Soft drinks maker Coca-Cola Cambodia has been working to provide clean water for local schoolchildren, inaugurating an AquaTower-Water Filtration System and AquaSan-Latrine System for 1,300 students at Hun Sen Kor high school and Bun Rany Khum Kor primary school in Kampong Cham province. The AquaTower adds to the 31 towers installed across the country since 2016.

Coca-Cola Cambodia is working with the non-profit organisation Planet Water Foundation to provide access to clean, safe drinking water and handwashing stations for an estimated 12,600 people per day, with a focus on children aged 12 and older.

The project also aims to influence behaviour change associated with improved water health and hygiene for up to 4,655 students as well as increase engagement of the local community around issues associated with clean water access.

“Our commitment does not stop with the building of this new AquaTower,” said Coca-Cola Cambodia Chief Financial Officer Arup Sinha Roy. “We will support the Planet Water Foundation in implementing a water-health and hygiene education program here and in training the community to maintain the systems, including five years of post-installation sustainability support, water quality monitoring, and ongoing hygiene education program support.”

Director General of Consumer Protection Competition and Fraud Repression Directorate (CCF), Phan Oun, attended the ceremony, thanking Coca-Cola Cambodia for its efforts to bring better quality water to more Cambodians.

“Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction,” he said.

“It will ensure that the children here in Prey Chhor District will grow up in a healthy ecosystem with clean and safe water.”

Over the past 10 years, Coca-Cola Cambodia and Planet Water Foundation have brought clean water and sanitation facilities to 55,000 people in remote and water-deprived rural communities in 16 provinces.

Coca-Cola Cambodia and Planet Water Foundation plan to install another nine AquaTowers this year, aiming to cover all 25 provinces in Cambodia.

“Our planet matters,” Sinha Roy said. “That’s why our ESG [environmental, social and governance] initiatives are focused on creating a more sustainable business and better-shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities and our planet. There are five main pillars that make up our ESG efforts – a world without waste, water replenishment, women empowerment, climate and community well-being.”

Source: Khmer Times