Magsaysay Award Recipient Visits ADB Headquarters
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Ek Sonn Chan, the Director General of Cambodia's Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, turned a dysfunctional public utility into an example of high quality public service. He received the 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in recognition, but he said during a visit to ADB Headquarters today that he judges his work by how well it serves the neediest clients. “If we are able to supply water directly to the poorest, then we will be able to supply water to anyone who would need our service,” he said. “This, my friends, is what I think public service is all about.” When Ek Sonn Chan took over the authority in 1993, its employees were demoralized, few homes in Phnom Penh with water connections had meters, illegal connections were rampant, and corruption was pervasive at all levels, with some employees charging up to $1,000 to connect consumers to the city water supply. Over a 10-year period, under the leadership of Ek Sonn Chan, and with the assistance of external funding agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, the public utility went through a series of dramatic reforms that transformed it into an efficient, self-financed, autonomous organization. Today, it brings clean water to more than a million people of all income levels in Phnom Penh. “We are honored by Ek Sonn Chan’s visit to ADB after receiving the much-deserved 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service. His work in Cambodia is an example for public utilities through the region,” said Rajat M. Nag, Director General of the ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, and Special Advisor to the President on Regional Cooperation. While at ADB, Ek Sonn Chan met with President Haruhiko Kuroda and addressed ADB’s Water Community of Practice group, chaired by Arjun Thapan, Deputy Director General of the Southeast Asia Department. ADB partnered with the authority and Ek Sonn Chan in the Phnom Penh Water Supply and Drainage Project. The project helped transfer management autonomy to the authority, which enabled it to use its own funds on maintenance programs. The result was a public utility that was financially and operationally autonomous and could fully recover from consumers the cost of its operations. “Cambodia's Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority is one of Asia’s outstanding public utilities,” said Bindu Lohani, Director General of ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department. “It is a model public sector water utility that has improved the lives of countless Cambodians.” Ek Sonn Chan said that much work remains to be done with water distribution in Cambodia. “What (the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority) has achieved today is no miracle,” he said. “We worked hard. We are committed to our tasks in serving the people, and we have done it with fervor from our hearts. I am happy that we have regained the trust of the people.” About ADB | 
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