Trash bags piled up in front of houses in Phnom Penh's Chamkarmon district, Pshar Doeum Thkov commune on February 22, 2021. Hean Rangsey
The Phnom Penh Municipal Hall will publish a pamphlet introducing the new waste management system that is coming to the capital and print enough for distribution to the more than 400,000 households obliged to pay the waste collection fee.
This will be done in collaboration with the three companies licensed to handle waste management in different parts of the city.
The municipal administration held a ceremony to mark the start of the new system on February 5, along with the three companies that won the bidding for the contracts to provide the city with solid waste collection and transportation services.
The three companies include Cintri Cambodia which is now working in partnership with Everbright China; Singapore-based 800 Super Waste Management Pte Ltd, in cooperation with local firm Global Action for Environment Awareness Plc (GAEA); and China’s Mizuda Group Co Ltd.
According to a senior official at the municipal hall who asked not to be named, the three companies only provide waste collection and transportation services. The administration and fee collection will be done by the Phnom Penh autonomous excise solid waste management authority.
The official said residents will be able to use an app to check their billing or service schedule and even pay the service fees via the app.
In order to encourage customers to begin using this new and more convenient system, the municipal administration is planning to distribute pamphlets with information and instructions on how it all works.
“The municipal hall will print instructional pamphlets for distribution to each household – or at least the 400,000 of them or so that are obliged to pay the waste collection service fees. It will also inform them about waste disposal services and how to separate the waste for processing.
“With the new management system, we require people to separate their rubbish into wet and dry waste,” he said.
Andrew Durke, a member of the board of GAEA, said the company and their partners are pleased to have the opportunity to help improve waste management in the capital.
“Phnom Penh is a very crowded and fast-growing city. And as people’s incomes continue to increase here, that leads to more consumption and it therefore leads to more waste generation. Providing effective waste collection services on a road full of vehicles and a growing population is a challenge,” he said.
Cintri Cambodia declined to comment. But the firm’s director, Seng Savy, had previously told The Post that his company would abide by the terms and conditions of the contract.
Mizuda Group did not respond to requests for comment.
Affiliated Network for Social Accountability executive director San Chey said there were two important factors to consider in the management of the city’s waste services.
He said the first factor was that some households are fulfilling their obligations while some are not in terms of storing waste properly and paying the required fees.
As for the second factor, Chey said the authorities must collect data from all properties. He said it was possible that workers fail to collect waste from their place, prompting them to dispose of waste in public place.
“We’ve seen that some houses or Borei [gated residential community] are already full of people, so the question is why they do not dump their rubbish at their place and instead putting the waste along the street.
Ask if this is their mistake or as systematic mistake. This is also a problem that needs to be addressed,” he said.
