The construction of a processing plant for yellow vine in Koh Kong’s Thma Bang district has been halted after a directive issued by the Ministry of Environment last Thursday ordered the factory be shut down less than a week after it was discovered by student activists.

“The ministry would like the provincial governor to stop the construction immediately, and to lead a team to investigate the case and take action according to the law,” reads the directive, signed by Environment Minister Say Sam Al, while confirming that yellow vine processing is strictly prohibited in the Kingdom because of its negative effects on the environment.

District police chief Tou Savuth said he had visited the Chinese company in Russey Chrum commune – identified as Jinyian Huanglian Co Ltd – to demand it cease operations after receiving an order from the provincial governor.

“The company has now taken everything out, except things that were pre-installed such as the metal bars and ponds,” he said. “I told the company [to stop operations]. They just agreed and didn’t resist.”

Contact details for the company could not be obtained yesterday.