The number of households nationwide with access to clean water reached 1,091,869 last year, up by 11.80 per cent from 976,621 in 2020, according to the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation.
For reference, the number of households in Cambodia was 3,636,100 in 2019 – up by 5.76 per cent over 2018 – of which 1,374,200 were in urban centres, rocketing by 83.47 per cent over 2017 (no corresponding 2018 figures available) or at an average annual growth rate of 35.45 per cent, according to data from the Ministry of Planning’s National Institute of Statistics provided by CEIC Data.
The industry ministry said water supply clocked in at 383,134,243 cubic metres in 2021, up by 5,078,303 cubic metres or 1.34 per cent over a year earlier.
Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation Cham Prasidh recently oversaw the launch of a water treatment facility in Kampot province.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prasidh noted that his ministry has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for investments in clean water infrastructure at each provincial town and other urban areas across the country.
Financing of associated facilities have come from state coffers, loans from development partners, and private sector support, he said, highlighting the blistering rate at which water supply has “sprung from nothing” to hundreds of millions of cubic metres to urban centres “near and far” and even a fair share of rural areas.
He underlined that clean water supply development requires the participation of all relevant ministries and institutions, as well as people from all walks of life.
The government aims for 90 per cent of households in urban areas to have access to clean water by 2023, and 100 per cent by 2025, he said, underlining that the target would demand private suppliers to ensure the quality, safety, sustainability and affordability of clean water.
