.
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