Briefs: Poipet Border Reopens, Water Plant Coming to Thirsty Borey

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Poipet border checkpoint. (Danielle Keeton-Olsen/VOD)
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Travelers with vaccines and proper identification can cross into Thailand via the Poipet International Border Gate as of Sunday.

Banteay Meanchey deputy provincial governor Ngor Mengchruon told VOD on Friday that Cambodians could cross the land border in Poipet if they had passports, a border pass issued by border authorities, and proof of Covid-19 vaccination.

The international border gate in Thailand has been officially closed for more than two years, though migrant workers fled from Thailand during Covid-19 outbreaks last year, and Thailand reopened most other border posts last August. The Poipet border was open for shipments of goods amid pandemic restrictions but not for individual travel.

Thailand’s Center for Disease Control last week allowed foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated to enter the country without having to take a Covid-19 test upon arrival or a brief stay in quarantine, but they still need to apply through the Thailand Pass system before entry.

— Seng Thai

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority Building Water Tank for Dry Borey

The Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority claimed it will have a clean drinking water plant ready by next year for residents of a Borey Piphup Thmey property whose residents say temporary water tanks are not enough to quench their thirst.

In a statement on Thursday, the city water authority said it was constructing a water plant in Chroy Changva district’s Bak Kheng commune that could add another 400,000 cubic meters per day of clean water onto the 600,000 cubic meters produced in the city now. The new plant would help ease water shortages in the borey property Piphup Thmey 2 in Pur Senchey district, it said, but PPWSA had been providing water tanks for residents in the meantime.

The authority blamed the pressure on water resources on an increase in residents in Phnom Penh and Takhmao cities, as well as a growth in business activity after the break during Covid-19.

Teang Layleakhena, a resident of Borey Piphup Thmey 2 for more than three years, said she has had a harder time getting consistent water since last year, when more residents moved in. She estimated the property, of more than 4,000 houses, is 60% to 70% occupied. 

She said the water tanks from PPWSA were not enough to fill people’s needs.

“Like [my house], it is far from the tank. … We do not know until we ride to the tank to know if the tank has water or not,” she said. “If you see water coming, hurry to get it, otherwise you will not be able to get it. There is no water to use.”

Listings for sale in the Pur Senchey district property range from $59,000 to $165,000, according to the real estate website Zillionhome.

— Pa Sokheng

Kampucheaniyum Alleges Phnom Penh Commune Chief Blocking Billboard

The Kampucheaniyum Party has alleged that CPP commune officials in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district are preventing them from erecting a party billboard, and have filed a complaint to the Interior Ministry.

The party said it sent a letter to the Ministry of Interior on April 20 alleging that Phnom Penh commune officials were preventing it from erecting a billboard, to which a ministry spokesperson said there was no need to seek permission for these activities.

Kampucheaniyum officials in Phnom Penh sent a letter to CPP commune authorities informing them about erecting a party billboard on April 8 in Dangkao’s Roluos commune, according to the April 20 letter. But commune officials denied them permission saying it was a public space and that the ruling CPP already had a billboard there, the letter says.

The party alleged discrimination and that officials were being partisan. Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak said he had not seen the letter but that parties did not need permission to put up banners.

Ouk Y, a Kampucheaniyum Party candidate in Roluos, said the party had suggested 11 different locations for the billboard, all of which already had CPP banners.

Koeb Horn, Roluos commune chief, could not be reached for comment, and commune clerk Chhom Darada only said he had already sent the letter to the commune head.

— Morm Moniroth

This story was updated at 6:11 p.m. with a third brief about Kampucheaniyum Party.

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