Gov’t Opens Rivers to Sand Dredging
Nine companies have put in bids for the rights to dredge the lengths of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers and sell the sand for export, Water Resources Ministry officials said yesterday, noting that the dredging would be beneficial in terms of deepening the waterways. According to a copy of a letter obtained yesterday, Water Resources Minister Lim Kean Hor wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen in December detailing plans to ‘restore’ the rivers by allowing three companies to undertake vast dredging projects. …. Among the requirements is the stipulation that the companies have $2 million deposited in a local bank as collateral in case improper dredging results in “severe impact on river environment, water quality, bank collapse,” the letter states. …
