Khouth Sophakchakrya
The government has yet to release the results of toxicity tests
conducted in the area of a chemical spill in Kandal province that killed
thousands of fish in late August.
The MH Bio-Energy Group, which was responsible for the spill, has
offered affected villagers compensation, however, giving a total of
US$700,000 to 53 fishing families in the villages of Doung and Krous.
"The people are very happy to have received the compensation from the
factory, and they hope that they will reopen their fisheries soon," Seng
Thim, director of Bassac fisheries, said Wednesday.
Local fishermen, however, said the company's compensation was not enough
to assuage their concerns about the spill.
Meas Saron, 41, a fisherman in Doung village who received $700 in
compensation, said that he was grateful for the money but anxious to get
the government test results.
"We are still concerned about the water and its effects on health
because authorities warned us not to use the river until test results
are released.
At this point, we have yet to see these results," he said.
Sixty-five year old Lam Yiang Try, who lost more than 500 kilograms of
fish in the spill, said that he wants to use the compensation money to
buy and raise new fish but is awaiting the test results first before he
does so.
"For now, we are afraid of reopening our commercial fish farms," he said.
Chao Bun Thong, chief of Duong village, said that after the spill,
authorities from the Fisheries Administration said the water contained
high levels of ammonia and other chemicals that are dangerous to human
health.
"We are concerned as to when the water will become normal again and no
longer be a threat to our health," he said.
Lonh Hell, director of the Department of Pollution Control at the
Ministry of Environment, declined to comment on the test results
Wednesday. "If you want to interview me or view the laboratory results,
please write an official letter to my senior minister first," he said.
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