Businesses that don’t pay for rubbish removal could be shut down. Heng Chivoan
The Phnom Penh Municipal Hall warned on Monday it will act against businesses and residents who fail to pay for rubbish removal.
That could include shutting down businesses and even publicly disclosing the names of business owners, services, private institutions and citizens who fail to comply.
The warning mentioned that many citizens still haven’t fulfilled their obligation to pay for rubbish and solid waste collection services.
It stressed that citizens who have not paid for rubbish and solid waste collection services need to pay for such services on time.
In case people still don’t fulfil their obligations, the administration said it will take measures, including “disclosing the list of people who have not yet paid for rubbish and solid waste collection services on social media and other media, record [non-payment] as debt and take administrative action by temporarily closing businesses or services or take other measures as necessary.”
In October, the government changed the provision of rubbish services in Phnom Penh from private company Cintri to the Phnom Penh Waste Management Authority (PPWMA) for temporary management.
Phnom Penh Municipal Hall’s Waste Management and Environment managing director Nuon Samnavuth told The Post on Tuesday that the announcement was a reminder to all residents and business owners who had not paid for the rubbish collection service.
He said the PPWMA had the names of a number of people who had not yet paid for waste collection services and if they go past the due date, the measures would be taken against them. “We have already informed them,” he said.
Samnavuth said the management of waste collection in Phnom Penh is still under the leadership of the Phnom Penh Municipal Hall because the bidding process had not been completed.
He confirmed that by the end of 2020 the second phase of the auction process will be in place and companies that are authorised to manage waste collection will be able to carry out their work.
“The auction has two phases and the first phase, which is application, has concluded. We are in the second phase or auction phase now,” he said.
A Ministry of Environment 2019 report said the total amount of rubbish generated in Cambodia per day was more than 10,000 tons, which is equivalent to nearly four million tonnes per year.
Of that waste, 65 per cent is organic, 20 per cent plastic and the rest solid and other wastes. Phnom Penh alone produces some 3,000 tons of rubbish per day.
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