Environment at risk as Cambodia exports millions of tonnes of sand to Singapore, new Global Witness report reveals

Environment at risk as Cambodia exports millions of tonnes of sand to Singapore, new Global Witness report reveals

A dugong, one of the endangered species under threat from Cambodia’s sand mining industry

Press Release – 10/05/2010
Source: Global Witness

Click here to download the report in English (PDF)
Click here to download the press release in Khmer (PDF)

Singapore's rapid expansion is driving an ecologically and socially devastating sand-dredging industry in Cambodia, according to a new report released today by Global Witness. This booming trade is being monopolised by two prominent Cambodian Senators with close ties to Prime Minster Hun Sen - despite a supposed government ban on sand exports.

The Global Witness report Shifting Sand: how Singapore's demand for Cambodian sand threatens ecosystems and undermines good governance reveals that:

• Cambodian Senators Mong Reththy and Ly Yong Phat have been awarded sand extraction licences behind closed doors, gaining control of an industry worth millions of dollars - but there is no evidence of any revenues reaching Cambodia's state coffers. Both have been implicated in dubious land deals and forced evictions, and have recently been criticised for sponsoring units of Cambodia's armed forces. This points to the increasing stranglehold of Cambodia's kleptocratic elite on its natural resources, replicating a pattern of corruption, cronyism, and rights abuses previously found in the forestry sector and extractive industries.
• Cambodia's sand-dredging industry poses a huge risk to its coastal environment, threatening endangered species, fish stocks and local livelihoods. There is no evidence that basic environmental safeguards have been applied, with boats reportedly turning up and dredging sand, often in protected areas, with no local consultation. All this makes a mockery of the government's supposed May 2009 ban on sand-dredging.
• This trade is driven by Singapore. The city state was the world's largest importer of sand in 2008. It has used sand imports to increase its landmass by 22% since the 1960s. This project has wreaked havoc on the region's coastlines, with Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia having all now announced bans on sand dredging for export due to environmental concerns.

"This situation highlights the continued failure of Cambodia's international donors to use their leverage to hold the small elite surrounding the Prime Minister to account," said George Boden, campaigner at Global Witness. "Cambodia's natural resource wealth should be lifting its population out of poverty. Instead, international aid has propped up basic services in Cambodia for over 15 years, providing the equivalent of 50% of the government budget. Meanwhile, money from natural resources disappears into private bank accounts, and nearly 70% of the population subsists on less than $2 a day."

Global Witness' investigation tracked boats being loaded with sand in Cambodia to their destinations in Singapore. It also uncovered contracts linking Singaporean companies to Cambodia's sand industry. In June this year, Singapore will host the World Cities Summit, which promotes ‘sustainable and liveable cities'.

"Singapore says that the import of sand is a purely commercial activity but it also presents itself as a regional leader on environmental issues," said Boden. "The country's failure to mitigate the social and ecological cost of sand dredging represents hypocrisy on a grand scale. If Singapore wants its environmental stance to be taken seriously, monitoring where the sand is sourced and what is being done to obtain it would be an obvious place to start."

/ENDS

Contact: George Boden on 0207 492 5899 or +44 7912 516445 or Oliver Courtney (French) on 0207 492 5848 or +44 7815 731 889, ocourtney@globalwitness.org.

Journalists: For images please contact Oliver Courtney - ocourtney@globalwitness.org

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Sand exports to Singapore harm Cambodia: watchdog

Hun Xen's cronies: Mong Reththy (L) and Ly Yong Phat (R)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia is engaged in destructive sand exports to fuel Singapore's rapid expansion despite a supposed government ban on the practice, an environmental watchdog said Tuesday.

London-based Global Witness said Cambodia was making a "mockery of the government's supposed May 2009 ban on sand-dredging", risking devastation to its coasts, endangered species, fish stocks and local livelihoods.

"There is no evidence that basic environmental safeguards have been applied, with boats reportedly turning up and dredging sand, often in protected areas, with no local consultation," said its new report, entitled "Shifting Sands".

The group, which has made many allegations of Cambodian cronyism in recent years, said Mong Reththy and Ly Yong Phat -- senators known to have close ties to premier Hun Sen -- have been covertly awarded licences to dredge sand.

"This situation highlights the continued failure of Cambodia's international donors to use their leverage to hold the small elite surrounding the prime minister to account," said George Boden, campaigner at Global Witness.

