Takeo provincial governor Ouch Phea announced the province’s intention to improve access to electricity and clean running water to each household in the province.

Phea addressed a March 2 press conference at the Council of Ministers, held to mark the provincial administration’s achievements of the past five years.

“Takeo has a town and nine districts, 100 communes and 1,121 villages, with a total population of 1,053,997 people –¬ or 233,877 families. Nearly all of the families have access to electricity,” he said.

“The average per capita income of Takeo province also increased from $1,364 in 2018 to 1,526 in 2021,” he added.

He said 229,379 households were now connected to the national power grid, with a clean water supply available in 465 villages.

“Although virtually everyone has access to electricity, it is far more difficult to provide a clean water supply – especially to remote communities,” he added.

Phea stated that the provincial administration will strive to strengthen cooperation with national and international partners and the private sector to attract more investment in the water sector.

Deputy governor Ly Saveth said the government has launched a national strategic plan for a clean water supply, and declared that 100 per cent of urban dwellers will have access to clean water by 2025.

“In order to achieve this, we are redoubling our efforts to expand the province’s water network,” he added.

According to a report by the provincial administration, 29 licensed electricity distribution service providers supply power to 229,379 households, equivalent to 99.64 per cent of the homes in the province.

Licensed private water companies use 22 networks to provide about 7,551,949cu m per year to 465 villages, 41.5 per cent of those in the province.