Official shares locals’ concerns of dredging
The appearance of an excavator, machine parts and metal structures on islands in the Tatai River in Koh Kong province has aroused suspicions among local conservationists that a company intends to launch a sand-dredging operation in the Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary – a suspicion shared by a Ministry of Mines and Energy official. On Friday March 3, Mother Nature activist Lim Kimsor photographed metallic structures being erected on Koh Smach Island, along with large metal objects that resemble machine parts. “We just saw the machinery but no activity yet,” Kimsor said yesterday. “But we are worried about that.” Leak Sopheap, a community leader from nearby Koh Srolav village, said that representatives of a consulting company called CES Co, Ltd visited the village to interview locals about their lives and their dependence on local fisheries.
