Dying for a Drink

'CAMBODIA’S environmental policies are the worst in the Asia Pacific region, according to a new global report that placed the Kingdom at number 148 of 163 countries,' reports The Phnom Penh Post.

'The 2010 Environment Performance Index (EPI), compiled by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities in the US, quantifies the environmental impacts of a country’s policies by assessing 25 factors, and then assigns each country a corresponding value of zero to 100, with 100 the most positive rating. Cambodia received an overall EPI rating of 41.7.'

Access to clean drinking water in rural areas is one of Cambodia's main environmental problems; only 42% of rural Cambodians can access water that is considered likely to be safe to drink. Dodgy water can bring on cholera,and acute watery diarrhoea which is the second most common cause of deaths for kids under 5.

That's a disgrace; billions of dollars of overseas aid- both private and government-to-government- have flowed into Cambodia over the last decade. What did they do with it all? It sure hasn't gone into making sure that those in the countryside can have a decent drink.