PHNOM PENH: The Secretariat for the National Authority for Border Affairs issued a press release dismissing a Radio Free Asia report that a canal on the border was lost to Vietnam. The ministry said that the claims made by the RFA are false, baseless, lacking in understanding, malicious and misleading to the public.

In a press release issued on August 27, the Permanent Secretariat of the National Authority for Border Affairs stated that the Kampong Snay Canal is geographically located along the borderline in the Svay Chrum district of Svay Rieng province. "As stated in Article 1 of the 2005 Supplementary Treaty, which greatly benefits the people living along the canal, they have full access to water, navigation and fishing," the secretariat confirmed. According to the Secretariat, the Cambodian-Vietnamese border runs along the middle of the canal, not on the Cambodian side as reported by RFA on August 26.

While RFA was one of a few media outlets banned in Cambodia leading up to last month’s election, the government continues to refute their stories which are not able to be viewed by the Cambodian public. The National Border Authority called on all compatriots not to believe or share the allegedly false information from the RFA.