The Ministry of Environment is set to launch three major campaigns in 2025 aimed at cleaning all national roads and improving water quality monitoring to enhance public well-being.

Environment minister Eang Sophalleth stated that cleanup efforts are already being piloted on several highways, including National Roads (NR) 3, 4, 41 and 51.

“By 2025, all national roads must be clean,” he declared. “This is a new campaign we are piloting, and I will officially launch it on January 1, 2025. For instance, NR 51 is already showing results, with factory workers joining cleanup efforts.”

Speaking during the ministry’s 2024 annual review meeting on December 16, Sophalleth highlighted the country’s broader environmental strategy, which includes campaigns focused on maintaining cleanliness on land, in water and in the air, aligning with the goal of a clean and green Cambodia.

The ministry’s land-focused efforts include initiatives to reduce plastic use and encourage waste separation. For example, the “Today I Will Not Use Plastic” campaign has drawn commitments from over 9.7 million students and citizens, while the “Clean Cambodia, Khmer Can Do” campaign has engaged 3.6 million participants.

Sophalleth underscored the ministry’s progress in combating pollution, stating, “Together, we have cut plastic imports by 80 per cent and reduced scattered plastic waste along roads in 11 provinces by approximately 80 per cent compared to 2023.”

To improve local environmental quality and ensure proper waste disposal, the ministry has distributed 63 incinerators, 88 garbage trucks, 161 tricycles and thousands of waste bins to commune administrations, schools, health centres and pagodas. An additional 18 garbage trucks have been provided specifically to support the cleanup initiative, with the aim of achieving a “clean Cambodia with no waste or plastic residue along national roads by 2025”. Ministry partners have contributed resources and materials to help realise this vision.

Looking ahead to 2025, the ministry plans to launch additional campaigns focusing on human well-being and water quality monitoring. This includes installing equipment at factories to monitor liquid waste before discharge into the environment.

Efforts to modernise pollution tracking are also underway, with 36 of 122 factories nationwide now equipped with automatic monitoring systems and wastewater management data systems as of December.

“We are prepared to shut down any factory or enterprise that harms the environment and endangers public health,” Sophalleth told over 500 attendees.