Many local companies and also others from China, South Korea and Japan have shown interest in joining the bidding process to aid City Hall’s waste management reforms. Heng Chivoan
The Phnom Penh Municipal Hall will soon open the bidding process to choose at least three new waste collection companies for the capital as it works on reforming waste management systems to better serve the public and reduce rubbish pollution on the streets.
Municipal hall spokesman Meth Meas Pheakdey told The Post on Sunday that a specific date has not yet been set, but the bidding process will likely open in late February or early March.
“We have completed much of our work to be ready and we are close to the bidding window. Perhaps during this month or early next month, we will announce a bidding process and study submissions of application forms thoroughly.
“Since Samdech Hun Sen decided to remove the right of waste collection company Cintri (Cambodia) Ltd, we are now looking for three or four companies to collect rubbish instead of a company doing the work alone because apparently, that is not good,” he said.
Cintri’s contract was ended after years of poor management and the government announced that the city would eventually be divided into four zones with four new companies hired.
Meas Pheakdey said as the government has been working on waste management reforms, many local companies and also others from China, South Korea and Japan have made presentations and shown interest in joining the bidding process.
Meas Pheakdey said he could not yet reveal how the city would be divided into waste collection zones because the process is still ongoing.
However, he said it would be divided into at least three areas for at least three waste collection companies for waste management to improve.
Ministry of Economy and Finance spokesman Meas Soksesan told The Post on Sunday that the bidding process would be open to various companies without discrimination.
He said the companies would be bidding to oversee a range of services under the umbrella of an autonomous company managed by Municipal hall along with help from relevant ministries.
“We welcome all companies to bid with fair and transparent competition. We welcome all companies at home and abroad to bid, and as long as they have the potential to meet technical requirements of the working group [autonomous company], they will obtain the rights,” he said.
After a meeting with Japanese ambassador to Cambodia Masahiro Mikami on Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a Facebook post that the municipal hall and the Ministry of Economy and Finance are now collecting rubbish temporarily because the old company could not do the work anymore.
“Soon, the two institutions, the municipal hall and the Ministry of Economy and Finance will put the process up for bidding. So, any Japanese companies that have interest should join the bidding to help collect this rubbish,” the post said.
The post noted that the ambassador said Japan is studying ways to aid the improvement of waste management and that at least three Japanese companies are interested in joining the bidding process.
Affiliated Network for Social Accountability executive director San Chey said waste management issues under Cintri were chronic.
He said the bidding process and new waste management system should improve the situation and that it must be carried out with transparency to ensure effective results.
“Beginning from now on, we want to see the slowness of rubbish collection improved and companies carry out their work efficiently,” he said.
A report released late last year by the Ministry of Environment said Cambodia produces more than 10,000 tonnes of rubbish a day, equivalent to nearly four million tonnes a year.
Of that, 65 per cent is organic waste, 20 per cent plastic waste and the rest solid and other waste. Phnom Penh alone produces an estimated 3,000 tonnes of rubbish a day.
