Stockholm Water Institution Awards City Authority

A Cambodian villager pours use water into a jar at his home in Chriev village, Kandal province about 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Stockholm International Water Institute has given its annual award to Phnom Penh’s water agency for self-sufficiency and high-quality performance in water supply.

“The [Phnom Penh Water Authority] has successfully fought corruption and shown this can be achieved in a developing country on a large-scale basis using simple but effective management techniques that are based on well-accepted business principles and strategies,” the institute said in a statement.

The award will be conferred to the Phnom Penh Water Authority during World Water Week in Stockholm, which begins Sept. 5.

“My team is encouraged by this prestigious award to carry on our mission to increase collection efficiency, improve water regulation, and deliver affordable water to the poor," said Ek Sun Chan, director general of the water agency.

The authority worked to refurbish the city’s entire supply system and introduced cost-effective billing and payment collection methods, as well as management to provide water to almost all of the city’s residents, starting from 1998, the institute said in its statement.

“The PPWA has a strong commitment to social and environmental responsibility,” it said. “It has shown the developing world as a whole that large cities can expect continuous access to clean water.”

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Cambodia's missing 'jungle woman' found in toilet

PHNOM PENH — A Cambodian woman whose story gripped the nation after she apparently spent 18 years living in the jungle has been found in a dugout toilet 11 days after she disappeared again, her father said Monday.

Rochom P'ngieng, 29, was reported missing late last month by her family, who at the time said they believed she had fled back into the forest.

She was found in an outdoor toilet about 100 metres (300 feet) from her home after a neighbour heard her crying, Sal Lou, the man who says he is her father, told AFP by telephone.

"She was discovered in a 10-metre deep toilet. It's an unbelievable story. She spent 11 days there," he said, adding that her body was soaked with excrement up to her chest.

"We are still wondering how she could get into the toilet" which has a small entrance hole covered in wood, he said, adding that she had been admitted to hospital following the incident.

Rochom P'ngieng went missing as a little girl in 1989 while herding water buffalo in Ratanakkiri province, around 600 kilometres (400 miles) northeast of Phnom Penh and home to some of the most isolated and wild jungle in Cambodia.

In early 2007 she was brought from the jungle, naked and dirty, after being caught trying to steal food from a farmer. She was hunched over like a monkey, scavenging on the ground for pieces of dried rice.

Cambodians described her as "jungle woman" and "half-animal girl" and since rejoining society she has battled bouts of illness after refusing food.
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