Betel nut use linked to HIV Mary Kozlovski and Kim Yuthana Monday, 27 February 2012
Regular users of betel nut quid – a combination of tobacco, areca nut, betel leaf and slaked lime that is chewed – could be more susceptible to infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, dengue fever and typhoid, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organisation alongside a new study yesterday.
Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post Chea Eam, 64, chews betel nut yesterday in Kandal province.
The new research conducted by the WHO and US-based Loma Linda University and published in the International Journal of Infectious Disease examined the association between betel nut and infectious disease in users.
“Findings from this study raise the possibility that using betel nut quid increases the risk for transmission of infectious disease through various pathways, such as suppression of the immune system, or by providing an oral route of entry for disease pathogens,” a press release accompanying the study said. The results among betel nut users indicated that they were 2.6 times more likely to report a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS compared to non-betel nut users, 2.4 times more likely to have had dengue fever, 1.5 times more likely to report a diagnosis of tuberculosis and 1.48 times more likely to have had typhoid. This led researchers to determine a “strong association between betel quid use and infectious disease”. “These associations were found to be stronger among women, who are the primary users of betel nut quid in Cambodia,” the press release read. Women often started using betel nut during pregnancy to stem the symptoms of morning sickness the study found. The study used data from the National Adult Tobacco Survey of Cambodia from 2005-06, which involved interviews with 13,988 adults nationwide. National Professional Officer for Tobacco Free Initiative and Health Promotion at the WHO, Yel Daravuth, who also co-authored the study, said it provided another strong case to fight tobacco use. “If we help people to stop chewing tobacco, we also help [to] prevent people from getting infectious disease,” he said. The NATSC 2011 found that more than half a million women chew betel nut. Chea Eam, 64, from Kandal province who works as farmer, said she could not stop chewing betel nut even though she was told she had cancer and kidney stones by her doctor four months ago. “I have reduced the amount of betel nut I chew because I suffer from serious stomach aches, but I think that my illness is not caused by chewing betel nut,” she said. Representatives from the Health Ministry were not available for comment.
EU funds KRT to the tune of $1.7 million Bridget Di Certo Monday, 27 February 2012
The European Union is set to come to the rescue of unpaid Cambodian staff at the Khmer Rouge tribunal by contributing about US$1.7 million to the Cambodian side of the court, officials said last week.
Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post Activities taking place during case 002 at the tribunal.
Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union Jean-Francois Cautain met last week with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who also heads the taskforce on the tribunal. “The EU has made a provisional allocation of a further 1.3 million euro for the national side of the ECCC,” Cautain said by email. “This contribution, through UNOPS [the United Nations Office for Project Services], will be concluded in the near future.” Under the framework established by the UN and the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Cambodian government is responsible for payment of national staff salaries. However, officials at the tribunal have repeatedly said this has not been the practice. Members of the tribunal’s management team return to Cambodia early this week after presenting the budget plan for the court to donor countries in meetings in New York. Tribunal spokesman Neth Pheaktra told the Post yesterday that due to donors’ receptivity at those meetings, it was likely there would be no walk-outs from staff who, earlier this month, had threatened to leave until their salaries were paid.
Court monitor Open Society Justice Initiative in a report last week highlighted the lack of transparency around the court’s budget and noted the budget was highly likely to be impacted by the current dispute over the appointment of UN-nominated reserve international CoInvestigating Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet. When Kasper-Ansermet’s predecessor, German judge Siegfried Blunk, was in office, the budget for government-opposed cases 003 and 004 expired at the end of 2011, when investigations were expected to be concluded. Kasper-Ansermet recently reopened Case 003, which was closed last April, and resumed investigations.
Kingdom inflation rises on oil prices May Kunmakara Monday, 27 February 2012
Inflation in Cambodia rose 5.8 per cent year-on-year in January, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics. Rising fuel costs had spurred the inflation, which was felt largely in the price of food, officials said.
Will Baxter/Phnom Penh Post A woman purchases pork at an open-air market in Meanchey district, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
Data showed food and non-alcoholic beverage prices in January increased by 7.7 per cent compared to a year earlier. The price of some items, such as beef and port wine, increased by as much as 17.5 and 20.3 per cent respectively, and the cost of vegetables rose nearly 10 per cent. Chheng Kimlong, an economics and business lecturer at the University of Cambodia, said the Chinese and Vietnamese New Year celebrations in January had led to increased demand. Fluctuations in gasoline costs on the global market had also had an impact on local production, Chheng Kimlong said. The price of gasoline rose as much as 10.8 per cent last year. Cambodian gasoline prices hit an all-time high on January 27. Premium gasoline sold at US$1.40 a litre, stoking fears of an increase in domestic production cost. Cheng Kimlong said prices would continue to grow in the coming months in anticipation of the Khmer New Year and the farming season. Experts said the surge was to be expected given the improvement in the economy, which pushed demand. “[Gross domestic product] is on the rise, so inflation rates are acceptable. But if our GDP slows,
the inflationary rates could become a concern,” NIS deputy director-general Khin Song said. “The price index is changing as demand speeds up, and local supply cannot yet accommodate it.”