The report said investigators tracked sand-filled boats from Cambodia to Singapore, estimating concessions from southwestern Koh Kong province alone netted 20 million dollars per month for some 796,000 tonnes of sand.

Global Witness added that figures from other concessions along Cambodia's coast were not known, and there was no way to track whether revenues from sand exports reached the national treasury.

"In addition, Global Witness has seen Cambodian sand dredging and export licences which bear the stamp and signature of a representative of the Singapore Embassy in Cambodia," the report said.

Singapore has expanded its surface area by 22 percent since the 1960s, said the report, requiring vast quantities of imported sand from neighbours in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have halted sand exports to the city-state over concerns the practice depleted fish stocks and caused erosion.

The Cambodian government has banned past reports by Global Witness, which also accused donors of ignoring graft among elites who have allegedly been involved in illegal logging as well as shady oil and mining deals.

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S'pore's lame excuse: It did not did not receive any official notice on the ban of sand exports from Cambodia

S'pore rebuts NGO report

May 11, 2010
Today Online (Singapore)

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Government has rebutted a report by Global Witness' claiming that Singapore's demand for Cambodian sand has threatened the ecosystem and undermines good governance.

The report from the International Environmental non-government organisation (NGO) suggests the Singapore Government seeks to import sand without due regard to the laws or environmental impact of Cambodia.

A statement from the National Development Ministry (MND) said this is not true. The Ministry says it is committed to the protection of the global environment.

And it does not condone the illegal export or smuggling of sand, or any extraction of sand that is in breach of the source countries' laws and rules on environmental protection.

The Government also did not receive any official notice on the ban of sand exports from Cambodia.

The import of reclamation sand to Singapore is done on a commercial basis by Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

JTC requires all its sand suppliers to comply with local legal procedures to extract or transport sand from the sources without causing adverse impact to the environment. It has also put in place specific measures to ensure accountability from the sand suppliers.

Singapore Customs also has in place procedures to check and investigate the import of all goods, including sand, at the various checkpoints.

MND says the policing and enforcement of sand extraction licences is ultimately the responsibility of the source country.

However, Singapore will continue to play its part to ensure that sand is extracted in a legal and environmentally responsible manner.

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Kent man accused of having sex with Cambodian girls

May 10, 2010
The Seattle Times (Washington State, USA)

Craig Thomas Carr, 59, will appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday on allegations that he had sex with underage girls in Cambodia.

Carr was arrested by Cambodian National Police on Jan. 22 and was brought back to the U.S. by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on May 6, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The charges against Carr are detailed in a five-count criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

Carr is charged with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and sexual exploitation of a child.

According to affidavit in the case, the investigation into Carr began in December 2009 when the Cambodian National Police, acting on information from the French National Police, learned that a taxi driver in Phnom Penh had advertised that he could connect people with child prostitutes. Carr responded to one of the Internet advertisements in November 2009 and the two men exchanged approximately 20 e-mail messages, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In the e-mails, Carr told the man that he wanted to have sex with girls around the age of 12, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Carr traveled to Cambodia on Jan. 13, authorities said. The next day, Carr met the taxi driver at his hotel and was driven to a local guest house, where he met an adult female who appeared to be managing a brothel, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Over the next week, Carr had sex with three different female juveniles, authorities said. Carr paid the man about $3,000 when he arrived in Cambodia and had made two additional payments -- of $3,000 and $1,800 -- to the adult female who allegedly operated the brothel, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Carr also paid each young girl $20 to take sexually explicit photographs of them, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The Cambodian National Police arrested Carr on Jan. 22. The taxi driver, who was not identified by the U.S. Attorney's Office, was also arrested by Cambodian authorities.

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Home Bulldozed in Sugar Company Dispute

A group of villagers lit incense, in Kampong Speu province. (Photo: by Heng Reaksmey)

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 10 May 2010

"My house was completely destroyed without warning from the company, demolished this morning."

Police and security guards for the Phnom Penh Sugar Co, Ltd, bulldozed one house in Kampong Speu province Monday, but a rights worker said he expects at least 20 more families to be pushed from their homes in coming days.

No one was injured in Monday morning’s demolition, which was part of an ongoing land dispute in Thpong district’s Omlieng commune. At least two local police and three security guards for the company accompanied the bulldozer, witnesses said.

“My house was completely destroyed without warning from the company, demolished this morning,” said Nut Sary, 35, a mother of two children whose husband is a motorcycle taxi driver in Phnom Penh. “I bought this land in 2000 and also have proper documents. The company said my house was illegal. The company has abused my rights for living.”

