Waste collection in Phnom Penh's Dangkor district. KIMLONG
Heang Nhor, deputy head of Dangkor district’s Office of Public Works, Transport, Sanitation, Environment and Public Order, said the district hall had stopped 12 trailers in the first six months of the year and another four in July. The offenders signed a letter promising to stop this activity.
“For first-time offence, authorities only impound vehicles for one week so offenders would learn a lesson. If they are caught a second time, vehicles would be impounded for two weeks or up to a month. And if they repeat the offence, they will be fined in accordance with sub-decree No 113,” he said.
According to Article 42 of the sub-decree, anyone caught disposing of solid waste in public places is subject to a fine of 20,000 to 400,000 riel ($5 to $100).
Offenders will also be subject to further punitive action, such as collecting rubbish to be disposed of in an appropriate location or a landfill designated by authorities.
In 2020, the district administration stopped 29 trailers and trucks for this offence.
According to Nhor, waste collection firm Mizuda Group Co Ltd removes 200 to 220 tonnes a day of mostly home rubbish from the district. The firm collects waste in the district’s 12 communes, using 13 garbage trucks and 12 tuk tuks sponsored by Phnom Penh Municipal Hall.
He said waste from five quarantine facilities in the district was removed and destroyed separately by medical waste management units.
Nhor blamed mobile vendors for most of the litter on the streets. Environmental experts had in the past attempted to raise awareness about the litter problem and instructed vendors on how to dispose of waste, but to no avail.
Suon Sreydet, a third-year student living in the district, said there were currently no significant garbage collection problems in the district as most of the garbage trucks had regular nightly collections.
Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra said Cambodia produces more than 10,000 tonnes of rubbish a day, or nearly four million tonnes a year, of which 68 per cent is organic waste, more than 20 per cent was plastic waste and about 10 per cent was solid and hazardous waste.
Phnom Penh produces 2,700 to 3,000 tonnes of rubbish every day.
He said solid waste management has been transferred to the capital and provincial administrations. The ministry had observed that the municipal administration had fulfilled its responsibilities well, especially in Phnom Penh, which has recently hired additional trash collection companies.
Ro Kimlong
