► NEWS & EVENTS
Conference on Watershed Management for Controlling Municipal Wastewater in South East Asia
On 28 July 2016 was held in Nagoya, Japan, the ‘Conference on Watershed Management for Controlling Municipal Wastewater in South East Asia’ organized by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), with the collaboration of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the Japan Sewage Work Association (JSWA; a member organization of JSC).
This event, which follows the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nation in September 2015, was attended by government officials from the ministries in charge of the infrastructure development and water environment of 5 Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines and Myanmar. Water environment and effluent standards, as well as the conditions of wastewater treatment in each country, were introduced through presentations (downloadable here) which provided a good insight into the current situation and issues faced in these countries.
Following these, Japan’s experience in river basin management was introduced and followed by a discussion on adequate policies and proper river basin management for the increase of wastewater treatment. The conference ended on the general consensus and wishes for similar information sharing events in the future.
In addition, a proposal was made for the launch of a pilot project targeting environmental monitoring at watershed level, with the aim of subsequently creating planning guidelines for river basin management in Southeast Asian countries based on the problems the countries of this area experience.