After a series of claims on social media that a private individual was filling in parts of the Sangke River, the Battambang Provincial Administration confirmed that the owner of the land had agreed to remove the soil and the structure, a veranda, that he had reportedly built.

The administration issued a June 24 clarification that the removal work would begin immediately.

On June 23, the provincial governor assigned officials to inspect the property. Later that day, he convened a meeting and it was determined that the owner had not encroached on the river, and that the riverbank had not been permanently impeded. The property owner had used soil to allow for the bank to be built, and this would have to be removed, however.

The owner had agreed to excavate the soil to restore it to the original state before the river rises this rainy season.

“The property owner also offered to demolish a veranda he had built on the riverbank, as the pillars used to support it may affect the river currents or trap floating debris. We accepted his offer, and the verandas will be demolished,” it said.