Pollution and waste

Nearly 30 illegal gold mining operations have been shuttered in Mondolkiri province over the past week as officials with Mines and Environment ministries continue a compliance push in the wake of a poisoning case that killed 13 villagers downstream in Kratie province. ... ...

Chong Phlas commune, Mondulkiri province – As officials from the Mines and Environment ministries continue their compliance push here, villagers from the Chong Phlas Gold Mining Community have fled or withdrawn into their homes, too scared to continue their work for fear of being blamed ...

A senior official at the Ministry of Environment said on Thursday analysis of blood samples from victims of Kratie province’s contaminated water incident earlier this month have confirmed the presence of cyanide, albeit at very low levels. ... ...

The Sihanoukville governor yesterday expressed his disappointment over the city’s garbage problem and warned the city’s waste management company that its license could be revoked if they fail to solve the problem within three months. ... ...

Mines Minister Suy Sem yesterday ordered mining operators to follow the law to prevent mining waste from polluting rivers in the wake of more than 10 villagers dying from consuming tainted water in Kratie province. ... ...

Mines Minister Suy Sem has dismissed a claim by Industry Minister Cham Prasidh, who said that villagers in Kratie province were poisoned and killed by cyanide-tainted water due to run-off from gold mines. ... ...

Industry Minister Cham Prasidh has said that villagers in Kratie province’s Chetr Borei district were poisoned after consuming water tainted with cyanide which was used for mining operations in Mondolkiri and Kratie province. ... ...

Experts from the ministry examined the water in the river of Prek Te in Kratie and found chromium and cyanide. The substances were found at various mining sites between Kratie and neighboring Mondulkiri and the ministry believed that they were improperly handled and that rain ...

Contaminated water from a river in Kratie province has been blamed in the deaths of at least 10 ethnic Phnong people as of late Sunday, with nearly 140 others hospitalised and hundreds more families fleeing their homes for fear their ancestors are “angry” at them, ...

Contradicting measurements showing pollutant levels exceeding international guidelines, the Environment Ministry on Friday issued a statement claiming “there is no serious air pollution yet” in Phnom Penh. ... ...

Customers at shopping centres and supermarkets will be charged 400 riel per plastic bag beginning April 10. Heng Nareth, the director of environmental protection at the Ministry of Environment, said the aim is to reduce wasteful use of plastic bags. ... ...

The kingdom’s first wastewater treatment plant will be built in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district, with $27 million in assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Sam Piseth, director of the municipal department of public works and transport, told reporters on Saturday that the treatment plant would ...

A Cambodian representative to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said yesterday that new guidelines for hydropower development agreed to late last month don’t fully address threats to the health of the imperiled waterway. ... ...

Stung Treng provincial authorities on Friday shut down an illegal sand dredging operation on the Sesan River and confiscated equipment after having warned the company to cease operations since December, officials said yesterday. ... ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng bemoaned Phnom Penh’s sewage infrastructure and criticised the Ministry of Environment for allowing untreated waste water to flow into the Mekong and Bassac rivers in unscripted remarks on Monday. ... ...

The owner of a garbage collection company that recently took over trash pick-up in Sihanoukville admitted shortcomings in collection efforts yesterday, while pledging to improve services, following a petition by residents calling for the company’s contract to be rescinded. ... ...

Cambodia’s solid waste collection has increased more than 40 percent over the last five years, according to an official and the Ministry of Environment’s annual report released on Monday. ... ...

Sihanoukville residents are benefiting from cheaper rubbish collections after Preah Sihanouk province changed the price of waste disposal services amid complaints it was too expensive. ... ...

Even as floodwaters pour into their villages and encroach upon their resettlement sites, villagers displaced by the controversial Lower Sesan II Dam in Stung Treng province say they are now facing shortages of potable water. ... ...

The Ministry of Environment has fined a Chinese garment factory in Takeo province $7,500 after villagers complained the factory was polluting nearby streams with untreated waste. ... ...

Chamkamorn district authorities have been collecting garbage out of the Boeung Trabek canal this week, hauling nearly 200 truckloads of trash over two days and appealing to residents to stop discarding rubbish in the waterway. ... ...

Move over, Cintri – there’s a new garbage collector in town. For the first time in a dozen years, Sihanoukville has a new waste management company, and it has already started collecting trash ahead of the Pchum Ben holiday. ... ...

Responsibility for cleaning garbage from neighborhoods will be put in the hands of district officials under new guidelines released on Tuesday as part of the government’s plan to decentralize waste disposal. ... ...

Siem Reap is littered with trash and local young people have had enough. Once a month since March, monks and youth volunteers from NGOs, businesses and public schools have joined together to clean up their neighbourhood and promote awareness of how rubbish affects people’s lives. ...