Cambodia can expect a slow start to this year’s monsoon, with heavier rainfall expected only in the second half of the rainy season, according to a Ministry of Meteorology prediction released yesterday.

Set to kick off in the second week of May, the monsoon will be subdued till August, after which it will reach medium-to-high amounts of rainfall, the notification reads.

Chan Yutha, spokesman for the Ministry of Water and Meteorology, said that while low rainfall early on could cause a shortage of water, the bigger concern was the rice planting season, which usually begins in May.

He added that there are currently 15,000 households across 48 villages and communes affected by water shortage.