City Officials ‘Don’t Know’ of Sewage Concerns Despite Arrests Over Issue

Authorities stopped environmentalists investigating sewage flows into Phnom Penh rivers a year ago, jailing them for plotting. But black, foul-smelling discharges are continuing even as city officials said this week that they were unaware of a problem.

In the past week, reporters have observed apparent sewage flowing into the Tonle Sap river in central Phnom Penh, as well as cloudy discharge draining into the Mekong from underneath a Koh Pich cement plant.

The first site, near Wat Ounalom, is where three Mother Nature environmentalists Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth and Yim Leanghy were arrested last June while collecting water testing samples. They were later charged with plotting, as the Interior Ministry alleged their environmentalism was only a front for criticizing and trying to change the government.

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