Efforts for the dissemination of environmental legal tools

The environmental laws and related statutes were promulgated in the late 1990s and in the early 2000s. However, the environmental legal tools have not been implemented enough in Cambodia. The major environmental legal tools in Cambodia are: (i) Sub-Decree on Water Pollution Control; (ii) Sub-Decree on Solid Waste Management; (iii) Sub-Decree on Environmental Impact Assessment Process; and (iv) Sub-Decree on Air Pollution, Noise Disturbance and Vibration.

Picture 1: The Ministry of the Environment disseminating environmental legal instruments to staff at the Environmental Provincial Department of Kampong Speu Province Source: Department of Environmental Pollution Control 2005

In the programme that disseminates the policy tools for the management of environment quality, the staff from the Department of Environmental Pollution Control educated owners or managers of factories, business centres, hotels, which cause pollution in Phnom Penh City and some provinces/cities. If the owners or managers violate the legal instruments, they will be fined or subject to punishment. Through the implementation of the programme, the owners or managers of factories and other sectors of pollution sources have become more aware of the laws.

The institutions at the local level have not been aware of the dissemination of the legal tools because of the limited human resources and budget. The leaders of the Ministry of the Environment recognised that it is important to change the behavior of local stakeholders for environmental protection and conservation. Consequently, the leaders of the have identified the priority areas for capacity building which should be urgently carried out and improved.

Picture 2: Training course at Kampong Cham Province Source:Department of Environmental Pollution Control 2005

In 2005, the Department of Environmental Pollution Control set up a capacity building programme for technical staff in provincial and environmental departments at a municipal level and the local institutions concerned through the wide dissemination of environmental legal tools and related management/protection practices.

The objective of the capacity building programm was to increase the local staff’s awareness of certain environmental protection and conservation practices, including implementation of environmental legal tools.

Half way through 2005, the capacity building programme had been conducted in two provinces of Kampong Cham and Kampong Speu by staff from the Department of Environmental Pollution Control.

Based on the capacity building programme, the staff at the Environmental Provincial Departments increased awareness with regard to solving environmental pollution and natural resources management based on their local capability.

Source
1) Report on 2003 Achievement of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control
2) Report on 2004 Achievement of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control
3) Report on 2005 Achievement of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control
4) Environmental Conference Report 2004 - 2005