Residents of villages along the Neun River in Kham district, Xieng Khuang province, are complaining that chemical pesticides are contaminating the water.
Deputy Head of the district Health Office Mr Mayphone Manivong told Vientiane Times on Wednesday that people have been writing to district officials for the last month complaining that the river is not clean.
“Residents have been asking for a fresh water spring to be installed in the area because they are afraid about using river water which they fear could be fatal,” he said.
Mr Mayphone added that people are showering at home rather than using the river and are using other sources of water for cooking and household tasks because they don't believe the water is safe.
The district health office has written to the Government Office and international organisations requesting assistance in providing clean water.
“We don't know if or when funding will be provided by the government or donated by international organisations but we will continue to ask for funding until we've secured a safe water supply,” he said.
There are currently 22 villages in the district without access to clean water so people are taking water from streams.
The district health office plans for 90 percent of the population of Kham district to have access to clean water by 2015.
Meanwhile the district authorities are encouraging farmers to reduce their use of pesticides.
“We are now working with farmers to protect the environment from the impact of chemical pesticides,” Mr Mayphone said. In general, public awareness about the danger of chemicals is low, he added.
“If farmers along the river stop using pesticides the water will not be contaminated but their crops won't grow well without chemicals,” he said.
Farmers mainly grow rice, maize, cucumbers, cotton, cabbage, beans and sugarcane. Selling the crops enables more people to earn money and improve their standard of living and will contribute to the government's development targets for 2020.
“But we worry that the use of insecticides and herbicides is harming people's health. The district health office is warning against using chemicals to get rid of weeds,” Mr Mayphone said.
“Herbicides kill grass and weeds, but can also kill insects and animals. It is very easy to get rid of weeds this way, but herbicides can create problems later on, especially if they contaminate water sources.”
“If farmers along the river stop using pesticides the water will not be contaminated but their crops won't grow well without chemicals,” he said.
That's wrong. We know now how to grow agricultural products without chemichal AND with good result... it's complex but possible.
The use of chemichal is dramatic, not only because it can affect health, but laos because it clearly destroy the soil little by little, and you have t use (buy) always more and more chemichal, until this bacome economicaly unrealistic! So this is not sustainable at all, (not only "not ecological")
