The water supply and waste management in Southeast Asia (SEA) faces significant challenges despite its growing economy. The region is urbanising rapidly, and its growing cities struggle to provide new residents with adequate water and sanitation services. Further, the pandemic has worsened the challenges faced by vulnerable communities, groups and individuals that often lack access to essential services such as water and sanitation in countries like Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In 2017, around 91.41 per cent of the population (593 million people) in SEA had access to basic drinking water services as compared to 83.71 per cent of the population (482 million people) in 2007. In the past one year, SEA countries have been undertaking various reforms and measures to enhance water supply and sanitation facilities in the region.
Southeast Asia Infrastructure gives a round-up of water- and waste-related developments and impact of Covid-19 in ASEAN in the past one year…
Recent developments
Brunei
In a step towards solid waste management, the Brunei government put forward the No Plastic Bag Every Day initiative in 2018, marking a total ban of single-use plastic bags altogether. The move was in line with the goal of increasing recycling activity in the country, which was increased from 10 per cent in 2015 to 15 per cent in 2020.
Malaysia
In July 2020, the Malaysian Ministry of Housing and Local Government issued an announcement for the request for proposal for a waste-to-energy (WtE) project in Bukit Payong, Johor, on a public-private partnership basis. The project is one of the six expected WtE projects that the federal government of Malaysia is planning to develop by 2021. The project involves establishment of new district meter areas (DMAs), re-establishment of existing DMAs and monitoring and maintenance of the meters. The project has been awarded to Ranhill Water Services Sendirian Berhad at an estimated cost of RM 151.1 million. It is expected to be completed by June 30, 2021. The state of Johor aims to reduce its non-revenue water levels to 5 per cent by the year 2025.
Myanmar
In January 2020, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement with the Myanmar government. The Yangon Sewerage System Development aimed at improving wastewater management in the city of Yangon by improving and installing the sewage system and water treatment plants.
Thailand
In January 2020, the Thailand government approved formation of a water management command centre. The command centre has been sanctioned under Section 24 of the Water Act, 2018. The tasks of the command centre will broadly involve forecasting, public warning and communication, management and administration.
Further, the Office of National Water Resources, Thailand in the year 2019 approved the 20-year master water plan aimed at solving chronic drought, flood and wastewater problems. As part of the plan, the government aims to supply running water to 75,032 villages by 2030 and to develop water resources to increase volumes to 27 billion cubic metres for the agricultural sector.
Vietnam
Japan’s environment ministry has announced plans to deploy its domestic firms to assist Hanoi with environmental projects, especially regarding sewage and wastewater treatment in Hanoi. Hanoi is striving to raise the rate of treated wastewater from the current 20 per cent to 70 per cent. The city is also developing the Yen Xa wastewater treatment plant. Hanoi will receive Japan’s support and assistance to improve efficiency in this area.
Singapore
On June 29, 2020, Singapore commenced commercial operations of its fourth desalination plant, the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant. It is Singapore’s first large-scale, dual-mode desalination plant capable of producing nearly 30 million gallons of fresh drinking water per day.
Impact of Covid
The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly impacted construction activities across the globe due to disrupted supply chains, inadequate labour availability, liquidity constraints, and lack of availability of raw materials. The water utilities are struggling with a loss of revenue, reduced availability of critical materials and deferred investments. The diversion in funds towards essential services had mostly impacted the projects in the planning stage. Under-construction projects were also impacted due to the lockdown restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the virus.
Brunei
Brunei had closed its borders and suspended the issuance of work permits for incoming foreign nationals in March 2020. However, despite the challenges, the ongoing projects in Brunei, including the ones under the 11th National Development Plan, made progress.The projects currently under bidding in Brunei include construction of the Bukit Barun water treatment plant to supply clean water to Brunei-Muara and Tutong residents, as well as the first phase of the Jalan Jerudong drainage repair.
Cambodia
In March 2020, the Cambodian government put off all construction projects that were yet to begin except the ones jointly funded with foreigners. The government announced that the construction projects can be delayed until the next year due to funding constraints being faced during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the project to convert waste materials to energy in Phnom Penh proposed by the Ministry of Mines and Energy was unveiled amidst the pandemic in March 2020. The timely implementation of the project will be crucial in managing the steep rise in waste generation due to the pandemic. This particular project is expected to receive technical support from the Asian Development Bank and private firm, Infrastructure of Asia Singapore.
Indonesia
The Indonesian government had made regulatory changes to encourage foreign businesses to invest in new WtE projects earmarked for development across 12 cities in the country. However, barriers such as transportation costs, ash disposal issues, and technical feasibility concerns, including around waste quality, are posing challenges towards the realisation of the development plans during the pandemic. Further, the government came up with new projects in view of the pandemic. It decided to set up a WtE plant to generate 15 MWh of electricity from 1,000 tpd of waste in Jakarta. The construction of the plant is expected to commence soon.
Thailand
The water utilities in Thailand have faced a decline in revenue streams which is expected to impact ongoing as well as planned projects in the country. In April 2020, the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority announced reduction in water bills by 3 per cent for all types of users in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakarn provinces for three months to provide relief to its consumers. This led to a decline in the revenue income of the utilities. The government also diverted its attention towards provision of essential services in the short run. Consequently, the implementation of planned projects faced delays. The Thai cabinet also approved a one-year extension of a scheme to help underprivileged people with their tap water bills in the Covid-19 situation from October 2020 to September 2021.
Malaysia
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry agreed to grant a 12-month extension of the project implementation period for companies that have been given manufacturing licences under the Industrial Coordination Act, 1975 amidst the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak. This is aimed at keeping the Malaysian markets competitive despite the pandemic. Further, Malaysia decided to continue imposing the recovery phase of the Movement Control Order measures to contain the pandemic till December 31, 2020.
In view of the ongoing pandemic, Malaysia increased its focus on the water and waste sectors. It is conducting real-time monitoring through the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) to alert any possible contamination. Besides, SMG has been keeping a tap on the disinfection processes in the water supply system and water treatment plants, after revealing that the virus is sensitive to oxidants such as chlorines.
Singapore
During the pandemic, the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant commenced operations on June 29, 2020. The project faced challenges in completing the final lap of testing and commissioning during the Covid-19 pandemic due to reduced manpower. However, it was successfully commissioned by Keppel with support from Singapore’s Public Utilities Board. On the waste management front, Keppel also began construction of Singapore’s Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste Management Facility in September 2020.
Myanmar
Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the new construction projects in Myanmar came to a standstill. The availability of construction materials was affected due to trade restrictions. As a result, the existing projects were delayed by up to four months. Overseas factories producing building materials such as steel had closed down due to the pandemic, resulting in delays in project execution. However, when the lockdown restrictions were lifted across the world, the projects slowly gained momentum.
Conclusion
The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the need to cover the infrastructure gap in the region through better water and waste management facilities. There is a growing trend towards construction of WtE plants in these countries. Further, there is an increase in adoption of digital solutions which help water utilities to efficiently manage scarce resources by reducing water losses and ensure provision. The use of treated wastewater to meet the future demand also presents a great opportunity in the region.
Going forward, SEA countries can go a long way in bridging the infrastructure gap by harnessing the benefits of public-private partnerships through development of long-term strategies, proper incentivisation, and ensuring flexibility and political will to bear costs and guarantee risks. These countries need to increase investments in infrastructure development to provide good quality services.
