The News Review:

- Nationals push for fluoride vote
- ADF offers 14.5 mln USD for Cambodia to improve clean water supply
- Arsenic found in village water supply

Nationals push for fluoride vote
NEWS.com.au – Dec 15, 2006
7 million southeast Queensland residents will decide on March 17 whether they support recycled sewage being used as a permanent source of drinking water. Mr Seeney said both issues were about the water supply and would not confuse voters. "If we’re going to spend $10 million deciding whether we’re going to put effluent in our water supply, then we can at the same time ask the people of southeast Queensland whether they want fluoride in their water supply," he said. "It’s not going to cost any more…
"You need one question and you need to be clear about it," he said. "If you have too many questions, you’re likely to lose them. "Mr Beattie said councils controlled their water supplies and the Government had promised to provide them with funding if they wanted to add fluoride. Meanwhile, question marks remain over whether southeast Queensland councils will be able to fluoridate their water supplies within the water grid. Currently, councils can choose to fluoridate their own water supplies but overall control of 19 shires will be centralised under the water grid plan to link water infrastructure with a series of interconnecting pipelines. A spokesman for Premier Peter Beattie said the Government and the Queensland Water Commission were reviewing the implications of fluoride in relation to the operation of the water grid. Although councils can take up State Government rebates for fluoridation infrastructure, a spokesman for Health Minister Stephen Robertson said no councils had taken up the offer.

ADF offers 14.5 mln USD for Cambodia to improve clean water supply
People's Daily Online – Dec 15, 2006
“The loan will be used for building a new clean water supply factory at Chroy Chang Var commune in Phnom Penh to improve the clean water network of the main water station in Phnom and expand the clean water distribution to the outskirts of Phnom Penh,” said Ek Son Chan, Head of Water Supply Authority. This can help facilitate the government to achieve the Millennium Development Goal for public health, he said. Meanwhile, the authority currently aims to set up a master plan for enlarging the capacity of the clean water supply for 160,000 families in Phnom Penh and neighboring provinces of Kandal and Kompong Speu from 2009 to 2010, he said.

Arsenic found in village water supply
B92 – Dec 15, 2006
The Sanitary inspection has prohibited use of water in local households this morning. According to an analysis done by the Health Protection Bureau in aèak, the arsenic level is 0. 042 milligrams per liter, four times higher than what is allowed. Director of the local public communal company Dragan Petroviæ said that good water will be distributed to the households in Rudnik until the situation is rectified.