By Marc Kielburger And Craig Kielburger,
Edmonton Journal, Canada
June 13, 2011
It's a sweet and increasingly scarce sound. The sound of rushing, clean water as it sloshes out of the tap.
Across the globe, about one in eight people lack access to safe water, according to the United Nations. Every week, an estimated 42,000 people die from diseases related to lowquality drinking water and waterborne diseases.
In our own experiences doing development work, we have seen people struggle to access clean water; walking for hours to the nearest clean water source; lining up all day at pumps or to buy small plastic bags of water sold for staggeringly high prices. People in slums often pay five to 10 times more per litre of water than wealthy people with water piped into their homes in the same city.
We have also faced our own challenges in finding clean water when travelling abroad -even adding a few drops of bleach to our drinking water. We thought it was a great idea, that is, until our mom found out and made us promise to stop.
Despite the challenges the world faces in providing clean water, there are success stories, however. The city of Phnom Penh is one of them.
The 92 per cent of 1.7 million residents in Cambodia's capital who have access to safe, clean, drinking water today can thank the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and its director -Ek Sonn Chan.
As a young engineering graduate, Chan lost his family in the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge. He survived, working as a farmer, until 1979, when he landed a government job in Phnom Penh. By 1993, he'd risen to become head of the city's Water Supply Authority. It was a daunting challenge, not just because Chan had to provide clean water to a country that had recently emerged from close to two decades of civil war, but also because the water system was in ruin.
No technicians
Barely a quarter of the city's population had access to water. There were no blueprints for the system, an entanglement of ancient French pipes. None of the engineers who knew about the system had survived the war.
"The distribution was abandoned," Chan said in an interview. "There were no technicians."
Chan had inherited a near-impossible challenge when he took over in the early 1990s. He soon made changes, according to a 2010 Phnom Penh Water Authority Report. Chan and his team laid down 1,500 kilometres of new pipelines and set about stamping out corruption. He chased down those who wouldn't pay -including his own employees, as well other government officials.
Early on, Chan visited one Cambodian general to demand the army start paying for water. The general grew angry, held a gun to Chan's head, and refused to pay. Chan returned with a group of journalists. Once again, Chan ended up with a gun pointed at his head. His solution? He cut off the water supply. The army paid its dues.
Chan also culled a significant number of his employees, and created a merit-based reward system, according to a 2010 report by the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority. He replaced anyone guilty of any form of corruption.
"My first reform here was in terms of human resources. We had to try to bring on qualified young staff who really wanted to work," he said. "We work together as a family, as a team."
Raise a glass
With help from his staff, he installed thousands of water meters and a computerized billing system. His teams went door-to-door convincing Cambodians that installing water meters and paying a small price for water meant that they would save money and be healthier in the long run.
It worked. The city's poorest neighbourhoods paid the least, helped by subsidized payment plans, while those who consumed the most, paid as such. The water authority today provides clean water to almost all the residents in Phnom Penh, a remarkable achievement.
In Canada, we need innovative solutions. There are more than 100 First Nations communities that don't have access to safe drinking water, according to Health Canada. An estimated 100 people die every year from tainted water, and more than 1,000 communities are under boil-water advisories. In the last decade, these numbers have hardly changed.
We raise a glass to applaud the successes in Phnom Penh. Other countries could take valuable lessons from Chan, who tackled corruption and low staff morale, while also making people understand the value and cost of fresh water.
Craig and Marc Kielburger cofounded Free the Children. Its goal is to free children from poverty and exploitation through education.
June 13, 2011
It's a sweet and increasingly scarce sound. The sound of rushing, clean water as it sloshes out of the tap.
Across the globe, about one in eight people lack access to safe water, according to the United Nations. Every week, an estimated 42,000 people die from diseases related to lowquality drinking water and waterborne diseases.
In our own experiences doing development work, we have seen people struggle to access clean water; walking for hours to the nearest clean water source; lining up all day at pumps or to buy small plastic bags of water sold for staggeringly high prices. People in slums often pay five to 10 times more per litre of water than wealthy people with water piped into their homes in the same city.
We have also faced our own challenges in finding clean water when travelling abroad -even adding a few drops of bleach to our drinking water. We thought it was a great idea, that is, until our mom found out and made us promise to stop.
Despite the challenges the world faces in providing clean water, there are success stories, however. The city of Phnom Penh is one of them.
The 92 per cent of 1.7 million residents in Cambodia's capital who have access to safe, clean, drinking water today can thank the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and its director -Ek Sonn Chan.
As a young engineering graduate, Chan lost his family in the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge. He survived, working as a farmer, until 1979, when he landed a government job in Phnom Penh. By 1993, he'd risen to become head of the city's Water Supply Authority. It was a daunting challenge, not just because Chan had to provide clean water to a country that had recently emerged from close to two decades of civil war, but also because the water system was in ruin.
No technicians
Barely a quarter of the city's population had access to water. There were no blueprints for the system, an entanglement of ancient French pipes. None of the engineers who knew about the system had survived the war.
"The distribution was abandoned," Chan said in an interview. "There were no technicians."
Chan had inherited a near-impossible challenge when he took over in the early 1990s. He soon made changes, according to a 2010 Phnom Penh Water Authority Report. Chan and his team laid down 1,500 kilometres of new pipelines and set about stamping out corruption. He chased down those who wouldn't pay -including his own employees, as well other government officials.
Early on, Chan visited one Cambodian general to demand the army start paying for water. The general grew angry, held a gun to Chan's head, and refused to pay. Chan returned with a group of journalists. Once again, Chan ended up with a gun pointed at his head. His solution? He cut off the water supply. The army paid its dues.
Chan also culled a significant number of his employees, and created a merit-based reward system, according to a 2010 report by the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority. He replaced anyone guilty of any form of corruption.
"My first reform here was in terms of human resources. We had to try to bring on qualified young staff who really wanted to work," he said. "We work together as a family, as a team."
Raise a glass
With help from his staff, he installed thousands of water meters and a computerized billing system. His teams went door-to-door convincing Cambodians that installing water meters and paying a small price for water meant that they would save money and be healthier in the long run.
It worked. The city's poorest neighbourhoods paid the least, helped by subsidized payment plans, while those who consumed the most, paid as such. The water authority today provides clean water to almost all the residents in Phnom Penh, a remarkable achievement.
In Canada, we need innovative solutions. There are more than 100 First Nations communities that don't have access to safe drinking water, according to Health Canada. An estimated 100 people die every year from tainted water, and more than 1,000 communities are under boil-water advisories. In the last decade, these numbers have hardly changed.
We raise a glass to applaud the successes in Phnom Penh. Other countries could take valuable lessons from Chan, who tackled corruption and low staff morale, while also making people understand the value and cost of fresh water.
Craig and Marc Kielburger cofounded Free the Children. Its goal is to free children from poverty and exploitation through education.
1 comment:
Cleans and running water must has access to all cambodian people in the countryside...
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