Steung Meanchey dump on outskirts of Phnom PenhBy Rory Byrne
Phnom Penh
30 October 2008
In countries around the world, hundreds of thousands of poor people face daily hazards to earn meager livings by scavenging for recyclable goods. In Cambodia, hundreds of scavenger families find their lives changing - they will lose their homes and livelihoods when the government closes the dump where they work. Rory Byrne has this report from Phnom Penh.
Officially, it is the Steung Meanchey landfill site, but those who live here call it Smokey Mountain.
Steung Meanchey dump is a seven-hectare mountain of smoking garbage on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Here some 2,000 workers, including about 600 children, sift through 700 tons of garbage a day.
In developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, garbage scavengers are among the poorest workers. In Cambodia, they typically earn about one dollar a day.
Ten-year-old Ya has been recycling bottles and cans at the dump for three years.
For children like Ya, going to school remains a distant dream
He says the situation here is terrible. He has to get up very early to work and finishes late in the evening. Ya says his life is very difficult. Collecting garbage brings him less than $1 a day which is not nearly enough to cover his expenses.
Most of the scavengers live in wooden shacks around the dump. There is no access to clean water or sanitation and epidemics are commonplace.
The risks here are high. Sharp-edged metals and broken glass leave nasty wounds. And garbage scavengers suffer high rates of serious diseases, such as hepatitis, tuberculosis and even AIDS. A number of scavengers have been killed or seriously injured when they were run over by garbage trucks.
Sok Kanhha has been working at dump for more than five years
She says it is very dangerous to work here - people can step on metal shards or nails for example or get hit and crushed by the dump trucks. She says she has injured herself with many things, like old needles.
Annette Jensen is the director of A New Day, a charity that provides free food, shelter and schooling to more than 100 children from Steung Meanchey dump.
"To see the children miserable, dirty, sad looking at the garbage dump and then have them arrive with their little plastic bag with all their belongings and move into the center. And to see their excitement about taking a shower. To see their excitement about getting their little bag of shampoo. And to see them clean, putting on their school uniform and going to school has just been amazing," says Jensen.
Annette Jensen, director of A New Day
But most of those working on Cambodia's landfills are not so lucky, and for children like Ya, going to school remains a distant dream,
Ya has he would go to school if he could stop working at the dump. He says he wants to go to school but cannot because his family is so poor.
Ya and his family now face a new challenge: the government plans to close Steung Meanchey and relocate the 535 families living there to land about 50 kilometers south of Phnom Penh.
The government will let them have tiny plots on which to build new homes. An official in charge of the project notes the location is near Udong Mountain, a tourist site, so that there are jobs available in the region. And he says, families are not being forced to move, but most are volunteering.
Still, no families have left so far. Many scavengers say they will be happy to leave the dump, but they are worried that they will not be able to make a living because the relocation camp is too far away from the city.
Officially, it is the Steung Meanchey landfill site, but those who live here call it Smokey Mountain.
Steung Meanchey dump is a seven-hectare mountain of smoking garbage on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Here some 2,000 workers, including about 600 children, sift through 700 tons of garbage a day.
In developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, garbage scavengers are among the poorest workers. In Cambodia, they typically earn about one dollar a day.
Ten-year-old Ya has been recycling bottles and cans at the dump for three years.
For children like Ya, going to school remains a distant dreamHe says the situation here is terrible. He has to get up very early to work and finishes late in the evening. Ya says his life is very difficult. Collecting garbage brings him less than $1 a day which is not nearly enough to cover his expenses.
Most of the scavengers live in wooden shacks around the dump. There is no access to clean water or sanitation and epidemics are commonplace.
The risks here are high. Sharp-edged metals and broken glass leave nasty wounds. And garbage scavengers suffer high rates of serious diseases, such as hepatitis, tuberculosis and even AIDS. A number of scavengers have been killed or seriously injured when they were run over by garbage trucks.
Sok Kanhha has been working at dump for more than five yearsShe says it is very dangerous to work here - people can step on metal shards or nails for example or get hit and crushed by the dump trucks. She says she has injured herself with many things, like old needles.
