The Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) will invest $1.3 million in a water treatment plant in Kep province to supply clean water to more than 1,000 households there, the company’s head said last week.

Speaking at the announcement of PPWSA’s 2013 results in Phnom Penh last Thursday, Sim Sitha, director-general of the water utility, said the project’s top priority was to provide Kep residents with clean water – profits would come later.

“The potential in Kep is not so big, so we cannot focus 100 per cent only on the profit,” Sitha said.

But in the long term, when an economy of scale can be reached, the project would start to make money for PPWSA, the only listed company on the Kingdom’s stock exchange, Sitha added.

Provincial Governor Ken Sotha told the Post that Kep households rely on their own sources of water, either a well or a pond. Supplies can run short during the dry season, he said.

“The expansion plan of PPWSA will provide a lot of benefits to the people in Kep,” he said. “It would be a key source to attract more tourists in to the province,” he added.

Sotha estimated that about 1,200 households could benefit from the project.

Kuy Vat, president and CEO of Vtrust Group, a firm which includes a brokerage arm, said the PPWSA expansion was a positive sign for investors.

“However, it will not have a significant impact on the share price of PPWSA, as the scale of expansion is small,” he said.

A 10-month feasibility study has been completed by PPWSA and work on the project will begin as soon as technical support agreements are reached with the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Sitha said.