At least 180,000 hectares of rice paddies in Cambodia have been destroyed by the Mekong River floods since early August, Minister of Agriculture Chan Sarun said on Wednesday.

People buy fish on a fish vendor boat on a flooded waters on a street in Kandal province October 10, 2011. Floodings have killed 207 people in Cambodia, a biggest hit by flooding in a decade while more than 100,000 hectares of rice paddies had been damaged, Cambodian National Disaster Management Committee (CNDMC) announced on Monday. The CNDM said a total of 300,000 hectares of rice paddies were under water and the floodings have displaced more than 300,000 families.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
"So far, 180,000 hectares out of the 2.4 million hectares of grown rice paddies this year have been destroyed by the floods," he told reporters after a meeting. "However, it will not affect our food security and rice export policy as we will distribute rice seeds to affected farmers as soon as possible after the floods."

Chan Sarun said that the ministry has reserved about 3,450 tons of rice seeds to give out to affected farmers to replant rice crop soon after the floods.

Cambodia has been hard-hit by the flood since Aug. 13, inundating 19 cities and provinces.

Keo Vy, spokesman for the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), said Wednesday at least 207 people were killed, excluding 6 people killed on Wednesday morning as a boat capsized in Siem Reap province.

The floods have also affected some 1.2 million people, he said.

About 600 houses were swept away by floods and other 196,600 houses, 1,132 schools and 400 Buddhist pagodas are submerged.

In addition, approximately 180 kilometers of national roads and around 1,800 kilometers of gravel roads have been blocked.

* Floods claim 207 lives, affect 1.2 million people in Cambodia: official release

The Mekong River and flash floods had killed at least 207 people and affected about 1.2 million people in 19 inundated cities and provinces in Cambodia, Nhim Vanda, the first vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management, said on Monday in a press briefing.

"Among the dead, 52 percent is children," he said.

A girl sits in a bucket as her sister pushes it through flood waters on a street in Kandal province October 10, 2011. Floodings have killed 207 people in Cambodia, a biggest hit by flooding in a decade while more than 100,000 hectares of rice paddies had been damaged, Cambodian National Disaster Management Committee (CNDMC) announced on Monday. The CNDM said a total of 300,000 hectares of rice paddies were under water and the floodings have displaced more than 300,000 families. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
More than 300,000 hectares of rice paddies have been affected and other 100,000 hectares of rice paddies were completely damaged.

Some 600 houses were swept away by floods and other 196,600 houses, 1,132 schools and 400 Buddhist pagodas are inundated, he said, adding that some 180 kilometers of national roads and around 1,800 kilometers of gravel roads have been affected.

"It's estimated that the damaged cost from floods this year seems comparable to the damage in the floods in the year 2000 of 161 million U.S. dollars," he said.

Meanwhile, Nhim Vanda said that the government of Cambodia has released 1,900 tons of milled rice to distribute to the victims.

So far, the government of Cambodia, Cambodian Red Cross, charitable countries and organizations has distributed emergency relief to more than 70,000 families with about 280,000 people out of the 100,000 families who have been evacuated to higher ground.

He said that China, Japan, World Food Program, and a number of local and international organizations have also provided emergency relief to the flood victims.

Also, the Asian Development Bank has pledged to provide a grant of 3 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia to rehabilitate gravel roads after the floods.

Nhim Vanda said that as of Monday, floods have been slowing receding, but only in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, the Mekong River's water level still slightly rise to 10.86 meters.

 VietNamNet/Xinhuanet