Protesters try new tactics David Boyle and Chhay Channyda with additional reporting by Bridget Di Certo Monday, 27 February 2012
Rocks were hurled, fires lit, hostages taken and the message delivered in no uncertain terms last week: Cambodians are increasingly willing to use violence against companies that intimidate them or ignore their demands.
\Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post Porcelain Factory in Kampong Cham, after the violence exploded.
Twice – in Svay Rieng and Kampong Cham provinces – garment workers pelted factories with rocks, shattering windows and ultimately bringing companies to the negotiating table. In Ratankkiri, ethnic Tumpoun villagers took matters further, abducting four security guards and another employee working for a rubber company, holding them hostage and parading them for the cameras until Jing Zhong Ri Cambodia Co Ltd agreed to halt – at least temporarily – the bulldozing of their land. The dangerous lesson these people seem to be learning is simple: if the courts and the authorities will not help them, they can get results through force. Chhay Chan Noeun, a worker from the Medtec factory in Kampong Cham, said none of the roughly 2,000 garment workers who protested last week wanted to resort to violence, but after four days of inaction from the company or authorities, they saw no alternative. “When there was violence, authorities and the factory owner seemed to find a solution for us. We will meet on Monday [today],” she said. “Workers don’t like violence, but workers don’t like employers to oppress us.” Ninety minutes after the unrest began on Thursday, Medtec, which had refused to implement an Arbitration Council ruling ordering it to improve working conditions, suddenly began listening. Tuy Nheb, a representative of the Tumpoun ethnic villagers in Ratanakkiri’s Lumphat district, said his community considered retaliation only when bulldozers, rather than negotiators, arrived on their doorstep. “Our anger broke out when they did not listen,” Tuy Nheb said.
“It is because we have no choice except taking them hostage to ask for a solution over this land dispute.” These are the frustrations of people who feel they have no avenue of recourse in a system where the perception of provincial and district-level government collusion with private companies is widespread. And the feeling of helplessness has only been reinforced by repeated instances of unarmed protestors being shot by security guards or unidentified perpetrators, most recently outside the Kaoway Sports Ltd factory in Svay Rieng last Monday. Kaoway conceded to its workers demands for a $10 monthly transport allowance and daily 50 cent food stipend but three workers were shot including one who was left in critical condition with a bullet wound through her chest. Five days after Minister of Interior Sar Kheng announced the perpetrator of the Kaoway shootings had been identified, police had still failed to arrest a suspect yesterday. Pen Bunnar, Ratanakiri provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said the public’s trust in judicial and government impartiality when mediating land disputes had completely collapsed. “This is a lesson to inform other companies and authorities to discuss the impact with villagers before giving land concessions,” he said, stressing that violence was not the answer either. Ek Tha, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers’ Quick and Press Reaction Unit who has an academic background in conflict resolution, said the use of independent arbitrators was the best way to avoid such outbreaks of violence, before taking cases to court. “When the farmers, villagers, workers are getting more educated, they understand more about the environment. The competent authorities including the court officials and the parties concerned have to find a peaceful solution to handle any situation that occurs,” he said. “We have to respect each other. We share the same blood. We are living in the same country. If either of the two parties do something wrong this is a bad image for Cambodia.” With United Nations members set to vote on Cambodia’s bid for a Security Council seat in October and the country attempting to put its best foot forward as this year’s chair of ASEAN, the government is particularly sensitive about unrest that tarnishes its image abroad. But of more direct and immediate consequence is the impact such widely publicised outbursts of violence can have on foreign direct investment. After the shooting last week at Kaoway, which supplies sportswear giant PUMA, Sar Kheng issued a harsh rebuke of police who have been involved in shootings of unarmed villagers, a statement that caught many observers by surprise. Mathieu Pellerin, a monitoring consultant with rights group Licadho, stressed that actions speak louder than words and said the government had more to worry about than just its foreign image. “I think its something the state should be extremely worried about, when you push a growing
fraction of your population towards hopelessness, its not good for stability, which is a key selling point of the ruling party – stability.�
Rural women learn new skills Ou Mom Monday, 27 February 2012
Near the Beanteay Meanchey central market, 11 girls are concentrating hard as they learn to sew in a small room of the Lay Houy Tailor Shop.
