Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Inspections carried out in fishery deaths

Inspections carried out in fishery deaths

Fish farmer Pheam Yousef, 38, explains how half his approximately 4,000 fish died, allegedly from wastewater polluting the Bassac River.
Fish farmer Pheam Yousef, 38, explains how half his approximately 4,000 fish died, allegedly from wastewater polluting the Bassac River. Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

Inspections carried out in fishery deaths

Since early March, the water of the Bassac River in Kandal’s Sa’ang district has been turning black for days at a time, residents say, decimating local fish farms and leading to an inspection of three nearby factories on Wednesday by local authorities.

“The water would turn black and the fish would die,” said Tiet Saly, 38, a fish farmer in the predominantly Cham village of Boren Krom in Svay Brateal commune.

Saly began the season with 2,500 fish in his cages. At first, just a few died or grew ill, when they stopped eating and growing. But as more died – at one point 50 or 60 at once – he decided to cut his losses months before the usual selling period in July.

“I sold off the rest of my fish, but some families lost hundreds of fish,” he said.

Pheam Yousef, 38, was one of the less fortunate of the 20 or so fish farming families in the village.

Of his stock of 4,000 local catfish and Spanish tilapia, he lost about half, with deaths spiking last week, at which point villagers voiced their grievances with local authorities.

District Governor Nhem Vandin said that fisheries officials and commune authorities carried out inspections on Wednesday morning, but he has yet to receive a report on their findings.

Kan Penh, the district Fisheries Administration chief, said all five points where wastewater was flowing into the river were inspected. It was found that local communal drainage pipes were being used by three factories as well as local villagers, with untreated wastewater going into the river.

“For the factories we ordered them to change their sewage discharge and they promised to correct the problem,” he said.

Officials declined to name the factories in question but The Post identified one as the Taiwanese-owned He Gia Yuan Co Ltd garment factory. A representative hung up on reporters on Wednesday.

In Sitbou commune, across the river, commune authorities say that storm drainage pipes had been “pirated” by local residents, who connected their sewage to them, according to Commune Chief Um Leng.

“I call upon people to make septic tanks, and when they are full, call the sewage trucks to pump it out,” he said. “People need to change their behaviour. I don’t think they understand about the polluted environment.”

Yousef and the other families affected are hopeful the inspection will curb the pollution and possibly secure compensation for farmers.

“I lost 4 million riel [about $1,000] of fish . . . I hope it will be better and the factories keep their promise,” he said.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • PM urges end to ‘baseless’ international Ream base accusations

    Prime Minister Hun Sen urges an end to “baseless” foreign accusations surrounding the development of the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base, as the US has consistently suggested that the base is being expanded to accommodate a Chinese military presence. Hun Sen renewed his calls while

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to