Disasters and emergency response

The cause of a fire that destroyed more than 30 houses on Tuesday in a small slum inhabited by recycling collectors, in an area surrounded by new housing developments in southern Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, will likely be determined today, according to officials.    ...

More than 200 houses in Kratie and Kampong Chhnang provinces were damaged by storms over the weekend, police said yesterday. ...

While skyscrapers are ceaselessly filling up Phnom Penh’s skyline, many construction and property experts, as well as ordinary citizens, are questioning whether the government’s measures to ensure safety in high buildings within the capital go far enough.   ...

The head of the World Food Programme in Cambodia has labelled the government’s drought preparation and response “insufficient” and warned that the Kingdom must be prepared to receive less help in the future.   ...

More than 100 new fire engines were provided to provincial police stations across the Kingdom in an effort to bolster the country’s firefighting capacity, Interior Minister Sar Kheng announced yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a strong weather warning yesterday for coastal, plains and plateau areas, from yesterday to June 5, especially along coastal areas where the ocean swell is expected to reach one to two-and-a-half meters. ...

With rain finally starting to fall across the country, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday declared an end to the relief campaign he launched last month to counter the worst drought in decades, calling the devastating dry spell an opportunity for “lessons” in governance. ...

The government’s two-month nationwide campaign to distribute water to those affected by drought officially ended yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced while speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Asia-Europe University in Phnom Penh. ...

Defence Minister Tea Banh will lead a delegation of about 10 other senior military officials to Vientiane, Laos, to attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting from May 24 to 27, which will focus on regional cooperation in defence technology and natural-disaster response. ...

As Cambodia continues its battle against raging thunderstorms and stifling droughts, officials from a variety of ministries attended a three-day workshop last week on how to incorporate the wide-ranging effects of climate change into the national and provincial budgeting process.   ...

The Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) donated $1 million to the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals on Monday.   ...

Behind a clutch of huts that hug the major route between Cambodia’s capital and its famed Angkor temples, rice farmers Phem Phean and Sok Khoert peer into a cement hollow.   ...

The country’s political and business elite dug deep into their pockets on Sunday for the Cambodian Red Cross’ (CRC) annual fundraising drive in Phnom Penh, contributing a total of $13.43 million during an event marking World Red Cross Day.   ...

At least two people were killed in a violent tempest that battered the country on Thursday evening, tearing roofs off buildings and damaging hundreds of homes.   ...

Around 500,000 Cambodians who face water shortages still have not received government assistance since drought relief efforts began on April 26, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management.   ...

Fires have consumed more than 2,000 hectares of Prek Toal protected area in Battambang, killing some animals and destroying the breeding sites of multiple endangered species, Prek Toal project managers said yesterday. ...

Conservationists are expressing concern that some of the Kingdom’s endangered birds are not reproducing this year due to extreme heat stress, inability to find enough food and habitat loss from wildfires and human encroachment. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen called for a continuation of the national effort to distribute water to those in need yesterday, instructing all provincial governors to stay in their provinces until the water crisis is over.   ...

The number of dead fish found in Kampong Thom’s protected Tonle Chhmar Lake climbed higher over the weekend – nearly 70 tons of fish have now died since the first were found by provincial fishery officials on April 23.   ...

More than 1,200 houses and buildings were affected and more than 70 people died or were injured by rainstorms and lightning in the first four months of 2016, according to Keo Vy, Cabinet director and a spokesman for the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM). ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen once again appealed to citizens to help distribute water to those suffering from the worst drought in over 50 years, during a speech at a graduation ceremony yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Health expects a dangerous year for diseases and heat trauma as a result of the extreme weather that the Kingdom is experiencing, according to a series of public statements this week.   ...

After nearly seventy tons of fish were found dead in the protected Tonle Chhmar Lake in Kampong Thom over the weekend, efforts are now underway to save the remaining fish from perishing in the high temperatures, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the launch of a nationwide water distribution campaign yesterday as the country deals with the heartbreaking effects of a drought, calling on all state and private institutions, as well as the Cambodian Red Cross, to help out. ...