Cambodia’s Excess Baggage

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t going expecting to look out the bus window and see all the blue bags along the roads and in the fields,” said 27-year-old Christopher Convery, who is currently backpacking for the first time in Cambodia. … In 2010, Mr. Hun Sen lambasted the widespread use of plastic bags as a principle cause of flooding in Phnom Penh. Meetings were called, supermarkets were advised and appeals were made for the public to be educated about throwing away non-biodegradable waste that blocks the city’s drainage pipes. It spurred the then Phnom Penh governor Kep Chuktema to authorize police to fine people who they saw littering. “Every day now we are issuing fines of up to 20,000 reil [about $5] to individuals and vendors,” said Em Sambath, chief of municipal public order, who adds that fines total about 2 million reil, or about $500 a month, which goes into the municipal budget. … The government has made some progress in the past few years to reduce flooding in Phnom Penh, notably with a $350-million dollar drainage system funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). … “The current [drainage] project we are assisting will finish in 2015 and is still ongoing…[it] will take some time for the system to be fully effective,” said Seng Solady, programme officer for JICA, “But we still consider garbage as a problem for Phnom Penh’s drainage system.” The environmental implications of such consumption are well documented: Each plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade and as they do, they clog and contaminate soil, waterways and choke or poison animals. … Tourism is also potentially suffering, with all the discarded rubbish leaving a negative impression on visitors that Cambodia is a dirty place. … Implementing a tax on plastic bags to encourage people to reuse is another [alternative] answer. The Ministry of Environment is currently working with the Ministry of Tourism to get retailers to charge 500 reil for each plastic bag by 2015, according to Mr. Sam An at City Hall. …

http://www.cambodiadaily.com/selected-features/cambodias-excess-baggage-22003/