Tatay hit back at claims by 4 Rivers

CAMBODIAN Tatay Hydropower Limited on Wednesday refuted claims by the owner of the 4 Rivers Floating Lodge in Koh Kong that the company’s release of water from the dam had cause 12 lodges to be destroyed.

In a statement, the company sa id since t he beginning of July this year, the coastal areas of Cambodia have been a f fected by t he sout hwest monsoon cl i mate a nd low pressure effect.

The seven provinces in Koh Kong and Sihanouk had suffered heav y rains and severe f lood disasters. The rainfall in t he Preat watershed is t he largest since record began.

The 4 Rivers Floating Lodge, located in the downstream of the Preat River, was bound to be affected by the torrentia l rains, the interval torrents and t he f lood pea k s of severa l upstream rivers.

The flood peak from the upstream of Tatay Reservoir was intercepted by the Tatay Hydropower Station, while the flood peaks of other upstream rivers directly impact the downstream river.

During heav y ra infa ll, t he Tatay Hydropower Stat ion intercepted f lood peaks, effect ively stoppi ng it f rom t he upstream of Tatay Reser voir a nd minimising t he losses caused by f loods to the downstream rivers, it said.

‘Great sympathy’

It said the 4 Rivers claimed the time of the damage was in the early morning of July 17, which was ea rlier t han t he water discharge of the Tatay hydropower station.

T he d i scha rge f rom t he Tatay hydropower station, it said was ver y little, and would not cause any damage to the property, while the discharge f low rate of the Tatay Hydropower Station on the same day was only 461m3/s, which was much lower t ha n t he d i scharge f low rate required to issue warning information.

In summar y, it sa id t he 4 R i v e r s s u f f e r e d f l o o d i ng mainly caused by the interval torrents, torrential rains and f lood peaks in upstream rivers except the Tatay River.

Second, the 4 Rivers damage time claimed was earlier than t he a r r iva l t i me of t he discha r ge f low of t he Tat ay Hydropower Stat ion. Third, the Cambodian government issued a severe weather warning ever y day during heav y rainfall.

Fourth, in this f loods disaster, the Tatay Hydropower Station played an effective role in intercepting f loods, reducing the losses caused by f loods to downstream rivers.

It sa id Ca mbodia n Tatay Hydropower attaches g reat importance to social responsibility in Cambodia, and has the greatest sympathy for the a f fected people duri ng t he heav y rainfall process.