Ou Mom/Phnom Penh Post Tailor shop owner Lay Houy teaches young girls to sew dresses in Beanteay Meanchey province.
This is the second time that local tailor Lay Houy has taught poor young women to sew dresses in her shop, through a training project run by the NGO Social Environment Agricultural Development Organization (SEADO). “I like training young people to have the same skills I have because I also come from a poor background like them,” said Lay Houy, whose hometown is in Samrong, also located in rural Beanteay Meanchey province. Poverty in rural Cambodia has forced many young people to drop out of school to look for work, often seeing illegal migration to Thailand as the only way to earn a living. But some young women in Beanteay Meanchey province, like Lay Houy’s students, are looking for alternatives through capacity training projects that allow them to access a decent livelihood even though they no longer receive formal schooling. “After graduating, most of them can feed themselves by opening a small shop,” said Lay Houy of her sewing students. “One of the previous trainees has also worked at my shop and she can learn over US$200 per month.” Sixteen-year-old Sok Seila, one of the students, said she was selected to take the classes through SEADO and the local authority because of her family’s poor standard of living. “My parents sometimes migrate to Thailand to work in factories, but they can’t earn enough money to support us, and most of the time they need to escape from the police officers there,” Sok Seila said. The sewing classes are funded by donations the European Union, which has supported many projects working with rural youth, especially young women, in the area.
Twenty-two-year-old Say Sokay was able to build a new house in her village of Rumdoul, Preah Neth Preah district, after opening a successful quail raising business, which she learned to do through a training course run by Ponleu Komar Kampuchea Organization (PKKO) and funded by the EU. Say Sokay had to drop out of school when she was in grade seven to help earn money for her family. After participating in a quail raising workshop with Ponleu Komar, Say Sokay is now able to earn a livelihood’s family improved their operations. “After the course I had 40 quails, one egg-laying unit, and 150 eggs. Now I have increased to 12 egg-laying units, 220 female quails and 1500 chicks for selling. Annually, I can earn from $1500 to $2000, ” said Say Sokay. Jean-Francois Cautain, the ambassador of European Union, said on a recent trip to Banteay Meanchey that of the $14.5 million in development aid donated by the EU, he hopes about 85 per cent will include capacity development projects such as these. “I think I feel quite good about what have supported,” said the ambassador. “It is very much in line with our main objective in Cambodia to promote development in sustainable ways like teaching agricultural skills that pull people out of poverty
'Tolerance' of blackouts urged Chhay Channyda with additional reporting by Bridget Di Certo and Mom Kunthear Monday, 27 February 2012
Rolling blackouts that have engulfed Phnom Penh over recent weeks are here to stay and will likely intensify, an official from the state-owned Electricity du Cambodge said yesterday.
Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post A serviceman repairs electrical lines in Phnom Penh earlier this month.
During hot-weather months, Phnom Penh requires upward of 400 megawatts of electricity per day, a demand that increases by 15 to 20 per cent every year, the official, who did not wish to be named, said. “Now, we need about 350 megawatts per day, and we have less than that, but I can predict that next month, which is hotter than this month, the demand will increase to 380 or 400 megawatts per day, which we still lack power to supply to all households,” the official said, adding that the city has about 290 megawatts available each day, with nearly half of that coming from Vietnam. Electricity du Cambodge is telling Phnom Penh residents to “be tolerant” during the power outages. The electricity provider has split the city into two groups and is alternating power outages between night and day for the two groups in a bid to minimize the effects, the official told the Post yesterday. However, for Phnom Penh residents, the power outages are far more burdensome than a few hours without lights. Pho Kim An, a 63-year-old duck-egg seller in Chamka Morn district’s Beouk Keng Kang 3 commune, said yesterday that she has been without electricity for at least three periods of about three hours a day since the start of February. “It is really bad and difficult to sleep, especially for my granddaughter and especially at night when the electricity is cut. It was not often cut in January, but three times per day from February,” she said, adding her family regularly has to leave their house while the power was cut, and could only return once it was restored.
Press and Quick Reaction Unit spokesman Ek Tha said the severity of the situation is being overstated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Electricity fluctuations are just minor problems. The government has invested in this situation, and it has improved,â&#x20AC;? Ek Tha said. Representatives from Phnom Penh City Hall could not be reached yesterday. <div>Please enable JavaScript to post a new comment</div>
Bar lowers boom on KRT ‘failure’ Bridget Di Certo Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Present government interference at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal has led to a “failure of credibility”, International Bar Association executive director Mark Ellis said in a report released yesterday.
Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post Prime Minister Hun Sen delivers a speech in Phnom Penh earlier this month.
ECCC/Phnom Penh Post Co-investigating judge You Bunleng in a handout photo.
The report, the second from the IBA, attributes that failure directly due to the lack of judicial independence in Cambodia. “A history of corruption within the Cambodian justice system, coupled with a weak disqualification mechanism, fails to adequately safeguard internationally accepted standards of judicial integrity,” the report states. “The court’s handling of Case 003 and the Supreme Council of Magistracy’s rejection of Judge Kasper-Ansermet, the International reserve co-investigating judge, only highlight these shortcomings,” it continues. A litany of allegations of political pressure, official obstruction and uncontrolled corruption on the part of the Cambodian government and the national side of the court is catalogued in the 30page report, including the “pervasive and institutionalized nature of the executive interference with the Cambodian judiciary, and the deeply concerning failure by judicial bodies to deal with it”. Ellis is critical of actions and statements by Prime Minister Hun Sen toward controversial cases 003 and 004 and in blocking certain executive members from giving testimony to the tribunal as part of investigations. He is also critical of actions and statements by Cambodian Co-Investigating Judge You Bunleng in his involvement in blocking the Supreme Council of Magistracy appointment of KasperAnsermet, a role Ellis called a “significant conflict of interest”. Hun Sen and You Bunleng were not the only Cambodians under the microscope in Ellis’ report – Trial Chamber Judge Nil Nonn, who is now presiding over Case 002 against an elderly trio of Khmer Rouge senior leaders, “should have been disqualified” the report states. “Nil Nonn is on record as admitting to taking bribes in relation to cases. Moreover, there have been allegations that several other judges and Court officials secured their positions by paying bribes to members of the executive”. The report also accuses the UN of adopting a “detrimental hands-off approach” at the tribunal and concludes that “ensuring the effective investigation of alleged governmental influence in judicial matters would go some way to tackling the actual and perceived institutional legitimacy problems that threaten the future of the ECCC”. Tribunal legal affairs spokesman Lars Olsen yesterday said he had “no comments at all on a report by third parties”. UN Special Expert David Scheffer did not respond to requests for comment. The co-investigating judges “fiasco” is at the heart of the report. Hun Sen stalled the appointment of Kasper-Ansermet, telling the UN “prudent consideration” of the appointment was required due to the judge’s use of social-media website Twitter. Kasper-Ansermet has tweeted links to critical articles and reports on the work of his predecessor Siegfried Blunk and Cambodian counterpart You Bunleng. The IBA report analyses the criticisms levied against Kasper-Ansermet’s use of Twitter and draws the conclusion that his “Twitter posts fall short of infringing on international standards
regarding a judge’s public involvement in controversial topics and government criticism,” adding that Kasper-Ansermet exercised “appropriate restraint”. Ek Tha, representative of the Council of Minister’s Press and Quick Reaction Unit, told the Post the criticisms of the government were unfounded. “You have to be careful when you criticise people and you don’t have any substantive information in your hand. You could be subjected to defamation law,” Ek Tha said. “From the government’s point of view, it is very clear that there is no interference from the executive in the work of the ECCC
Building 10 rises at Borei Keila Khouth Sophakchakrya Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Another building is rapidly rising on the plot of land reserved for the tenth and last building promised to evicted Borei Keila residents.
