Fresh water for relocation sites

By May Titthara

The Phnom Penh Post

Potable water will finally be available to 5,000 families living at three relocation sites on the outskirts of Phnom Penh through a World Bank-funded project to bring clean water to the poor.

Ek Sun Can, director general of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, said the US$400,000 project will extend water supply pipes to Kraing Angran, Traipang Thloueng and Damnak Trayeung villages, bringing affordable, clean water to their homes.

“When they get clean water for use, the villagers will be healthy, their children will have time to go to school, they will not go to get water far from their home, and they will also not pay a lot of money,” Ek Sun Can said.

The villages, formed following mass evictions from the city to make way for new developments, have limited access to basic services and infrastructure.

Inhabitants of the three villages now rely on regular deliveries of water brought in by a private company that charges 3,000 riel (about $0.75) per cubic metre of water.

Those who cannot afford such an expense gather polluted water from nearby water catchments.

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