Flooding from dam washes out homes, rice fields in southern Cambodia
Local government officials in a southern Cambodian province failed to evacuate villagers in time to prevent their homes and rice fields from flooding after the operators of a Chinese-built hydropower dam informed them a day earlier that they would open the facility’s gates to release excess water from heavy rains, an official said on 16 September.
The operator of the Kamchay Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Kamchay River in Kampot province had informed local authorities on 15 September to prepare for flooding because it had to open the floodgates of the facility’s dam, said Chhouk district governor Ouk Lay.
“The company had informed us to evacuate villagers to a safe zone,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service.
