Kamchay Dam Claims Not Behind Kampot Flood

Kamchay Dam Claims Not Behind Kampot Flood

Khmer Times/Chea Vannak

Thursday, 19 November 2015

The 194-megawatt, $280-million Kamchay Hydroelectric Power Plant over Kamchay River in Kampot province. KT / Chea Vannak

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School of Vice: Yet another denial of accountability?

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KAMPOT (Khmer Times) –The Chinese company that operates the hydroelectric power plant on the Kamchay River in Kampot province yesterday denied that a decision to open the dam’s gates during a recent storm was the cause of severe flooding in the area.

Zheng Yong, General Manager Assistant of the Sinohydro Kamchay Hydroelectric plant, told Khmer Times yesterday that since the dam began operations in 2012 it has never caused any problems for people living downstream.

In August this year, a flash flood hit people and rice fields. Critics said the flood occurred because the damn released water after heavy rains. The dam has a capacity of 700 million cubic meters.

Mr. Zheng said that the release of the water was at the order of the Cambodian electricity authority (EDC), which wanted an increase in power production.

Kul Sokha, deputy director of the Mines and Energy Department in Kampot, said he does not think the flooding was cause by the release of water from the dam. “It was a seasonal flood,” Mr. Sokha said.

“As you know, Kampot province is always flooded,” Mr. Sokha said, adding that since the dam’s construction flooding had decreased.

Mr. Zheng said: “We help people downstream to avoid facing floods. And we keep water sustainable for them to farm.”

The Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Kamchay Dam was constructed by the Sinohydro Kampchay Hydroelectric Project, a local subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned hydro ower engineering and construction company Sinohydro Corp. It supplies electricity to Kampot province, Preah Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh.

But some nearby residents say the dam has had a negative impact.

Cambodia has six hydropower dams in four provinces – Koh Kong, Pursat, Kampong Speu and Kampot – supplying 62 percent of national electricity production. The country still imports electricity from Vietnam and Thailand.

At a presentation to 45 electrical engineering students from three universities during a two-day study tour to the Kamchay Dam on Wednesday, Ministry of Mines and Energy officials said Cambodia’s dams would increase to seven after the Lower Se San II dam construction finishes in 2017.