Japan Loans $92 to Expand Water Services in siem Reap City

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday it is preparing to make a $92 million concessional loan to Cambodia for expanding water services in Siem Reap city by constructing a new treatment plant. Japanese Embassy First Secretary Shinichi Tamamitsu said the new plant is expected to be completed in 2018 and would produce 60,000 cubic meters of clean water per day from the Tonle Sap lake.

“This is the first facility which takes water from the Tonle Sap lake,” Mr. Tamamitsu said, adding that the current water supply to Siem Reap from underground wells was not enough to meet the city’s growing population. Sorm Sothea, director of Siem Reap Provincial Water Authority, said that in addition to the city’s current water supply of 9,000 cubic meters per day, another 17,000 cubic meters of water was needed to meet demand. “But from 2019 to 2030, we’ll need 60,000[cubic meters of water per day],” Mr. Sothea said. He added that the increasing numbers of tourists visiting Siem Reap city was contributing to the water shortage and had resulted in the government’s requesting a loan from the official aid arm of the Japanese government. “Local people and tourism increase, so the provincial water authority cannot provide enough water,” he said. According to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism, 647,028 tourists flew into Siem Reap in the first 10 months of the year, compared to 557, 145 for the same period last year. Clean running water in Siem Reap city is currently reaching 40,000 families, up from 25,000 families five years ago, according to Siem Reap city governor Tep Bun Chhay, Construction on the new treatment plant is due to start in 2013.