CONSTRUCTION has begun on a water pump at Kob Srov, in Russey Keo district, in a bid to ease seasonal flooding in the city’s north, Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said Monday.

“We expect Kob Srov’s water pump to be completed in September or October next year,” he said during an inauguration ceremony, adding that the pump will cost around US$4 million to build.

Mao Bun Thoeun, deputy director of the Municipal Department of Water Resources, said that the water pump is equipped with 5-meter-high dynamos and will be able to drain 90 million cubic metres of water during the annual wet season.

Lom Seng, 77, a villager from Lor Kambor village in Russey Keo’s Svay Pak commune, applauded the construction of the pump, saying that every year between August and November his home and others in his neighbourhood were flooded because of the lack of a functioning drainage system.

Nhem Sau, 26, a villager from Tuol Sangke commune, said he and his family were forced to abandon their house each wet season because of the rising waters.

“I don’t know if my house will get flooded again, but I believe that the Kob Srov water pump will help to solve the problem,” he said.

Every year, thousands of people living in the northern districts of the city are forced to move and find shelter at relatives’ homes to escape often-severe flooding.

Five men died earlier this year from electrocution as they tried to leave their flooded homes in Russey Keo’s Klaing Saing village.