Pakse City, Champasack Province, Lao PDR, November 18, 2020 – Pakse city, Department of Public Works and Transport, Champasack province, and the Global Green Growth Institute in Lao PDR (GGGI) jointly hosted the Consultation Workshop for Fecal Sludge Management System for Pakse City to discuss steps to improving the onsite sanitation systems in Pakse through a comprehensive Fecal Sludge Management approach. This workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Bounnao Fongkhamdeng, Vice mayor of Champasack Province, and Mr. Khamsoy Pathoumthong, Deputy Deriector General of Department of Public Works and Transport in Champasack Province, and was attended by 60 participants from various key stakeholders including provincial authorities belonging to the Health Department, the Environment and Natural Resource department, Water Supply utility, Village authorities, and private sector players active in providing sludge management services in Pakse.

The city authorities committed to passing a comprehensive resolution on fecal sludge management covering improved building by-laws, incentive, and penalty mechanisms, planned/scheduled desludging, and performance based private sector operations. The Vice Mayor of Pakse City, Mr. Bounnao, highlighted that Pakse aims to become a role model for other secondary towns in the region by adopting a comprehensive approach to sanitation systems planning through the KOICA and GGGI program. In the workshops, the participants discussed and agreed to a 10 point agenda (interventions) in the city to ensure that the onsite sanitation systems in the city are maintained properly. The city intends to implement these interventions with close involvement of private sector players and village authorities to ensure that the sanitation services are provided to citizens at the lowest possible user charge. The city is also developing a city level Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant to treat and re-cycle the fecal sludge into organic soil conditioner/compost.

GGGI is assisting Pakse City in adopting a sustainable model of sanitation services through the KOICA funded program. This project aims at mainstreaming sanitation as a public service in Lao PDR and developing a model for cities in Lao PDR to ensure that sanitation services are provided to the citizens at the lowest practical cost. GGGI is assisting the government of Lao PDR in developing a comprehensive approach toward decentralized sanitation. In Pakse, GGGI is demonstrating this approach by developing a city level sanitation strategy, implementing decentralized wastewater treatment systems in 4 zones of the city, developing a city level Fecal sludge treatment plant and organizing the associated improvements in Fecal Sludge management systems. GGGI is also assisting the Government of Lao PDR to develop and adopt the National Urban Sanitation Policy to help scale up this sustainable approach in the other cities.