Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol has donated a water purification system to the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) on behalf of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Speaking during a handover ceremony in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Chanthol said the technology comes from Israel and has the ability to produce 800 litres of fresh water from the air per day. The system is installed on a car, making it possible to transport the service to areas most in need of freshwater.

“This machine and car provide great benefits to the CRC, enabling it to carry out humanitarian activities in various areas in Cambodia that suffer from drought and floods as well as areas lacking clean water,” he said.

Ken Ratha, the head of the ministry’s administration and finance general department, told The Post that water purifiers were also donated to Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital, Calmette Hospital, Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital and Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.

He said the CRC received water purifying machines with a car and generator, while the hospitals receiving only water purifying machines.

Ministry spokesman Vasim Sorya said the machine was created under the direction of Chanthol with the help of a charity group as a gift to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Sorya said the CRC will be able to send the system to any location where a disaster occurs to produce clean water for people to use.

“In case of disaster or flood, we can send the machine that produce 800 litres a day.

“The machine plugs into a power source and without doing anything else, it absorbs air and produces water,” he said

According to figures from the Ministry of Rural Development, 65 per cent of the population had access to clean water last year, an increase from the 58 per cent in 2017. Last year, the ministry built 3,607 pump wells, maintained 1,156 wells and built and repaired 222 ponds in rural areas where it was not possible to dig wells.