The governments of Japan and Thailand as well as the Thai community in Cambodia have decided to donate goods and cash totaling about $520,000 to flood relief in Cambodia, officials said Tuesday.
The Japanese government will donate about $400,000 in an official ceremony this morning at the Phnom Penh International Airport, said Nhim Vanda, first vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management.
“We will use the aid for the flood victims living in seriously flooded areas,” he said.
The Japanese Embassy said that goods including generators and water purifiers, which are valued at about $320,000, will be donated to the Cambodian government to help with the ongoing flood relief efforts.
“Recognizing the serious damages cause[d] by the floods and in light of friendly relations between Japan and Cambodia, the Government of Japan has decided to provide emergency assistance for humanitarian aid for those affected,” the Japanese Embassy said in a statement on Monday.
The government of Thailand intended to donate barges, but was instead asked to send $200,000 cash to the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC), Bangkok-based newspaper The Nation reported.
The Thai Business Council of Cambodia (TBCC), the Thai Embassy and members of the Thai community in Cambodia also donated goods worth $20,000 to the Cambodian Red Cross, TBCC vice president Kanya Gollogly said Tuesday.
“We had a meeting and we spoke about the flooding and decided that together we can raise money to buy things and help,” Ms. Gollogly said, adding that many donations had come from the TBCC’s 53 members, who mostly donated products they make, such as canned food and rice.
“We made 750 sets including drinking water and rice and food and we handed it over to the CRC this morning,” she said.
The food will be distributed by the CRC on Sunday in Kompong Cham province, Ms. Gollogly said.
Mr. Vanda said that the water had started to recede in most provinces, and that no new victims were reported in the past few days, leaving the death toll at 168.
