Students and teachers from Peam Chkok Primary School in Kampong Chhnang province’s Cholkiri district join the “Clean Cambodia, Khmer Can Do!” campaign on October 22. Kampong Chhnang provincial environment department
The Kampong Chhnang provincial administration is currently working to transform the province into Cambodia’s first “Model Clean Province”, following its selection by the Ministry of Environment. The initiative is part of the “Today I will not use plastic” and “Clean Cambodia, Khmer Can Do!” campaigns.
Provincial governor Sun Sovannarith explained that the provincial administration and relevant departments have begun preparations to meet the conditions set by the ministry.
"The ministry wants our province to be a place free of waste. We are currently setting up working groups to ensure we meet the ministry’s criteria to become a waste-free province," he said.
Recently, ministry secretary of state Sabo Ojano led a team from the Department of Solid Waste Management to meet with the provincial administration. Representatives from district and city administrations, as well as environmental departments, attended the meeting, according to the ministry.
The discussions aimed to advance the government’s anti-plastic and anti-waste campaigns, ensuring consistent implementation, particularly the "Clean Cambodia, Khmer Can Do!" initiative, across all communes and districts in the province until the goal is achieved.
The ministry noted that provincial and municipal administrations are committed to making these campaigns successful, with coordination and support from the ministry.
The provincial governor shared that once the working groups are established, they will hold further discussions to implement the ministry’s guidelines and work towards making the province waste-free.
Additionally, Sovannarith mentioned that the administration has been promoting the placement of more trash bins and raising awareness in enterprises, schools, pagodas and communities to encourage public participation. The province has also established a landfill as part of a project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to standardise waste transportation.
"We have made some preparations so far, but we need to do additional work to meet the ministry’s requirements. We will address the areas where we are lacking," he said.
He added that after the provincial administration instructed some factories to stop dumping plastic bags in open areas, the amount of garbage left on public roads has significantly decreased.
In addition, he highlighted that some schools and pagodas are now maintaining cleaner environments, and the efforts are expanding.
"Our schools have started managing garbage properly. This has reached the pagodas, and factories have also made improvements. For civil servants, we have already introduced this practice, so we aim to reduce all litter, and in the future, we hope that there will no longer be rubbish in public spaces as it was previously," he said.
Ministry spokesperson Khvay Atiya was unavailable for comment on October 28.
The ministry also revealed that more than 9.7 million people have joined the "Today I will not use plastic" initiative since its launch in September 2023. The ministry noted it is confident that by 2025, plastic bags will no longer be seen in public areas across the country.
In support of cleanliness efforts, environment minister Eang Sophalleth has distributed trash bins to various schools, health centres and pagodas in Tbong Khmum province, along with an additional 2,272 bins for municipal and district administrations nationwide.
