Plague proportions of flies have been swarming Kandal province’s Thmey village lately to the point that resident Po Lin said he needs a mosquito net to eat his meals.

Otherwise, he claimed, the unwelcome insects will land on the food in packs.

“A week ago, some children in the village and my son got diarrhoea because they ate food without avoiding the flies,” he said, shooing away flies in mid-conversation. 

Along with thousands of people in three other villages in Kampong and Kandal provinces, Lin believes that an unsanitary local chicken farm is a breeding ground for the horde of winged pests.

The three-year-old farm is owned by Prak Kola, a Ministry of Interior official, according to Svay Song, the Oknha Tep village chief in Kampong Speu province.

Song told the Post yesterday that he and local environmental officials inspected the chicken farm after villagers began plans to petition the provincial governor.

While at the location, he said that flies stuck to his clothes “like honey”.

The representative promised to clean up the operation.

The owner could not be reached for comment yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mom Kunthear at [email protected]