Annette Jensen is the director of A New Day, a charity that provides free food, shelter and schooling to more than 100 children from Steung Meanchey dump.
"To see the children miserable, dirty, sad looking at the garbage dump and then have them arrive with their little plastic bag with all their belongings and move into the center. And to see their excitement about taking a shower. To see their excitement about getting their little bag of shampoo. And to see them clean, putting on their school uniform and going to school has just been amazing," says Jensen.
Annette Jensen, director of A New DayBut most of those working on Cambodia's landfills are not so lucky, and for children like Ya, going to school remains a distant dream,
Ya has he would go to school if he could stop working at the dump. He says he wants to go to school but cannot because his family is so poor.
Ya and his family now face a new challenge: the government plans to close Steung Meanchey and relocate the 535 families living there to land about 50 kilometers south of Phnom Penh.
The government will let them have tiny plots on which to build new homes. An official in charge of the project notes the location is near Udong Mountain, a tourist site, so that there are jobs available in the region. And he says, families are not being forced to move, but most are volunteering.
Still, no families have left so far. Many scavengers say they will be happy to leave the dump, but they are worried that they will not be able to make a living because the relocation camp is too far away from the city.
9 comments:
Chay dek euy, it is the wonderful glory and development of somdach ah chou hun sen and his
This is called HUN SEN win-win strategy. Or HUN SEN prosperous developments.
Wow! What ashame with this government.
Why on earth Cambodia is the poorest nation?
Didn't HUN SEN said his government will not let his people goes hungry?
HUN SEN, You will follow Saddam Hussien foot's step pretty soon.
If you don't fix the win-win strategy your people will uprise or revolt against your familie's run government.
Khmer Sralanh Khmer,
No No No do not beleive those pictures all of them are Holywood fake pictures. Samdach psettha cho will not allow this to happen and he loves yourn more than his own people because yourn gave him this job.
This government has ruled Cambodia over 30 years and they keep blaming the Khmer Rouge. Soon the Khmer Rouge will be dead of aging and who's do they have left to blame. It is ashame indeed with no improvement to the lives of its people.
Why the fucken Cambodian government doesn’t build the fucken fence and put armed guard around the trash dump to prevent the scavengers from risking their life and spread their disease to a larger community?
Now it is a fact that stupid Cambodian government can pass all kinds of laws to protect endanger animal, combating drug trafficking, and human trafficking and why can the stupid Cambodian government pass the fucken law to prevent little children from entering Steung Meanchey landfill site to kill themselves! Is this fucking too much to ask? Please don’t tell me that the fucken stupid Cambodian government has no will power to solve anything? This fucken issue of Steung Meanchey landfill site had been in the news for years and nobody has the will power to do anything!
Why fucking guys in forum still don't understand. They don't need khmer people to do that,but khmer people still doing and sometimes they paid to the guard to get in. all the stuff they get will sell to garbage company and company bring all those stuff to Vietnam or Siem.So all these guy has to understand it before you say bad to the CPP ok asshole.
To 10:15AM
"they paid to the guard to get in"
=Listen to yourself mother fucker! So it is alright to pay the guards to kill Cambodian children for exposing them to toxic dump? So are you saying that it is alright to kill Cambodian children health and future just to do business with the Siem and the Viet? Where is your decency mother fucker! This is Cambodian children that I am talking about which they have more youthful years ahead of them to be a productive citizen of Cambodia!
So tell me what happen to all the fucken laws in Cambodia? Cambodian people are paying money to break the fucken law? You mother fucker need to understand that the law is the law and the law can't be broken and if the fucken law is broken there is a consequence!
How can Cambodian leaders create a society that is full of fairness when the fucking Cambodian leaders accept bribe to kill Cambodian people legally?
Paying guards to get in???
Isn't that mean the freaking CPP government corrupted??
Khmer PP,
there ought to be someone educating and helping these people because they get disease and spread disease this way.
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