S'pore NGO helps improve sanitary conditions in Cambodian village

S'pore NGO helps improve sanitary conditions in Cambodian village

14 August 2007
By Channel NewsAsia Indochina Correspondent Anasuya Sanyal

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia : Providing slum dwellers in Cambodia with proper sanitation - that was the task a Singapore Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) set out to do, to help improve the lives of poor villagers.

Residents of Andoung village, 15 kilometres outside of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, have been living without latrines or bathrooms for years.

They used plastic bags as makeshift toilet bowls, and discarded the human waste just outside the village, creating a squalid environment.

The women could bathe only under the cover of night to protect their modesty.

But Waterloo Station, an integrated hygiene complex, will begin to change the situation, providing clean and sanitary facilities for over 1,700 families in Andoung Village.

With the new facilities, the villagers will be able to bathe, go to the bathroom and wash their clothes.

Designed by experts from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, Waterloo Station contains 11 toilets and 12 bathrooms.

Funds came from Singapore NGO Lien Aid, which focuses on addressing water and sanitation needs.

"The people can also help to look after the toilet facilities and the Waterloo Station facilities. We can get the community to be involved. They will bear part of the cost to maintain the facilities," said Ken Tan, Director, Lien Aid.

A 150-metre deep well and harvested rain will be the water sources for Waterloo Station.

A water stabilisation pond will break down and process human waste, before discharging them safely into the environment.

"This project is different because it's a partnership and we are working together. There are good relations among the local government, the municipality, the NGO, the Ministry of Rural Development and the local authorities," said Mann Chhoeurn, Vice Governor of Phnom Penh.

"I'm grateful to Lien Aid for building the facility. Previously, we didn't have toilets and we had to go wherever we could. The conditions were dirty and people fell ill," said one villager.

According to United Nations reports, 80 percent of all diseases in the developing world are caused by poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water.

 

Previous attempts to improve sanitation in poor Southeast Asian nations have had limited success, but NGOs are determined to change that by continuing to provide aid and expertise to needy communities.