Welcome to the SRP-USA - APPEAL LETTERS

14 April 2004

A PROJECT OF THE SAM RAINSY PARTY : CANAL RESTORATION

in Koh Andaet commune, Srey Santhor district, Kompong Cham province

I- LOCATION

Commune of Koh Andaet, district of Srey Santhor, province of Kompong Cham, located 80km North-East of Phnom Penh, 10 km off Road # 6A. A cluster of 4 villages: Kbal Koh, Koki, Chong Koh, Kroch Soeurch. The commune covers an area of 100 km² of flat land.

II- DEMOGRAPHY

Number of inhabitants in the commune: 5,400. Population made up of farmers and their families.

III- ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Rice farming, and occasionally

1. during the rainy season: vegetables, fishing;

2. during the dry season: sugar cane on a few plots of land.

IV- STRENGTHS

1- Large areas of flat land, ideal for agriculture.

2- Possibility of irrigation by channeling water from the Mekong River.

V- WEAKNESSES

1- No or very little infrastructure.

2- Water control system in derelict state, needing repair to provide irrigation for dry season farming, which would allow additional cultures and a second rice crop to deal with chronic food shortage.

VI- ASSISTANCE REQUESTED BY FARMERS

Restoration of an old, abandoned canal (see photo) in order to channel water from a lake nearby the Mekong River to rice fields further away. The restoration work will allow 370 farmer families to irrigate 250 hectares of rice fields, and help produce other crops in the dry season.

VII- RATIONALE BEHIND THE CANAL RESTORATION PROJECT (“Sda Prek”)

To allow the 370 families (about 2,000 persons) to be self-sufficient in food throughout the year, instead of depending on hand-outs from some powerful but dubious people who treat them as beggars, knowing that alms are always irregular, insufficient and contrary to human dignity.

A. Before restoration

- Length: ..................................................... 1,531 m

- Depth: ...................................................... 0.40 m

- Width: ...................................................... 3.00 m

B. After restoration

- Length: .................................................... 1,531 m

- Depth: ..................................................... 1.50 m

- Upper width: ........................................... 3.00 m

- Lower width: ........................................... 1.50 m

Restoration Cost

No	Description	Unit	Quantity	Price ($)	Amount ($)
1	Excavation cost (engine)	m³	5,167	0.6	3,100
2	Administrative cost				300
	Total				UD$ 3,400.00

The work will be completed in three weeks, before the rainy season (end of April/early May)

Donations can be made through any SRP branches in your city/state/country.