"Alleged Sangke River Polluter, Chinese-owned Phoenix Operating Again in Battambang" 13 December 2023

Phoenix, a pharmaceutical company based in Battambang province, which released wastewater into Sangke River last August, has not yet complied with an order by the Ministry of Environment to relocate and restore the environment surrounding the river. It started operating again earlier in December...

On August 4, a letter by the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation said Phoenix was releasing “black liquid waste” into the river, which led to the halting of operations for two weeks. The ministry noted that it was the third time Phoenix caused serious environmental damage...

...officials from the standards department under the Department of Industrial Technology as well as a food chemist visited the factory and found that it had improved their standards according to legal requirements. Thus, the ministry decided to allow Phoenix to reopen earlier this month...

A Phoenix staff, who spoke to CamboJA on the telephone, said their company started operating earlier this month after the company “promised not to commit the same mistake”...Phoenix appealed to the environment ministry to allow it to operate in the same location, promising instead to restore the surrounding environment and pay the fine...

Heng Kimhong, research and advocacy program​​ manager at the Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), said the lack of transparency and making sure the company complied with the order is a failure on the part of the ministry in dealing with the pollution problem...

Adhoc coordinator for Battambang Yin Mengly blamed the relevant ministries for allowing the company to operate without an environmental assessment resulting in environmental problems which affect the public...