EVICTEES PROTEST YESTERDAY IN THE BOREI KEILA COMMUNITY WHERE A NEW BUILDING IS BEING CONSTRUCTED ON THE EVICTION SITE IN PHNOM PENH. HENG CHIVOAN
RESIDENTS EVICTED FROM THE BOREI KEILA COMMUNITY PROTEST ON THE SITE OF THEIR FORMER HOMES YESTERDAY. SIGNS DISPLAYED BY RESIDENTS DEMANDED ADEQUATE COMPENSATION FROM THE PHAN IMEX COMPANY. HENG CHIVOAN
Behind 100 protesting evictees, construction workers continued pounding away yesterday at a steel structure that started coming up last week, along with a ninth building that appeared two
weeks ago. A Phan Imex representative had previously told the Post that the ninth building was not meant for evicted residents. Sorn Srey Touch, 41, said she had been visiting the district hall regularly over the past five years in hopes that authorities would tell her it was her time to claim a flat. The company, which claimed it could not build the final two buildings in 2010 due to bankruptcy, now seemed able to erect them for the 400 families that had been left in limbo, she said. “If they don’t build it for me, is it constructed to sell?” she said. In 2003, Phan Imex Company signed an agreement with the government to construct 10 buildings on two hectares of land to house 1,776 families, in exchange for the rights to a remaining 2.6 hectares. Evictees yesterday protested a letter that Phnom Penh municipal governor Kep Chutema had sent to the deputy prime minister and council of ministers on February 21. The letter, a copy of which has been obtained by the Post, claimed the 30 women and children detained in Prey Speu social affairs centre last month had been “invited” by authorities to live there and receive vocational skills training, and that their escape had been instigated by the opposition party and civil society organisations. “This statement lacks facts and accountability,” chanted the crowd of villagers. Spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party Yim Sovann said the governor had mistaken his facts. “The people were illegally detained. They understood their rights and left of their own accord,” he said. Protestors lined the pavement next to the two buildings under construction before occupying an adjacent road for an hour. Phan Imex owner Suy Sophan could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Gridlock going nowhere fast Bridget Di Certo and Chhay Channyda Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Despite Phnom Penh’s rapidly increasing traffic woes, it might take until 2035 for a public transport system in the Kingdom’s capital to be operational, government development partners said yesterday.
Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post Traffic pulses along a main road at rush hour in Phnom Penh yesterday.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency, which has been working with Cambodia’s government since 2001 on an urban transport master plan, said yesterday further feasibility and data studies being undertaken would not be completed until 2014. “The target year [for implementation] is 2035,” Seng Solady, JICA’s communications officer, said yesterday. “[However], some projects may be implemented after the master plan is completed in 2014.” According to JICA project documents obtained by the Post, traffic and transport conditions in Phnom Penh have become worse because of the rapid increase in the number of vehicles and motorbikes. “The traffic problems . . . are diversified and cause many problems to the economic, environmental and living condition of urban residents,” the project document states. “If this situation is left untouched, the traffic situation in Phnom Penh will soon reach a level that can hamper the desired economic growth and livelihood of the citizens.” Phnom Penh deputy governor Chreang Sophan, who is working on the project, said the study stage was of the utmost importance. “Phnom Penh has been developing fast, so the traffic situation is complicated. We, too, want to ease the traffic congestion,” he said. Ministry of Public Works director-general of public transport Ung Chun Huor said the government was “worried” about the capital’s growing traffic problems.
“As the number of people increases and the economy grows, the number of vehicles will increase,” he said. “A good solution is to have public transport.” Phnom Penh deputy traffic police chief Chev Hak said the city needed to quickly find a solution for its traffic congestion problem.
Hamill granted civil party status Bridget Di Certo Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Reserve international Co-Investigating Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet has wiped the decision of his predecessor, Siegfried Blunk, and Cambodian counterpart and awarded prominent victim advocate Rob Hamill of New Zealand civil party status in Case 003. The decision paves the way for more civil party applications from victims of the alleged crimes of former Democratic Kampuchea Navy commander Meas Muth and airforce commander Sou Met, who are suspects in government-opposed Case 003. Kasper-Ansermet relied on the opinion of the two international Pre-Trial Chamber judges in asserting his authority to act alone in considering Hamill’s civil party application, which was rejected by Cambodian Co-Investigating Judge You Bunleng. Kasper-Ansermet also relied on the findings of the two judges, who decried numerous procedural “irregularities” and determined the original rejection of Hamill’s application was “erroneous and unjust”. Hamill’s brother was captured off the coast of Cambodia in 1978 and detained at the S-21 interrogation facility, where he was tortured and executed.
Villagers in capital to protest development May Titthara Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Representatives from five communes in Koh Kong province are scheduled to hold a press conference in the capital today, appealing for government intervention in a land dispute with a Chinese development company that has spanned nearly four years. Lov Hov, a representative from Thmar Sar commune, in Botum Sakor district, told the Post yesterday villagers were staging the conference to draw attention to their plight with the Union Development Company, which was granted a 36,000-hectare economic land concession in April, 2008 to build a US$5 billion mega-tourism zone in Botum Sakor and Kiri Sakor districts. The concession Union Development received breaches Cambodian land law, which limits government land concessions to private companies to 10,000 hectares. Last August, the company was granted an additional 9,100 hectares in the protected Botum Sakor national park to build a hydropower dam. “We are not angry with the government, we are angry with people who don’t respect the law,” Lov Hov said. The representatives planned to urge the government to force the company to provide fair compensation for displaced villagers and proper infrastructure in the proposed resettlement area, he said. Srey Khmao, another representative of Thma Sar commune, demanded that the government resolve the issue, saying: “We just want justice.” According to a report released by the rights group Adhoc earlier this month, Union Development has destroyed the homes of more than 1,100 families and taken 10,000 hectares of their land. The company had also breached an agreement with the Ministry of Environment to pay between $2,500 and $8,000 in compensation per family and provide a few hectares of land, Adhoc said. In December, following a peaceful village protest against the concession, Botum Sakor district governor Chheng Chhi vowed to resign if he had not helped broker a resolution by this month. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Alarm over proposed dam David Boyle with additional reporting by Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Cassandra Yeap Wednesday, 29 February 2012
The Sam Rainsy Party has asked Prime Minister Hun Sen to verify the details of a proposed dam that could inundate about 10,000 hectares of protected forest, citing concerns that it would lead to rampant illegal logging and devastate a traditional habitat of Siamese crocodiles.
