As the latest UN climate change conference begins today in Doha, Qatar, a coalition of Cambodian NGOs is joining calls for developed countries to bear more of the burden of combating climate change.
Cambodia and other poor countries are unprepared to deal with rapid climate change on their own and should not have to do so, because developed countries are largely responsible for the problem, argues a position paper released yesterday by the Cambodia Climate Change Network and the NGO Forum of Cambodia. …
The government is not doing enough to help farmers weather the destructive effects of drought and flooding brought on by climate change, leaving NGOs to provide aid and emergency relief in cases of natural disaster, agriculture industry leaders said at a forum yesterday. …
Flooding this year cost the government significantly less than expected due to better preparation and lower water levels than in previous years, first vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management Nhim Vanda announced yesterday.
The NCDM could not yet report the precise amount spent on flood management and relief, but the unspent portion of the $30 million budgeted for this purpose will be used to develop other sectors chosen by Prime Minister Hun Sen, Vanda said yesterday at a conference on natural disaster management attended by about 150 Cambodian, EU and UN officials. …
While last year 18 of Cambodia’s 24 provinces were significantly affected by flooding, Vanda said this year only 100 hectares of rice crops in Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Thom and Pursat were damaged. …
Better communication from authorities in Cambodia and Vietnam might have prevented the deaths of villagers and the destruction of homes in Ratanakkiri at times when water has been released from Vietnam’s Yali Falls dam, researchers said yesterday.
Speaking at a national workshop about the Yali Falls dam and its effects on Cambodian communities along the Sesan River, postgraduate researcher Lor Rasmey said information given to villagers about the dam’s water releases was often slow and unreliable.
Thirty-two people, he said, had died as a result of water releases from the hydroelectric dam – which is about 70 kilometers upstream from the border – between 1996 and 2000, while about 950 had died due to water-quality problems.
Preparations are in place to evacuate some 13,000 people if flooding worsens in Purst province after the Pursat River burst its banks on Monday nights leading to the evacuation of 27 families in Kandieng district. …
Pursat provincial governor Khoy Sokha said that floodwater, which was caused by heavy rainfall from Tropical Depression Gaemi, was about to reach Veal Veng district. …
Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district has also been affected by flooding, with the water reaching up to 2 meters deep in some places, provincial governor Pao Ham Phan said, adding that so far nobody had been evacuated. …
Authorities are preparing to evacuate more than 150 families from Banteay Meanchey province’s O’Chrou district, should flooding in the area get worse due to heavy rainfall and runoff from a dam that opened its gates in Thailand on Monday.
The families’ homes are already affected by flooding, and water levels in the area have been slowly rising throughout the week, according to provincial officials. …
The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology yesterday warned that a tropical storm, which is forecast to hit the coast of Vietnam this weekend, will worsen flooding across much of Cambodia.
In a statement signed by Water resources Minister Lim Kean Hor, the ministry said that Tropical Storm Gaemi will bring strong winds and flooding from Thursday through Monday in 13 provinces, Kompong Cham, Mondolkiri, Ratanakkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng, Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Siem Reap, Kompong Thom, Koh Kong, Kep, Kampot and Preah Sihanouk. …
About 5,000 people have been evacuated in Banteay Meanchey since flooding began in the middle of last month, with police, military and military police preparing to evacuate even more. …
Thai authorities yesterday opened a dam near the Cambodian border, a move that could worsen flooding and affect thousands of people in Banteay Meanchey province, according to Cambodian officials. …
Mr. Vanda [vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM)] said the excess water released from the Thai dam in Ta Praya district, would reach Cambodian areas in the next few days. He said the high water was now expected to first reach Banteay Meanchey’s Malai district, avoiding Poipet City and then flow into Battambang province. …
While provincial authorities appeared to be expecting serious repercussions from the opening of the dam, Thailand’s ambassador to Cambodia, Sompong Sanguanbun, said Thai authorities had reassured him the effects would not be serious. …
Disputed figures surround the flood death toll in Banteay Meanchey province.
Yesterday, Banteay Meanchey city hall spokesman Keo Ratanak rejected reports that more than 10 people had drowned in the province as a result of the flooding, saying: “The exact number is seven.”
But according to numbers obtained from other local authorities, including police and district governors, the deaths add up – with three people drowned in Poipet, three in Serei Sophoan, three in Ou’chrov district, two in Phnom Srok district and two in Mong Kulborei district for a total of 13 people. …
Meanwhile, the flooding in Banteay Meanchey that forced 5,000 families to be evacuated and inundated 41,000 hectares of paddy fields, is on the rise again after subsiding early last week.
A total of 11 people have now died due to flooding in the country since mid-September, while the worst affected area, Banteay Meanchey province, continued to suffer amid torrential rain on Thursday night, government officials said on Friday. …
Keo Vy, deputy director of information at the National Committee for Disaster Management, said that 11 people have died in Banteay Meanchey, Kompong Thom and Siem Reap due to flooding and 47,000 hectares of rice paddy, and more than 2,000 hectares of other crops have been damaged. …
Cambodia is trying to attract foreign investors with manufacturing bases in neighbouring countries, with promises their factories would be safer from flooding.
