Cambodia suffers worse from climate change: deputy

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 3 -- Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly said Monday the country has been suffering more serious from global climate change in recent years, referring to the floods that has hit the country since August and killed at least 150 people so far.

"We are in poor country, we don't have enough sophisticated equipment and techniques to respond to that irregular phenomenon, so we are easily vulnerable to the impacts of climate change," he said during opening the 2nd National Forum on Climate Change, which was attended by some 500 government officials, development partners, academia, private sector and civil society.

Climate change has been seriously impacted economic and social development and environmental protection, he said.
Yim Chhay Ly said the Mekong River and flash floods hitting Cambodia since August have cost Cambodia millions of U.S. dollars and needed years to rehabilitate.

"It cost human lives, destroy agricultural crops, infrastructure, homes, schools and so on," he said. "It has been slowing down Cambodia's efforts in developing the nation."

Cambodia has been suffering the worst from the Mekong River and flash floods in the last decade. Since early August to date, the floods had killed at least 150 people, submerged 130,220 homes with affected 173,063 families, and affected over 270,000 hectares of rice paddies, according to the reports of the National Committee for Disaster Management.

The floods also affected more than 100 kilometers of national roads and up to 1,800 kilometers of gravel roads, it said.

Meanwhile, Yim Chhay Ly called on foreign donors and development partners to accelerate their supports to Cambodia during the flood period and post-flood rehabilitation period.