Cleaning Project co-founder Hun Many says Phnom Penh’s lack of sanitation could create new viruses. Hong Menea
Phnom Penh faces a lack of sanitation that could create new viruses which affect people’s lives around the world.
This was the message delivered by Hun Many, co-founder of the Cleaning Project, during the opening ceremony of the Clean Phnom Penh 2020 Campaign at the National Sports Training Centre on November 4.
“At this point, we are faced with Covid-19. The question is whether after Covid-19 there will be more health problems. Based on the assessment of the World Health Organisation (WHO), as long as we maintain good hygiene we can prevent diseases that may arise in the future,” he said.
Many said the issue of rubbish collection and waste management is not only about the environment but also public health.
To address the issue, the Clean Phnom Penh 2020 Campaign has launched a new slogan – “Cleaning as a new habit” – to spread the message of awareness to the public about clean living by properly disposing of rubbish, creating a habit of new normal life as a form of protection, he said.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ministry of Environment secretary of state Sao Sopheap said there are still many challenges involved in the management of solid waste in urban areas, although the ministry has tried to build and implement a framework of policies, laws and regulations.
Sopheap said Cambodian society is developing rapidly with higher economic growth that has led to more consumption, population growth and the expansion of suburbs and urban areas, resulting in more solid waste.
“The amount of solid waste in the country has increased by four million tonnes per year. In Phnom Penh it is more than one million tonnes per year, equivalent to more than 3,000 tonnes per day. The amount of plastic waste is about 20 per cent of the total amount of solid waste,” he said.
Sopheap added the ministry is working with the municipal administration, which faces a lot of challenges in managing urban solid waste, to address the issue by various means including providing small incinerators, rubbish trucks, rubbish bins and motorbikes transporting rubbish.
Phnom Penh deputy governor Huot Hay said in the last decade, the amount of solid waste dumped at landfills has doubled from 1,100 tonnes in 2009 to 2,700 tonnes in 2018 and more than 3,000 tonnes this year.
“This is the amount we have weighed at the actual landfill scale that Cintri [rubbish collection firm] has collected, but this amount may be even higher because Cintri has not collected everything,” he said.
Hay said the municipal administration will prepare a bid for rubbish collection companies in Phnom Penh.
According to the agreement between the environment ministry and the municipal administration, the winning company will collect around 3,600 tonnes per day.
