Water woes

Officials in Kampong Cham province’s Chamkar Leu district have asked the district governor to investigate a complaint that a privately owned power plant contaminated wells in a  village with engine oil.

Bos Khnor commune chief Kim Khuon said he sent a complaint, filed by about 40 families in the commune’s Ten Makara village last week, to the district governor’s office.

The complaint asked that environment officials inspect 10 wells after residents accused the Bos Khnor electric power plant of pouring engine oil from generators into soil,  contaminating well water.

“Oil from machines flowed along channels into our relatives’ wells, and children that dived into the water developed rashes,” Kim Khuon said.

He said district governor Kim Nuth Nithya wanted authorities to investigate the complaint.

Ha Srey, 35, a villager in Bos Khnor commune, said yesterday she had stopped using water from the wells about three months ago because it was causing a skin rash.

Representatives from the Bos Khnor electric power plant and district governor Kim Nuth Nithya could not be reached.