1.The project will contribute to increased economic activities and environmental protection in towns in the Tonle Sap Basin. It responds to the need of municipal governments forintegrated urban environmental management in urban areas around Tonle Sap Lake. The project will improve urban services and enhance climate change resilience in Kampong Chhnang and Pursat municipalities through urban area environmental improvements; community mobilization and environmental improvements; strengthened sector coordination and operations; and strengthened capacity for project implementation, and operation and maintenance (O&M). The project follows the Tonle Sap Urban Areas Development Framework (TSUADF) and Kampong Chhnang and Pursat urban development strategies to 2030. The project will improve urban services in Kampong Chhnang and Pursat municipalities by focusing on physical and non-physical investments.
2.Kampong Chhnang and Pursat urban development strategies, based on the TSUADF, recognize each municipality’s role as a key economic center for agricultural production and manufacture, and its people’s unique relationship with the Tonle Sap. Kampong Chhnang and Pursat government agencies listed poor environmental sanitation as their town’s biggest infrastructure issue. Kampong Chhnang municipality prioritized alleviation of annual flooding from the Tonle Sap by raising and upgrading the existing embankment to the North and East of the town; and improvement of environmental sanitation for the large communities living on, and adjacent to, the Tonle Sap. Pursat municipality prioritized town center flood protection by raising and strengthening the Pursat river embankments with groynes to prevent embankment erosion, and rehabilitating and extending the existing drainage system with more road side drains; and improvement in solid waste management (SWM).
3.Special or innovative features of the project include: (i) integrated urban environmental management framework for the Tonle Sap Basin and town urban development strategies for Kampong Chhnang and Pursat municipalities; (ii) significant climate resilience infrastructure investments; (iii) pilot demonstration on integrated menstrual hygiene management in solid waste management; (iv) national coordination mechanism to facilitate information exchange and knowledge management in urban development; (v) the establishment of semi-autonomous agencies in providing sustainable and reliable urban services through the establishment of urban service units, which will address the larger issue of the sustainability and knowledge transfer from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to municipalities in accordance with the Organic Law 2008; and (vi) public-private partnerships in project implementation involving the Government, communities, nongovernmental organization, consulting firms, and ADB.
The impact will be increased economic growth and environmental protection in towns in the Tonle Sap Basin. The outcome will be improved urban services and climate change resilience in Kampong Chhnang and Pursat municipalities. The project will enhance the urban environment, improve public health, and contribute to better quality, coverage and reliability of services to more than 100,000 residents in the two municipalities of Kampong Chhnang and Pursat. This will be achieved through an integrated program of physical and non-physical investments in priority infrastructure rehabilitation, improvement and extension; community small-scale infrastructure and behavior change and communication initiatives; organizational and institutional development; and capacity development in project implementation, and O&M. The project incorporates climate resilience measures in infrastructure development, with support from the Pilot Program Climate Resilience (PPCR).