High-tech cleanup on the way for Mekong, Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh

Rubbish along the Tonle Bassac river in Phnom Penh last year. - PPP

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/Asia News Network): The Ministry of Tourism and two NGOs – Everwave and River and Ocean Cleanup – plan to launch a campaign to clean up the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh by collecting rubbish from the water and along the river banks. The campaign is slated to begin in March and run until June, in support of the clean city movement.

Tourism minister Thong Khon met the leaders of the two organisations on March 14 to discuss the campaign, which will incorporate the use of a new German technology to remove waste. The machine, called Moringa by Landmarken, has the capacity to collect up to 20 tonnes of rubbish from the water each day.