She told VOA Khmer she wants the company to pay compensation, but she did not say how much.

Chheang Kim Sun, a spokesman for the company, said Monday the house was not properly documented and was sitting on company land.

Phnom Penh Sugar is owned by Ly Yong Phat, a powerful senator for the Cambodian People’s Party. The company was granted nearly 8,000 hectares of land in a government concession in 2002, but in recent months it has expanded its plantations.

Villagers say the company moved onto their legal land and have staged numerous protests since February. At least two men were arrested in connection with protests that included the burning of several company buildings and a bulldozer.

Am Sam Ath, lead investigator for the rights group Licadho, said the company failed to announce the demolition to the family.

At least 20 families have told Licadho they expect their houses to be knocked down this week, he said.

Omlieng Commune Chief Hak Dam said she was not aware of the demolition but promised to investigate. Phnom Penh Sugar has in the past destroyed houses that lack legitimate paperwork, she said.

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Comrade Jarvis finally to retire

Helen Jarvis, far right, shakes hands with Peter Taksoe-Jensen, UN assistant secretary general for Legal Affairs. (Photo: AP)

Head of Tribunal’s Victims Unit To Retire

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 10 May 2010

“I am 64,” she said. “I wish to live with my family.”

The head of the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s Victims Unit announced Monday she was retiring, becoming the second person to leave the office in a little over a year.

The Victims Unit is responsible for coordinating testimony and other documentation from survivors and families of victims of the Khmer Rouge, as part of the UN-backed court’s efforts of national reconciliation.

Helen Jarvis, who had been head of the unit since April 2009, said she would leave June 30, as part of a “normal” retirement.

“I am 64,” she said. “I wish to live with my family.”

Jarvis, an Australian national, had been an adviser to the government’s Khmer Rouge tribunal task force as it negotiated formation of the court with the UN. She was with the tribunal from its inception and had been a court spokeswoman before taking the job at the Victims Unit.

The unit has so far collected 4,004 victim complaints, as the tribunal moves toward the atrocity crimes trial of a group of aging Khmer Rouge leaders.

“Her leaving coincides with a busy moment at the [tribunal], especially for what is related to the participation of the civil parties,” said Long Panhavuth, a court monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative of Cambodia.

“We call for urgent preparations for a new director of this unit, to ensure the full participation of victims and ensure their interest,” he said.

Lat Ky, who observes the court for the rights group Adhoc, said Jarvis’ replacement is so far not known.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath, however, said the court’s administration is now considering a replacement.

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Malaysian Businesses Ink Deals on Official Visit

Prime Minister Hun Sen welcomes Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, on Monday. (Photo: AP)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 10 May 2010

CIMB Group Chief Executive Datuk Sri Nazir Razak said the bank would help bring “more trade and investment flows between Cambodia and other Asean markets.”

Malaysia banking giant CIMB will open a branch in Cambodia as part of a series of agreements penned between Cambodian and Malaysian officials Monday.

The CIMB Group was green-lighted by the National Bank of Cambodia to open a bank, but Prime Minister Hun Sen gave official approval Monday, as he met with Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who arrived Sunday for his first visit since becoming premier in April 2009.

Ngong Meng Tech, secretary-general of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, said Cambodian and Malaysian companies also signed six agreements totaling $1 billion in further meetings Monday.

Those deals focused on Cambodian production of coffee and halal sugar; a poultry farm for KFC; information technology security and the establishment of two universities and a business council here, Ngong Meng Tech said.

CIMB said in a statement it will operate a 100-percent owned subsidiary with headquarters in Phnom Penh, to be established in the next six months.

CIMB Group Chief Executive Datuk Sri Nazir Razak said in a statement the bank would help bring “more trade and investment flows between Cambodia and other Asean markets.”

Hun Sen “approved, encouraged and supported CIMB Group to open its office in Cambodia,” said Ieng Sophalleth, an adviser to the prime minister.

Hun Sen also encouraged his counterpart to consider further Malaysian investment, “particularly in the rice crop,” Ieng Sophalleth said.

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A Dance Across Barriers and Borders

Sokvannara (Sy) Sar performing Oberon in a Midsummer Night's Dream. (Photo: by Rex Tranter)

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Monday, 10 May 2010

It all started at a temple in Siem Reap province. Sokvannara Sar, better known as Sy, was performing the Fisherman Dance for tourists at Preah Khan temple.

