Boats seized in dredging crackdown

More than 100 sand-pumping systems and 40 boats have been impounded by the Kandal provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology in order to prevent riverbank collapse as water levels continue to rise.

Chun Penglong, the provincial department director, told the Post yesterday that navy police and the sand management control department spent two days confiscating machines and boats believed to be unlicensed.

When done properly and in approved areas, river dredging has no impact, Penglong said, but those running unlicensed pumps often set up in shallow areas, destabilising the riverbank.

Several riverbanks in Phnom Penh and Kandal have collapsed in recent years, with residents frequently pointing to rampant sand dredging in the Mekong and Tonle Bassac rivers.

Deputy Lvea Em district police chief, Phorn Sreng, said unlicensed dredging operations had wreaked havoc in his district.