A group of some 30 young people in Phnom Penh known as the “Rubbish Youths” have spent months removing litter from Chamkarmon district’s previously filthy Boeung Trabek canal and, finally, not only is the canal rubbish-free but local residents have changed their ways too.

The volunteer youths have been removing litter from the canal for more than four months to achieve their goal and now local residents have begun disposing of their rubbish in an orderly manner.

However, the Rubbish Youths are not satisfied and said they want to form a nationwide network to organise regular clean-up campaigns and ultimately have more rubbish collectors than litterbugs.

They recently established a new group that collects rubbish in Preah Sihanouk province every week, and they don’t plan on stopping there.

While he and other group members processed rubbish into useful objects at a rented facility near the canal, Rubbish Youths founder San Dara Vit told The Post on Sunday that what they have achieved is only 10 per cent of their goal.

“The ambition is for the world to view Cambodia as a country that disposes of its rubbish properly,” he said. And the next step is to expand the group and establish a nationwide network.

“We want to create an environment-cleaning community, increase our numbers and conduct clean-ups once a week no matter where it is. We’re announcing a campaign to clean the environment. We’re open to everybody irrespective of age or gender and will meet every weekend in public places,” he said.

As the rubbish in the canal decreased, his group conceived the idea to process rubbish into usable objects. They are now collaborating to establish a coffee shop on a non-profit basis.

But they will do their part to support rubbish collecting initiatives in the future, Dara Vit said, adding that in the beginning, they collected around 100 sacks of rubbish per day, sometimes working at night too.

Iem Bunhour, a 19-year-old member of Rubbish Youths, vowed that as long as there is rubbish in Cambodia, the group would continue removing it – and he wants all young people to join in regularly.

“I used to join other groups and do the same work, but they would do it briefly and then stop. But we vowed to remove rubbish until the canal was clean. I’m happy to see the rubbish-strewn canal clean now. But that’s not enough for us."

“I want to achieve even more than this . . . I want the canal to be clean but I don’t want it to be the only place,” he said.

Chamkarmon district deputy governor Bun Sopheak told The Post on Sunday that the authorities had always supported any activity that is useful to society, especially the Rubbish Youths, and he supported their plan to create a network throughout the country.

“It’s really good for our authorities to take part in helping to keep the canal clean. And it’s not only clean in one place – all canals in our capital are cleaner now,” he said.

Residents along the canal and the wider population have expressed their admiration for the Rubbish Youths’ activities, and want them to continue and set an example for other people.

A 68-year-old cake vendor named Som Chan, who has lived along the Boeung Trabek canal for more than 10 years, said that at first she did not believe they could do it because it had been tried before.

But the Rubbish Youths had persevered, she said, and it was wonderful what they had achieved.

“It’s shocking! How is not shocking when there’s no rubbish in the canal and we people who live nearby are more careful about where we put our trash?"

“We dispose of our rubbish properly now. They’ve been steadily removing the rubbish, and we must have seen them because they seem to have taught us to keep it clean,” she said.

The Post interviewed a number of other residents along the canal, and all acknowledged that the canal had been transformed for the better and local people had improved their ways.

Dara Vit said: “There are many reasons the canal has no rubbish anymore. The authorities have regularly educated market vendors and the residents along the canal."

“They’ve also helped remove rubbish and collected it. Gradually the habit of throwing rubbish into sewage is almost non-existent. We’re really happy that the canal has been clean for the last month.”