County to host Cambodian delegation in New Year

BY KIRK STARRATT

On the heels of a successful assessment mission to the Battambang District in October, the County of Kings will host a delegation from Cambodia in March as part of Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) municipal partnership program.

Kings County corporate services director Bill McKennan, who made a presentation to councillors at the December committee of the whole (COTW) session, said the program is sponsored by the FCM and funded through the Canadian International Development Agency, although “projects belong to the communities involved.” Their partnership is with the Battambang District in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

“Each partnership is a joint initiative between a Canadian municipality and an overseas partner,” he said. The partnership involves a two- or three-year commitment requiring staff and council time, energy and travel.

The goal is to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life and sustainability of local communities by developing and empowering local government. This specific partnership project is to improve the quality of life in Battambang District and selected pilot communes through better environmental stewardship.

During the assessment mission to Cambodia in October, McKennan, Councillor Wayne Atwater and Valley Waste Resource Management policy coordinator Brian Van Rooyen introduced Kings County to the Battambang District, gained an understanding of local government in Cambodia and assessed Battambang’s capacity building needs in inter-communal cooperation, environmental management and awareness and waste management.

Intensive meetings

Activities included two weeks of intensive meetings with national and provincial local government associations; briefings with senior government officials and meetings with government staff; tours of selected communes and discussions with elected officials; meetings with potential resource organizations currently in Cambodia, including charity groups and foundations; providing input into the development of local government framework; and a meeting with the Master Plan District Advisor.

The county will host the Cambodian delegation as part of the Project Definition Mission from March 21 to April 4. Technical exchange missions will begin in May and there will be an evaluation mission at the conclusion of the project, in about two-and-a-half years.

The Cambodian delegation to visit in the spring is expected to include the provincial governor, the Battambang district governor, their local project coordinator (the deputy district governor), a representative of their department of environment, a representative of one of the pilot communes (also the chief of commune and deputy chief of the Provincial Association of Communes) and an interpreter.

The next steps include completing the agenda for the March visit, having a finalized proposal approved by both councils, and planning for technical exchanges.

McKennan said a Kings County engineering firm has already set up an office in Cambodia because of the number of contracts they’ve obtained.

The county got involved in the partnership program after Councillor Janet Newton brought forth a motion when the FCM issued a call for expressions of interest. Following a series of interviews, the County of Kings was selected as the best fit for the program.