Increasing awareness on water environ-mental manage- ment in the industrial sector (2000-2005)

Waste and wastewater in Cambodia are not enough treated due to rapid growing industrial sectors such as the garments and washing/dying sectors. They may cause harmful impacts on water environment.

Most manufacturing and warehousing factories are located along the embankments of the Tonle Sap River at the northern part of the town and the Bassac River at the southern part of Phnom Penh Municipality. Commercial and residential areas are not separated. The locations allowed direct access to river transport. The large consumers of water can intake raw water directly and indirectly. The factories have never been developed along the rail lines leading into the City from the north to west, although transportation by railway is much easier and cheaper. The area has noticeable surface water along the railway in the area, and the surface water is used for the industrial production.

The light and medium industries, workshops, and artisan are extremely established in Phnom Penh Municipality, and they have considerable productive capacity and employment.

One of the industrial areas is located along the Veng Sreng Road in Sangkat Stung Mean Chey. There are factories, recycling sheds and warehouses in this area mixed with a considerable and growing amount of houses with poor sanitation.

Picture 1: Wastewater treatment in Tiger Brewery Factory in Cambodia (Pictured by MOE 2002)

The industrial sector was rapidly developed, while application of the environmental legal instruments was limited due to the lack of detailed legislations. As a result, the industrial waste (in terms of both liquid and solid waste) was disposed of illegally into water sources. The effluents from some factories were discharged into waters without proper treatment (less effective treatment comparing to the national effluent standard). The illegal and improper discharge causes water pollution.

Phenomena

Lower awareness of environmental protection and inadequate implementation of environmental legal instruments are the reasons for the disposal of the solid and liquid wastes into water bodies. This poses a severe concern to human and the environment.

The term of environment is a new context for Cambodian people till the 1990s. Certainly, the public and private sectors have less awareness towards the environment and it benefits. In addition, implementation of the environmental legal instruments was very weak and the industrial and other development sectors discharged wastes and sewage into water sources without treatment. The impact on human health and aquatic environment by such causes has become a concern of people in Cambodia.

Policy response

After the Royal Government of Cambodia adopted the Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Management and its related statutes, the Ministry of Environment additionally issued some major regulations and directives to strengthen and improve the process of solid and liquid waste management.

These regulations and directives included: (i) Guideline on enhancing to carry out the Sub-Decree on Solid Waste Management (20 August 1999); (ii) Guideline on enhancing the Sub-Decree on Water Pollution Control (20 August 1999); and (iii) Joint Prakas (Directive) of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Environment on Solid Waste Management in Cities and Provinces (February 25, 2003).

At the same time, the existing environmental laws and its related statutes were entered into force, and the staff of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control which responsible for water environment management have widely disseminated the laws and related statues to industries and relevant sectors as well. Most owners and/or managers of factories where chemicals and/or chemical compounds was used began to understand their obligations in protection of human health and water environment through proper effluent management. As a result, they built onsite wastewater treatment systems in their own premises to comply with the national effluent standard before they discharged wastewater into the water bodies .

The effluents discharged from the industrial sectors were treated at the on-site treatment systems before running off to water sources. The graphic below showed that the industrial effluents were properly managed from year after year.

The blue bar indicated that the treated effluents increased from 2,000,000m3 in 2000 to more than 3,000,000m3 in 2002. The red bar indicated that the untreated effluents were reduced from 2000 to 2002. It means that the effluent management in industrial sector has been improved from year to year as both environmental legal instruments and compliance of private company were strengthened.

References

• Ten Year Achievements and Water and Soil Quality Management Version in Cambodia (2003-2007)
• Waste Management Program in Cambodia (2002-2006), Prepared by Mr. Chrin Sokha, Deputy Director of Ministry of Environment; January 2002
• Environmental Monitoring Report, 2003, Department of Environmental Pollution Control
• Department of Environmental Pollution Control' s Report 2004

Data and information as indicated in the Section of Background was provided by senior officers of the Environmental Provincial Departments, and some parts of them were quoted from documents of which printed for general dissemination.

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