A VIEW OF THE CENTRAL CARDAMOM PROTECTED FOREST IS SEEN IN KOH KONG PROVINCE IN DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR. WILL BAXTER
The proposed 109-megawatt dam would inundate about 20,000 hectares of land overall in Koh Kong province’s Cheay Areng valley, according to conservation groups, although an environmental impact assessment of the dam commissioned by the company suggested only 9,474 hectares would be flooded. The US$327 million project was taken over by China’s Guodian Corporation after China Southern Power Grid dumped the plan in November, 2010, deeming it unfeasible. In a letter sent to Hun Sen dated Monday, SRP legislator Son Chhay asks the premier to explain the status of the project and raised concerns that those tasked with clearing the reservoir would log far outside the designated area, mimicking the experience of previous dam projects. “The situation at Tatay hydro dam area [in Koh Kong province] . . . is that the group of loggers used their right for logging inside the dam area to log outside the area, which devastated the natural forest, causing extreme concern,” the letter says. It points to threatened species that would be seriously affected, including Siamese crocodiles, dragon fish, Asian elephants and tigers. A Conservation International environmental and social impact study into the proposed project showed that about half of the reservoir would be inside the Central Cardamom Protected Forest.
Significant illegal logging of luxury timber such as rosewood had already taken place inside the CCPF, specifically in Koh Kong province’s Thma Bang district on O’Som commune in Veal Veng district, Pursat province, the study said. Pech Siyon, Koh Kong provincial director of the department of Industry, Mines and Energy, said yesterday he could not set a date on when the project would begin because data about villagers who practised slash-and-burn farming in the area was still being verified. “People are not living in the area, but they have farming cycles [inside the area] and construction has not yet begun on the project,” he said. A January, 2008 social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA) into the project by Guangxi Electric Power Industry Investigation Design and Research Institute found 899 people from 189 families in six villages would be forced to relocate because of the project. Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director of International Rivers, said the SEIA for the project had been approved despite the fact that it would forcibly displace hundreds of indigenous people from communities that had lived in the area for centuries. “This is a devastating project that will have significant environmental impacts and will resettle quite a few ethnic minority families,” she said. “It’s especially bad for the population of Siamese crocodiles in the dam area, but this is also within the Cardamom Mountains, so it’s in a protected forest.” Adam Starr, a project co-ordinator with Fauna & Flora International, said the area was home to the second-largest traditional habitat for Siamese crocodiles left in Cambodia, if not all of Southeast Asia. Starr also said questions had been raised about the viability of the project because of the area’s topography which, although in some ways perfectly suited for a dam, posed problems because the elevation of the area was low. “They would have to pipe the water 24 kilometres before they could get enough drop to spin the turbines to get the desired amount of electricity,” he said. Guodian Corporation and China Southern Power Grid could be reached for comment.
Battambang families seek land-dispute aid May Titthara Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Representatives of more than 300 families in Battambang province’s Bavel district yesterday urged government officials to intervene in a land dispute with provincial authorities and a businessman. Representative Thuy Ry said the 305 families had lived on the 3,638 hectares of land in Ampil Pram Doeum commune since 1999 and that businessman Chea Ny had violently and forcefully stolen land from families in 2005 and 2009. Last September, provincial authorities had taken additional land from residents. Authorities said the land was to be used as a social land concession for veterans and their families, but villagers are accusing them of corruptly collaborating with Chea Ny to profit from selling the area. “We would like the Battambang authorities to give back the land they confiscated from the people,” Thuy Ry said. In December, about 50 villagers clashed with a provincial land management committee that had come to measure the residents’ plots for the social land concession. During the melee, villagers confiscated three guns and set fire to two bulldozers, three police cars and four police motorcycles. After the incident, officials claimed the combative villagers had been hired by Chea Ny, but yesterday the villagers told the Post they were not hired and Chea Ny was actually part of the provincial team that was measuring the land. “We were not hired by other people. We did violence because authorities are corrupt and taking over our land,” Thuy Ry said. Bavel district governor Tim Dary confirmed the plan to use the villagers’ land as a social land concession. “If they have five hectares, we will give them three hectares and keep two for the social land concession,” he said.
