SEZ polluting Bavet canal, villagers say
Thu, 4 August 2016
Kong Meta and Ananth Baliga

Villagers living along a canal in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet town say its water has been polluted by untreated discharge from the nearby Manhattan Special Economic Zone (SEZ), rendering it unusable.

Three communes live along the Tapov canal – Bati, Prasat and Bavet – with villagers from the first two saying that they have complained about the pollution since 2015 and that the quality of the water has continued to decline and the smell is unbearable.

Bati’s commune chief, Chan Sarun, said the villagers had complained to him multiple times, and while Manhattan SEZ administrators said they would build a water treatment facility he was yet to see any improvement.

“We know of cows that have died after drinking the dirty water and we can no longer find fish in the water,” he said, adding that many villagers have left the area because the smell was too noxious...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/s ... lagers-say

Surprise surprise...

It is confirmed that most of the wastewater - in fact 70% - from the Bavet SEZ is not treated at all but is dumped straight into the canal.

Bavet SEZ unequipped to treat its wastewater: ministry
The industrial park in Bavet town has been at the centre of complaints from villagers, who accuse the firm of discharging untreated water into a canal they use.

Chea Sina, director at the ministry’s provincial office, said an inspection of the treatment plant found it could not process the more than 10,000 cubic metres of polluted water released every day by factories.

The inspection also showed that most of the wastewater had no way of getting to the treatment facility and was instead being dumped directly into the surroundings.

“We have seen that only 30 per cent of the waste reached their treatment facility, while 70 per cent was entering the canal,” Sina said.

On August 23, the industrial park was sent a letter ordering that all wastewater be treated, and stating that a second facility was needed. The company told the ministry it would be built by December...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/b ... r-ministry

A memorable quote from the head of the provincial environment department, which is presumably responsible for taking care of the environment:

Koeut Saroeurn, head of the provincial environment department, said the canal had been polluted by Manhattan, but it was not as badly as locals claimed.
“We know the water is polluted in that canal, but it is not as bad as other lakes, like Boeung Tompun [in Phnom Penh],” Saroeurn said.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/s ... lagers-say

So that's all right, then... I guess the guy's boss has an interest in the SEZ so he can't say anything.

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