B Meanchey villagers protest against pumping of water from drying pond
MORE t han 20 families from Thma Puok district’s Phoum Thmey commune in Banteay Meanchey province have expressed t heir objection to a request made by a loca l drink ing water company to pump water from a dr ying communal pond. They alleged that the firm had failed to live up to its promise.
The company, Mey Kimsok – named after its owner who is a lso the manager, made a contract with the community t hree years ago, agreeing to conser ve the reser voir by closing the dam and excavating the water body to increase its depth and maintain water supply, district governor Dieb Chhuoun told The Post on Sunday.
However, the company denied ever making a written contract with the community. “We just had verbal communications with them when we started our business,” Mey Kimsok himself explained.
“The company has already placed a [pump] hose [in the pond], which is why the residents protested. They did not a llow the company to ta ke water out of t here,” Chhoun said, noting t hat he had a meeting with the families one day earlier, during which they opposed t he firm’s request.
Follow ing the protest, Chhoun said, he inspected the site and ordered the company to stop pumping water from the reser voir which used to measure 100m x 100m and is six metres deep.
“But now the depth of the pond has decreased to 1.50m, with some parts even measuring only half a metre deep,” Chhoun said, adding that up to 800 families had used t he reser voir.
Phoum Thmey commune chief Bun Veasna told The Post that his team had never issued any letter to a llow the firm to carr y out wit h its intention.
“The families still protested even though the hose was placed far away from the reservoir,” he said.
Veasna said Mey Kimsok had set up the dev ice to anticipate for when their request to pump water would be approved.
“But since no solution has been reached, the company agreed it would retract t he hose of f t he reser voir.”
Kimsok said the pond had never dried out before and that he promised to carry out an excavation.
“When it began to dr y out, our [water] supply became insufficient. Therefore, we went to the commune and district chief to coordinate wit h t he residents to find out whether or not pumping water was t he right t hing to do. If it is not right, we would just find a way to dig a well,” he said.