The Phnom Penh Post reported that Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh is appealing to foreign investors with production bases in neighbouring countries, particularly Thailand, to expand into Cambodia because their factories would be less vulnerable to flooding…
Hiroshi Suzuki, CEO of Business Research Institute for Cambodia (BRIC), agreed that floods did not have a severe affect on Cambodia compared to neighbouring countries…
More than 100 families were evacuated to higher ground in Banteay Meanchey province’s Serei Saophoan City yesterday, as Prime Minister Hun Sen urged people to be vigilant in the face of continued flooding. …
After heavy rain last night, 100 more people from Serei Saophan City had to be evacuated, taking the total number of families evacuated from the town to 433, according to Orm Reatrey, Serei Saophan governor. “We have requested more emergency supplies from the Cambodian Red Cross,” Mr. Reatrey added.
Poipet City and O’Chrou district were also badly hit by flooding over the past week, but floodwaters there are now receding and evacuees are starting to return home. …
Serei Saophan City has become the latest area in Banteay Meanchey province to be hit by floods, with more than 300 families evacuated to higher ground yesterday, according to provincial officials. …
Banteay Meanchey provincial prison has also been affected by the flooding, with some parts of the jail 20 cm deep in water, according to Hin Sophal, the prison’s director. …
There have been five deaths since the floods started a week ago. In O’Chrou and Popet City-the worst hit areas-floodwaters are receding and some of the more than 4,000 evacuated families are beginning to return home.
Floodwaters appeared to be receding in Banteay Meanchey province yesterday, after almost a week of heavy rains saw several communes inundated and over 4,000 families evacuated, provincial authorities said.
“The situation is now under control,” said Ngor Mengchroun, governor of Poipet City-one of the worst hit areas. “Some families have returned home although most of them are still staying in temporary shelters because their homes are full of remaining water and mud,” he said. …
“We reopened [ the Poipet International Checkpoint on the Thai border] Saturday when the water had receded, and we didn’t have to worry about damage to the road,” he said. …
More than 3,100 families have now been evacuated from their homes as flooding spreads in Banteay Meanchey province, the deputy head of the National Committee for Disaster Managment (NCDM) said yesterday.
About 3,000 of those families have been evacuated from Poipet City alone, and another 148 from O’Chrou district, according to Nhim Vanda, NCDM vice president, who is currently visiting the affected area. …
Poipet International Checkpoint has been closed due to flooding, which means imports and exports have been halted, Thong Thyna, director of the provincial commerce department, said yesterday. …
The closure would affect villagers’ livelihoods but should not result in a rise in the price of goods, Mr. Thyna added. …
Three people have drowned and more than 3,000 have been evacuated since flash flooding struck a trio of provinces late last week.
Yesterday, the Cambodian Red Cross said it was mobilising aid and planned to have packages of rice, canned fish, noodles and other materials in the hands of 2,340 families, mostly in Banteay Meanchey, by this weekend. …
Ten of the 11 villages in his commune were flooded, Suong said, with 126 families forced to leave their homes. …
Hundreds of families in Banteay Meanchey province were evacuated from their homes yesterday due to severe flooding, with authorities warning that more than 1,000 additional families may have to be rescued if torrential rains continue as expected over the course of next week.
The rains that have hit Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province and caused the flooding along the Cambodian border are predicted to continue over the next four to five days, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said in a statement yesterday, warning provincial authorities to move people threatened by floodwaters to higher ground. …
The Cambodian Red Cross has already provided 700 tents for the 500 evacuated families, according to Mr. Oeun [Banteay Meanchey provincial governor], who added that he had requested more emergency supplies in case of further evacuations. …
The government warned residents of 14 provinces yesterday to take precautions against possible flash floods caused by heavy rain, while the homes of almost 1,000 families have already been flooded in Banteay Meanchey province.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a statement yesterday calling on authorities in Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Kompong Thom, Kompong Speu, Takeo, Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Kampot provinces to be prepared for possible flooding, caused by an atmospheric low pressure system which will last until Sunday. …
Amid flooding caused by heavy rain in Thailand, Banteay Meanchey provincial officials have commissioned the construction of a steel bridge over an inundated section of road on the outskirts of Poipet City, officials said yesterday. …
Flooding in Preah Vihear province, which started last week following heavy rain in the Dangrek Mountains, has now affected 85 hectares of rice paddy, 276 homes and 336 families living on the outskirts of Preah Vihear City, provincial governor Oum Mara said yesterday. …
More than 250 families in Preah Vihear province’s Preah Vihear City were evacuated from their homes yesterday and moved to higher ground due to flooding caused by persistent heavy rains that started last week, the provincial governor said.
Preah Vihear Governor Oum Mara siad that the rains, which began on September 1 and lasted six days, had flooded or completely destroyed more than 100 meters of National Road 9 and may entrap residents of Palhal and Kompong Branak communes if rain continues. …
