China has dug 14 pumping wells for seven districts here in western Cambodia, officials said on Wednesday.
Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo delivered the Cambodia-China friendship wells to lawmaker Hun Many, president of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, who received them on behalf of the communities.
Bu said that as Cambodia had been facing water shortage in the worst drought in decades, the pumping wells would be very useful for drought-hit villagers.
"I'm confident that the wells, dug by the Chinese Embassy to Cambodia, will timely resolve the problem of water shortage for some villagers in Kampong Speu province," she said at the handing-over ceremony.
Hun Many expressed his sincere and heartfelt thanks to the Chinese Embassy to Cambodia for donating about 28,000 U.S. dollars for the project.
"The donation of wells clearly shows the attention of China to the difficulty of rural Cambodian people," said Hun Many.
He added that the donation would contribute further to deepening people-to-people relations between the two countries.
Ek Tim, a beneficiary of the wells, said she was very happy to see new wells because her village always suffered from drought in dry seasons.
"We usually buy water in dry seasons, spending about 20,000 riel (5 U.S. dollars) for water in every one or two weeks," she told Xinhua. "Now China has dug the wells for us, so we will have enough water to use from now on and no longer pay for water."
