A HEALTH centre built to service a remote village in Stung Treng province has been sitting empty and unused since its opening almost 15 years ago, villagers said Tuesday.

The health centre in Chrok village, Sesan district, has been closed ever since it was built in 1995, residents said: no staff, no medicine and no service.

“Villagers wonder why the authorities even built this health centre, if there are to be no services at all,” said resident Moeng Vuthy, whose village has 200 residents.

The continuing lack of services forces residents to make costly and time-consuming trips when they are ill. The closest operational health centre is nearly 55 kilometres away, Moeng Vuthy said.

Provincial Governor Loy Sophat said he believed the villagers’ claims and that he would order an investigation of the health centre.

Health Minister Mom Bun Heng also pledged to address the issue. “We recognise that some places in Cambodia still do not have enough health services,” he said.