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CHONG KNEAS, CAMBODIA ****

A study by Ian Fox

(Continued from yesterday)

Chong Kneas is different in that the villagers want to move. The challenge to the Government and its international development partners is to ensure that villagers are treated equitably and, in addition to an improved physical quality of life, have equal or greater earning opportunities.

More Fulfilling Lives

Current thinking on flooding, whether it be an annual occurrence like that of the Tonle Sap Lake, or an unpredictable result of extreme weather, is toward management rather than control.

Historically, the reverse was true. Floods have largely been considered a threat and much money has been spent building costly barriers to keep water inside river channels and out of the way of people and infrastructure. In large urban areas, there is a lot to be said for this approach. But too often these large structural barriers have made the lives of the poor harder, interfering with the ecosystems of wetlands and introducing new risks associated with failure of the high flood protection barriers themselves, often resulting in death and destruction.

At Chong Kneas, the options being considered to improve the welfare of inhabitants of floating villages are likely to involve a more modest, but practical civil engineering solution. Studies currently under way suggest that a new and wider channel should be excavated from the edge of Lake Tonle Sap to the foot of Phnom Kraom, the rocky hill that rises some 140 meters above the otherwise flat terrain. At the end of the channel, proper boat landing and cargo handling facilities with year-round access will be built to accommodate passenger and cargo boats as well as the fishing boats of the former floating villages.

All of the earth excavated for the channel and boat landing area would be used to build an extensive “platform” beside the existing hill. This could be the permanent site of the Chong Kneas community, with land allocated for houses and services such as water supply, sanitation, waste collection, electricity, schools, clinics, markets, and administrative buildings. No longer would children have to drink directly from water beside their boats — water that is a little better than untreated sewage in the dry season. Infant mortality and the high incidence of disease should be greatly reduced. Proper schooling and a host of social services previously denied to the villagers will help them live more fulfilling lives. While fishing will remain their preferred source of income, other employment opportunities associated with fish processing, the new landing facilities, and tourism will all open up to the villagers.

(To be continued)



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