Climate concerns for Cambodia Sen David with additional reporting by Mary Kozlovski Wednesday, 29 February 2012
The government needed better mechanisms to adapt to the effects of climate change, which could result in droughts and floods that cause deaths, destroy rice paddies and place an undue burden on the budget, a senior official said yesterday.
MOK MARETH (RIGHT), MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, SPEAKS DURING A WORKSHOP ON CLIMATE CHANGE YESTERDAY IN PHNOM PENH. VIREAK MAI
Environment Minister Mok Mareth told a workshop on climate change in Phnom Penh that previous floods and droughts in Cambodia could have been partly the result of climate change. He said that between 1987 and 2007, there had been 12 floods in which 1,100 people died and the overall cost of recovery was US$327 million, while drought over the same period had affected 6.5 million people and cost $138 million. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Climate change is an obstacle to social and economic development, so we need to reach an emergency solution,â&#x20AC;? Mok Mareth said, adding that less-developed countries hoped to be supported in such efforts by a global fund discussed at the 17th Conference of the Parties in South Africa last year. Mok Mareth said flooding last year had affected 1.5 million people and caused 250 deaths, and the recovery had so far cost $520 million. Sum Thy, director of the climate change department at the Ministry of Environment, said that Cambodia was developing a national plan to respond to the need to adapt to climate change,
although it lacked the knowledge and capacity to fully address its impact. Mona Laczo, country director at Oxfam America, said Cambodia was particularly susceptible to its food security being threatened by extreme weather events. “Over 70 per cent of the Cambodian population make their living in agriculture,” she said. “That’s what makes Cambodia one of the most vulnerable countries in the region.”
Conditions ripe for dengue outbreak Bridget Di Certo Wednesday, 29 February 2012
This year’s “epidemic cycle” of dengue fever could result in the Kingdom’s worst recorded epidemic of the disease, Ministry of Health officials said yesterday. There is an “unusual increase” in mosquito larvae in the first part of 2012, which could signal a pending mosquito-borne disease outbreak, dengue control program director Ngan Chantha said yesterday. “At the moment, it is an unusual increase, not an outbreak or high alert situation, but we need the public to informed and aware,” Ngan Chantha said. “With dengue, it is mainly an issue in the cities and towns because the larvae grow in still water often in built-up areas,” he said, adding that residents in all major cities should take care to keep clean households to prevent breeding grounds for the mosquito. Dengue mosquitos are commonly found in urban areas, while malarial mosquitos tend to be in rural or forested areas, he said. According to government information published yesterday, 2007 was the worst recorded outbreak of dengue fever in Cambodia. Some 40,000 children were infected during the epidemic and 400 were killed by the disease. “With the dengue mosquito we all have to be aware,” Ngan Chantha said. “The dengue mosquito bites everyone, old and young, rich and poor.”
Drug trafficking: Woman’s appeal falls on deaf ears Buth Reaksmey Kongkea Wednesday, 29 February 2012
The verdict for a woman sentenced to three years in prison on charges of drug trafficking was upheld yesterday during an appeal hearing at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Mao Mach, 41, had previously been convicted in absentia and fined four million riel (US$1,000) after going into hiding in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district. Police later found her in the Boeng Tumpon commune and she was jailed in February last year. The judge for the trial, You Bunna, said Mao Mach was arrested and charged based on the interrogation of Van Chanthou, who was arrested in 2010 for drug trafficking. The judge said that Van Chanthou claimed he had purchased two packages of methamphetamines from Mao Mach. However, the suspect maintained her innocence. “I am innocent, but I was convicted by the court to three years in jail,” she said yesterday after the trial. Mao Mach’s neighbour, Yam Chantheth, also claimed that police had arrested the wrong person.
