VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPF #0234 0400928
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090928Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7997
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 2114

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000234 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, OES/PCI--SALZBERG AND BLAINE 
BANGKOK FOR REO-JIM WALLER 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR MILLER AND DEELY 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SENV CB
SUBJECT:  CAMBODIA INDOOR AIR POLLUTION ASSESSMENT 
 
REF:  06 STATE 192919 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  While some NGOs, most notably the Cambodia Rural 
Development Team (CRDT), are promoting the use of technology to 
reduce indoor air pollution, there is little awareness or government 
commitment to addressing IAP in Cambodia.  END SUMMARY. 
 
IAP a Low Priority for Cambodian Government 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Mr. Heng Nareth, Director of the Department of Environmental 
Pollution Control, said that indoor air pollution is an idea of 
developed countries to take care of the health of their peoples and 
is not a priority in Cambodia.  Cambodians need to have enough to 
eat first before thinking of anything else, he added.  According to 
Mr. Nareth, Cambodia is not a member of the Partnership for Clean 
Indoor Air (PCIA), but is a member of the Clean Air Initiative for 
Asian Cities based in Manila.  Cambodia is also a signatory to the 
ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002.  However, 
IAP has not been incorporated into the national development 
strategy, nor has funding been set aside for IAP in Cambodia. 
 
¶3.  The Ministry of Environment, and its Department of Environmental 
Pollution Control, is responsible for both outdoor and indoor 
pollution control.  The Department submitted a funding proposal to 
the Council of Ministers in 2004 for work in three priority areas: 
waste management, waste water treatment, and an inventory of air 
pollution, but the funding proposal was not approved. 
 
WHO to Create Pollution Project 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The World Health Organization (WHO) recently funded an 
environmental health project which focuses mainly on health and 
medical waste management.  The project, led by the Ministry of 
Health, involved many concerned government institutions.  In the 
near future, WHO will propose an indoor air management project aimed 
at building technical capacity including measuring and analyzing 
indoor air quality.  Dr. Nasir Hassan, WHO Environmental Engineer, 
said while he was not sure about the seriousness of indoor air 
pollution in urban areas, it might be serious in rural areas as 
households are using inefficient fuels such as firewood, charcoal, 
twigs and rice husk. 
 
Local NGOs Involved in Improving Indoor Air Pollution 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5.  Cambodian women burn biomass--mostly wood in rural areas and 
charcoal in urban centers--for daily cooking in their kitchens.  The 
use of inefficient traditional stoves consumes more fuel, resulting 
in frequent movements to forest for fuel collection.  In order to 
cope with this issue, some local NGOS are working on improving a 
cooking system by using a more modern and environmentally friendly 
method, such as improved cookstoves and biodigesters, which 
mitigates and improves indoor air pollution. 
 
¶6.  The Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT) was formed in 2001 
to undertake development projects to improve the living standards of 
subsistence communities in rural Cambodia.  Biological Gas Digesters 
(biodigesters) are part of the CRDT's rural development project 
package.  The biodigesters eliminate the requirement for traditional 
carbon fuels such as firewood and charcoal.  The biodigesters 
accumulate and direct naturally emitted methane gas from animal 
manure and vegetable waste to be used safely as cooking fuel.  Its 
major purposes are to reduce local deforestation, environmental 
pollution and living costs, and increase living standards of local 
communities.  The residual waste produced from the biodigester may 
then be used as natural fertilizer to increase rice yield.  Since 
2001 CRDT has installed more than 50 biodigesters for villagers in 
the provinces of Kampong Cham, Kratie, Kampong Speu, Prey Veng, 
Stung Treng, Takeo and Kandal. 
 
¶7.  The Cambodian Fuelwood Saving Project (CFSP) has developed and 
promoted improved cookstoves since 2000 thanks to their wood energy 
savings and environmental protection.  According to statistics taken 
from CFSP website, so far 120,000 improved cookstoves have been in 
use across Cambodia. 
 
Local Health Effects of IAP 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  According to a recent study on the role of gender in household 
energy and indoor air pollution in Cambodia co-authored by San You 
and K.M. Sulpya, Cambodian women suffer from emissions during 
cooking which can increase rates of respiratory diseases, including 
Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 
(COLD), premature birth, reduced oxygen to body tissues, eye 
infection and headache.  The situation is further aggravated by the 
low awareness.