Scores of indigenous ethnic Phnorng residents of four villages in east Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province have fallen ill after drinking contaminated water, a representative said Tuesday, as the death toll from a similar incident in neighboring Kratie province increased to 18.
Prap Chuob, a Phnorng resident of Chak Char village, in Keo Seima district’s Sre Chhouk commune, told RFA’s Khmer Service that at least 80 people in his and three other villages recently became sick last week after consuming water from a stream passing through the area that had long been used for drinking.
“Those who are short of resources tried to boil tree bark as [a kind of traditional treatment],” he said, adding that, “in general, they are all facing severe hardship.” Prap Chuob said that villagers are now afraid to use the stream for drinking water, and have no other source of water because there are no water wells, other than a limestone well, which he said is “difficult to use.” “The villagers traditionally raise cattle, and their lives have become very difficult because of the water contamination,” he said.
According to Prap Chuob, the contamination was caused by a Chinese mining company that had been drilling upstream near the water source.
The stream network connects Ter creek to Kratie province’s Cheth Borey district, where the death toll from a river pollution incident that sickened more than 200 people in two villages earlier this month reached 18 on Tuesday.
‘Influenza epidemic’ Sre Chhouk commune chief Te Khit on Tuesday denied that residents were sickened by contaminated water, and said that an investigation conducted by provincial authorities and officials from Cambodia’s Ministry of Health had found that the 80 were suffering from “influenza.” Most of the 46 villagers who sought medical treatment at the hospital have already returned home, he added, while authorities have educated residents about proper water sanitation techniques and donated pure drinking water to area families.
“If it is the result of waste dumping or the use of chemical substances as part of mining operations, the ministry must take stringent and urgent measures,” he said.
Last week, villagers hospitalized after drinking water taken from the polluted river began to return home, with many expressing concern that clean water distributed by authorities may soon run out, leaving them again dependent on a contaminated source.
U.S.-based advocacy group Water.org found that around four million Cambodians lack access to clean water, while some six million others lack access to proper sanitation and hygiene.
Written in English by Joshua Lipes.