Tribunal receives cash injection from donors Bridget Di Certo Wednesday, 29 February 2012
The cash crisis at the Khmer Rouge tribunal will be stemmed by immediate monetary contributions totaling US$15.5 million from donor countries, court officials said yesterday. Donor countries have pledged the funds after budget meetings between court administrators and donors at UN headquarters in New York last week. “Following the meeting between the group of interested states held on 24 February 2012 in New York, new funding has been pledged from donors for both sides of the ECCC,” tribunal public affairs spokesman Huy Vannak said yesterday, adding that the funds were expected to be accessible in the next “few weeks”. Six countries have pledged a total of $12 million to the national side of the court and Cambodia and Japan have pledged $3.5 million to the UN side of the court. Acting director of administration Tony Kranh sent an official note to all Cambodian staff at the court to inform them they will receive their salaries in a few weeks, said Huy Vannak, who leaves his post at the court today to take up a new role at Cambodia’s new 24-hour news station CNC. Cambodian staff at the court have not received any salary yet for 2012, and some judges and legal officers have not been paid since October. The court had asked for $89 million for 2012-2013 operation expenses, with $20 million to go to the national side and $69 million needed by the UN side. Sources close to the matter said the tribunal’s steering committee had approved the full $89 million budget for the next two years.
Treacherous walk: Tripped mine injures three, one severely Phak Seangly Thursday, 01 March 2012
Three men were injured on Monday afternoon after one of them stepped on a landmine in Battambang province’s Samlot district. Moeurn Muth, chief of staff for the district police, yesterday said Soy Kosal, 25, Sok Chhoan, 28, and Nuon Kim, 27, had been clearing a forest to cultivate corn. When returning home on an old path, Soy Kosal stepped on a landmine, sustaining serious injuries to his right leg. The other two men suffered slight wounds to their hands and legs. “Soy Kosal stepped on the mine and detonated it. His right leg may be amputated,” said Moeurn Muth. He added that the landmine was leftover from wartime. Chhiv Lim, project manager for the Cambodia Mine Victims Information System, said in 2011 there had been 211 landmine victims, with 43 having died, 135 wounded and 33 becoming disabled.
Indigenous land exploited Tep Nimol Friday, 02 March 2012
The Royal Government of Cambodia and private land developers were exploiting indigenous communities in Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri provinces by signing concession deals for the communities’ land without prior consultation, advocates said yesterday.
ETHNIC TAMPOUN VILLAGERS PERFORM A TRADITIONAL DANCE IN RATANAKKIRI PROVINCE LAST YEAR. ADAM MILLER
“We urge the government as well as the private sector to respect [indigenous peoples’] rights to their land . . . and their rights to independence and cultural integrity,” Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum, said. “All these projects must be planned with care, transparency and accountability.” The NGO Forum of Cambodia launched its publication on “Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Development” pointing the finger at the government and companies who were making land deals behind closed doors that affected indigenous peoples’ land. One case study in Ratanakkiri’s Malik commune, in Andong Meas district, used in the publication describes how the Heng Brother Company began bulldozing its economic concession of 20 hectares of forest. Villagers, who were unaware a concession had been granted, were bribed with $100 payments to assist in clearing their own forest land, or have the land cleared by bulldozers and receive no payment at all. Department of Mines director Sim Sisokhaly told the Post the law was very clear that companies must have the written agreement of landowners affected by a concession.
“The government has an accurate law, and companies that have economic land concessions must follow this policy,” Sim Sisokhaly said. Sek Sophoan, national co-ordinator for the International Labour Office, said yesterday the obligations of the Cambodian government and private companies to respect indigenous peoples’ rights were very clear.
Relocation fears for Siem Reap families Thik Kaliyann Friday, 02 March 2012
About 90 Siem Reap families have rejected what they say is a preliminary move by the provincial authority to have them moved off land declared part of Kulen Mountain National Park in 2002. The families, in Banteay Srei district’s Tbeng commune, said yesterday they had rejected an offer to be moved to unseen land because they feared being moved to an isolated area bereft of infrastructure. Koe Sophy, a village representative, said the offer had been made during a meeting with provincial Department of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction officials and Banteay Srei’s district chief. “Banteay Srei’s village chief said that we must leave if the government wants to develop this area, because we’re living illegally on government land,” Koe Sophy said. “We settled there in 1997 and we . . . have land ownership documentation.” Tapan resident Ork Em said he had refused to relocate until he knew the proposed relocation site was adequate. “I bought this land from another resident, and the district chief agreed to provide me with land ownership,” he said. “They told people to accept the land, but we need land that is as good for harvesting crops as it is here. “In our village we have hospitals, schools and pagodas; we really wonder if the new place will have the same things.” Banteay Srei district chief Meung Vuthy said the government planned to reforest in Kulen Mountain National Park to reverse environmental damage caused by forest clearing. Meung Vuthy said villagers would be given two hectares for crop-growing at the relocation site, which also had a school and a pagoda.