• Society

$200 million Needed Annually for Clean Water Supply

• By Chhum Chantha
• December 3, 2023 12:55 PM

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia needs $200 million per year to help people across the country have adequate sanitation and clean water, and this requires help from the private sector.

This is what will be required to achieve the government’s national action plan whose goal is to make sure every Cambodian has access to clean water and sanitation for proper hygiene by 2030, said WaterAid’s Country Director Chhat Sopheap on Dec. 1.

Sopheap added that Cambodia might not be able to reach that goal because there is a lack of financial assistance in the sector although the plan reflects a good vision for the country.

Cambodia needs around $180 million more per year to complete the plan. “I know that this sector is important, but when we look at the resources, we’ll know that we’re still lacking, which slows down the implementation,” he said. “Will we reach the goal by 2030? I think that will be difficult. Therefore, we need the driving force of the private sectors.”

In this sense, Etiqa Life Insurance Cambodia, a member of the Maybank Group, provided $50,000 to WaterAid to support its action plan and accelerate clean water access for households in Kandal province, which is expected to benefit around 2,000 residents.

Clean water supply and sanitation have remarkably improved across the country, going from being accessible to 40 percent of the population in 2014 to 80 percent in 2019.

Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Nov. 13 that proper sanitation and hygiene in rural areas have reached 85 percent nationwide over the past 10 years.

However, the task remains for the government to help the other 15 percent—especially poor households in rural areas, those living in precarious conditions and people in flooded areas—so they have access to proper toilets and clean water.

Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Meng Seavmey for Cambodianess.