Sinking feeling on river’s edge
About 50 villagers in Kandal province protested yesterday in an attempt to halt the activities of a Vietnamese sand-dredging company, which they said has caused a huge swath of their land to slide into the Mekong River. Residents of Kien Svay district’s Koh Prak village said that over the course of the company’s first month of operations, a length of shoreline more than 500 metres long and five metres wide has collapsed into the river, taking crops with it, and threatening the homes of those living nearest the river. … Im Sarom, 54, another resident, said villagers have submitted a complaint asking Phoum Thom commune officials to intervene but have not yet received a response, adding that villagers will stage a protest at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house if a solution is not found. Kien Svay district police chief Var Samath said the “issue is a matter for the Kien Svay district governor, who issued [the company’s] licence”. …
