Ethanol Manufacturing Banned after over 23 Tons of Fish Found Dead

Written by DAP NEWS
Tuesday, 01 September 2009

The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) announced on Monday it would temporarily ban the production of ethanol after byproducts drained from a factory into river, a MIME officer said.

MIME officers made the announ- cement with a letter signed by MIME Secretary of State of Minister Ith Praing.

Over the past few days, many fish have died, said locals, mystifying everyone in the area. One fish farmer claimed that 20 tons of fish were found dead in the river on Sunday. Around 23.4 tons of fish have been found dead in 37 fish farms, an official said. A team inspectors from the Administrative Fishery Committee headed by Khlaing Van Thol has already headed to the affected area, though an official report obtained by DAP News Cambodia claimed that “There was no source or evidence clearly yet.”

“We will investigate on this case, but near a pump into the river, we saw a black line spread out and our member took samples of that dirty water,” said Khlaing Van Thol.

The fish farmer complained that the remaining fish would be at risk unless something was doe about pollution levels.