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| A man looks over a large pile of rubbish that has been dumped along the bank of the Bassac River in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district in Phnom Penh yesterday. Heng Chivoan |
Dumping in river continues
Phnom Penh Post | 13 December 2016
Nearly a month after the Ministry of Environment asked Phnom
Penh City Hall to stop villagers in Chbar Ampov district from disposing
their trash in the Tonle Sap river, residents yesterday said no one had
yet come to clean the area or end the practice.
Yors Run, who only moved into a house in Derm Sleng village three
days ago, said he took the matter into his own hands yesterday by
instructing a neighbour who owns a tractor to push the rubbish down
toward the river because the smell was “very bad”.
Part of the riverside dump area, which had until then been covered
with a 12-by-10-metre pile of steaming rubbish, was cleared, but the
trash ended up instead spilling down directly into the river.
In the middle of the recently cleared area stood a sign bearing the
names of the Interior Ministry and Environment Ministry. It informs
illegal dumpers that leaving trash at the site would lead to a fine of
up to $25 – if they are ever caught.
Residents said the sign was installed by the authorities a year ago
but had collapsed. Run, the new resident and a former low-level military
official, had changed that. “When the rubbish was cleared, I mended the
sign so people won’t pour rubbish again,” he said.
Chhoun Srey Leak, a 22-year-old resident of Derm Sleng, said that no
officials have yet come to inspect the site or to tell villagers to halt
the practice of disposing trash into the river. Villagers were still
using the river as a dumping site as of yesterday, she said, adding that
residents feel neglected by the municipality because it had failed to
provide the village with any trash collection services.
“They just don’t care about it because it has been there for so many
years,” the resident said of the rotting trash. “It is a necessity that
the Ministry of Environment take action, because we need the water . . .
and when we throw the trash into the water it becomes very dirty and we
cannot use it.”
Phnom Penh Waste Management Office official Noun Samnavuth declined
to comment yesterday. Chheun Sothun, deputy chief of Phnom Penh’s
environment department, claimed his officials had in fact worked with
the city’s trash collection firm, Cintri, to remove garbage from the
riverbank.
Yet Cintri manager Ith Chenda acknowledged no one had yet gone to
clean up the site, and blamed a lack of proper roads and infrastructure
in the Derm Sleng area. “We did not go to collect [the trash],” he said.
“So the trash is where it used to be.”
Sothun said Cintri and the district authorities had only on Wednesday
signed a new trash collection schedule for the city but that Cintri’s
rubbish trucks will still not reach the beleaguered area. Instead, they
will inform residents of nearby trash dumping sites, he said.
He added that the commune would send officials to educate people not
to throw their trash into the river. Environment Minister Say Samal said
that his ministry’s officials were still discussing the issue and
working with city officials to find a long-term sustainable solution.
“I think it’s better to work together rather than to point the finger,” the minister added.
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