Time is running out for 300 hectares of rice fields in the Baray district of Kampong Thom facing water shortages from a poorly repaired canal, according to affected villagers.

The Ministry of Water Re­­sour­ces took two years to restore the more than 30 kilometre-long canal with help from priv­ate donors, completing con­struc­tion in January.

Lim Phal­la, the deputy district governor in Baray district, said the water shortage was not caused by the canal, but the lack of initiative from villagers to in­­stal pumps that will route the water to crops.

“It is not due to the construction, but the resid­ents,” said Phalla.

Villagers in the Baray district are calling for assistance from the gov­­ernment because they can­not afford the expensive equip­ment to pump the water into their rice fields.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phak Seangly at [email protected]