The Ministry of Tourism, in conjunction with the National Committee for Clean City Evaluation, on Tuesday urged governors in the Kingdom’s 25 cities and provinces to launch an awareness-raising and sanitation campaign in the run-up to the National Clean City Day.

In a letter dated Wednesday, the ministry said the Kingdom will mark the seventh National Clean City Day on February 27, during which the winners of Green Tourism and Best Hospitality awards will be announced. It called on deputy provincial and municipal governors to use all means to promote public participation.

Kep provincial governor Ken Satha said his coastal province has been carrying out the government’s Clean City campaign on a regular basis.

“We have done it on a daily basis, not only when the ministry issues an announcement. This year we will make more efforts in expanding infrastructure in the province . . . we will construct standard roads that have separate lanes for cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. The road will be lined with colourful lights powered by renewable energy,” he said.

He said the efforts resulted in the province receiving an Asean Clean Tourism award from Brunei in 2017.

Kampong Speu provincial governor Vei Samnang said he has instructed his officials to raise public awareness about proper waste management.

“We are calling on all factories and enterprises to participate in the campaign by donating money, rubbish collection materials and trucks. I believe when the public is more aware of environmental issues and when we have enough rubbish collection materials, the province will become even cleaner."

“We are trying to engage all parties to keep the province clean. Everyone – officials, residents, factory and enterprise owners – needs to jointly clean the city and protect the environment,” he said.

Samnang said the provincial authority has also distributed stainless-steel food boxes and water bottles to reduce the use of plastic bags.

Preah Sihanouk provincial deputy governor Phai Bunvannak said the authority is also working to improve infrastructure and restore beaches in the coastal province, which has lately seen rapid encroachment on natural resources.

“We no longer let dirty water flow into the sea. Previously, we had an issue with that. The problem was caused by the construction boom,” he said.

In anticipation of the National Clean City Day, he said the authority is working to beautify the beaches to draw tourists back to the province.

“We are restoring beaches. We are making Otres a model beach – it’s clean now but we need to standardise the cleanliness the beach. We are also arranging standard food stalls along the popular Ochheuteal beach.