The year was 2000, and among the audience that day was an American socialite and arts patron named Anne Bass. It was her first time in Cambodia, and after she left, she could not stop thinking about Sy.

She determined to find a way to put him into the world of ballet. That decision was the beginning of an odyssey for the dancer, one that is captured in a new film, “Dancing Across Borders.”

“This image of him and his spirit kept coming back to me,” Bass says in the film, which had a brief showing in Washington and other US cities recently. “And I thought about the fact that Cambodian dancers, especially male dancers, don’t have much for the future and I sensed a really great talent in him and I kept thinking how sad it would be just to leave that unrealized.”

Sy flew to the US under Bass’ sponsorship to receive training from ballet professionals. He was 16 year old—old in the dance world—and he spoke no English. But he impressed his teachers.

“The first time I saw him I thought this boy is stunning,” Jock Soto, a former professional dancer of the New York City Ballet says in the film. “He is so beautiful…and I didn’t have a clue what he could do.”

Sy told VOA Khmer recently he had no idea what ballet even was. He just showed up where he was told to show up, and he danced. He jumped up and down. He learned. He became a ballet dancer. He was taught under a professional coach, Olga Kostritzky, and he practiced. He practiced and practiced.

In 2006, he had a chance to perform for the opening of the new US Embassy in Phnom Penh. He flew through the air, jumped, flitted his legs, landed. His hands moved—up, down, sideways. He flexed his body to the tune of a piano. He did things many Cambodians had never seen. They marveled.

Later that year, he competed in Bulgaria, bringing the Cambodian flag for the first time in many years to an Olympic dance competition. He made it to the semi-finals before he was eliminated.

“I think one of the best parts of the competition for Sy was sharing the stage with dancers from ballet companies throughout the world,” Bass says.

Contestants were from many countries including Belarus, Kazakhstan and South Korea. He later began dancing for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, in Seattle.

“It wasn’t that we were forcing him on this fast track,” Peter Boal, artistic director for that ballet company, says. “It’s just he was able to learn what he needed to learn, accomplish what he needed to accomplish, in such a short amount of time to go up a level—which was great because if he couldn’t, he wouldn’t have made it as a professional dancer.”

“It’s really was quite remarkable,” he says. “I would have said it’s a one in a thousand chance that this could work, and I think we found that one.”

Sy’s natural ability and style have made it hard for people to believe he only recently began ballet—a Western form of classical dance that is far removed from Cambodian folk dance.

“Our Cambodian dance is different from ballet,” Sy said. “We don’t have to do too much bending. We do some, but we can start when we get older. But 99 percent of ballet dancers have to start at ages 8 or 9. Cambodia dance is slow. There is not too much jumping, twisting or extending legs. There is no toe twisting.”

Sy spent four years at the Pacific Northwest company. He quit a few months ago and is now looking for a new company. He has no plans yet to bring his learning back to Cambodia.

“I want to spend a bit more time studying this dance, but sometimes I think of going home,” he said. “In the future if there is a need to have me share knowledge or form a ballet group, that would be good, as there is no ballet in Cambodia.”

In fact, Cambodia once had ballet. It was taught by Russian coaches in the 1960s, said Proeung Chhoeung, an adviser to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

And the government would like to see it return, although it has made little progress, he said. “We will surely have it in the future.”

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Monday, May 10, 2010

Arrests sought in illegal sale of state land

Monday, 10 May 2010
Rann Ruey
The Phnom Penh Post
Siem Reap Province

SIEM Reap provincial court has ordered the arrests of five Environment Ministry officials accused of selling protected state land to villagers in Oddar Meanchey province, an investigating judge said Sunday.

Two of the five officials were arrested May 4, and authorities are searching for three others, Hok Pov said.

Ruth Rong and Nuon Hey have been charged with conspiring to destroy trees in Kulen-Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, which has been officially designated a protected area.

“So far, two have been arrested, and officials are searching for the other three,” said Hok Pov, who declined to identify the other men, citing a fear that they would flee if their names became public.

The arrests were ordered after villagers from Anlong Veng district showed authorities documents indicating they had been sold state land by Environment Ministry officials, Hok Pov said.

In January, villager Chhoeut Chhong was arrested after he was accused of cutting down trees in the protected area – land he said he believed belonged to him.

