Vietnam Dam Not Affecting Water Quality - Minister

PHNOM PENH - A hydropower plant in Vietnam  has not affected water  quality in the SeSan river, which villagers in Cambodia's Rattanakiri  province have blamed for intestinal and skin infections, Foreign  Minister Hor Namhong wrote in an letter to Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker  Son Chhay in April.

The  Mekong River Commission's cooperation with the National  Mekong committees of Cambodia and Vietnam to observe and test water  samples in the dry and rainy seasons for one year show that there is  no remarkable change of water quality, he wrote.

But both Hor Namhon's letter and an attached report by the  Cambodia National Mekong Committee acknowledge that many problems are  caused by wildly fluctuating water level in the river.

“We recognise that the water level changes irregularly everyday  by one to one-point-five metres, causing danger to human lives and  animals and
destroying Cambodia’s crops, especially in Stung Treng and Rattanakiri
province,” Hor Namhong wrote.

Son Chhay, who is requesting an independent investigation and a  visit to Vietnam’s 720- megawatt Yali Falls Dam in his new position  as Chairman of then National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee,  said tests on the river water were thus far inconclusive.

The Cambodia National Mekong Committee report attached to Hor  Namhong’s letter states that the committee lacks the proper fund and  scientific data to make any conclusions.

Kim Sangha, coordinator of the NGO SeSan River Protection  Network, said the water quality could be fine one day and turbid the  next, and that he suspected the samples were taken only on clean  water days. He also said he supported calls for an inspection across  the border in Vietnam.

   “If we could take samples of the water stored at the Yali Dam, we  could reveal how bad it is,” he said.

   Long Saravuth, deputy director of the Ministry of Water Resources’
hydrology department, said that year-long study with monthly water  from the river showed that it was safe. (The Cambodia Daily, Apr. 11,  2006)