Last month, 40 villagers staged a protest in front of Siem Reap provincial court demanding Chhoeut Chhong’s release, claiming they had purchased the land from government officials.

On Sunday, villagers involved in the dispute welcomed the arrests of the officials. But they also implored authorities to grant them permission to
continue living on the land.

“I appeal to Samdech Hun Sen to grant the land to us,” said Chhorm Chhoeun. “If we knew what the real situation was before, we would never have come to live on this land.”

Chhorm Chhoeun said that the officials convinced villagers to pay them US$1,000 each to lobby the government to award them 30-by-200-metre plots of land.

Despite the arrests of the officials, Hok Pov said he had no intention of releasing Chhoeut Chhong, the jailed villager, until the entire investigation is complete.

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“When they threaten to take over villagers’ land, it is anarchy”: Chan Soveth

Tension still runs high in Kampong Speu

Monday, 10 May 2010
May Titthara and Will Baxter
The Phnom Penh Post

RIGHTS groups and villagers from Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district have warned that violence could erupt again if action is not taken to resolve an ongoing dispute between local residents and a sugar company in Omlaing commune.

On Saturday, about 50 additional soldiers, most of whom are from Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Battalion 313, arrived at a disputed area in the commune to provide security for employees of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, who on Sunday continued to clear land despite protests by about 600 residents. Roughly 100 soldiers were already stationed there.

On Saturday “soldiers came in strongly to defend the equipment of the company”, said Mathieu Pellerin, a consultant for local rights group Licadho.

“We are extremely worried about the potential for violence. When you bring the military into the equation, there is just that much more of a chance for violence,” he added.

"WE ARE EXTREMELY WORRIED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR VIOLENCE."

Villager San Tho said Sunday that residents of Omlaing commune had tried to prevent company employees from clearing their land but failed because of the overwhelming presence of the soldiers.

“The employees did not listen to us because they have police and soldiers standing next to the excavators to ensure they can clear the land,” he said.

“We did not want to allow them to clear our land because in some places village land was cleared by the company, and then the authorities did not include that area in their official measurements,” he said, referring to a mutually agreed-upon system established to help set boundaries between village and company land.

Eleven villages in Omlaing – which are home to more than 2,000 families – have allegedly been affected by the 9,000-hectare concession granted to the company, which is owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat. On March 18, villagers torched the company’s makeshift office, leading to the arrest of two representatives who were later released.

Hab Dam, chief of Omlaing commune, confirmed on Sunday that more soldiers had been employed to protect company property. He added that authorities had already measured the land of about 100 families.

Em Sophal, deputy police chief of Thpong district, said the extra soldiers were from outside the district. “The company brought those soldiers in from outside, but I do not know where they are from,” he said.

Chan Soveth, a senior investigator for the rights group Adhoc, condemned the increased military presence. “When they threaten to take over villagers’ land, it is anarchy,” he said.

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Development can debilitate

Vendors cross the border in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town last year. A professor from Thailand’s Shinawatra University says new research indicates infrastructure projects such as Poipet’s Cambodian-Thai Friendship Bridge can facilitate trafficking. (Photo by: Steve Finch)

Monday, 10 May 2010
David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

In the supermarket, what can we find? Is there anything from Cambodia? There are some natural products packed in Cambodia. But the majority of the stuff is Australian or Thai, or some stuff is Chinese and some stuff is Vietnamese and so on. Almost nothing is from Cambodia.

John Walsh warns that infrastructure projects can exacerbate human trafficking

Though often touted by the government and donors as evidence of development, infrastructure projects can in some cases negatively affect the Cambodian economy while simultaneously fuelling human trafficking, said John Walsh, a professor at the school of management at Thailand’s Shinawatra University, at a regional conference on migration last week.

On the sidelines of the gathering, dubbed the “International Conference on Mobility Patterns of Cambodian and Other Nationals in the South East Asia Region”, Walsh elaborated on his research into Cambodian migrant workers.

Walsh drew from interviews with 59 Cambodian migrant workers employed in jobs he described as “3D” – dangerous, dirty and disgusting. The interviews revealed that the workers gained little long-term financial benefit from their jobs in Thailand, and that they faced both isolation and discrimination.

Could you explain in a bit more detail how you think major infrastructure projects can exacerbate human trafficking?

Infrastructure, insofar as it means roads and railways and civil aviation and so forth – in this case it means mainly roads – it’s widely thought among the [Asian Development Bank] and the kind of international development thinking people that such infrastructure will inevitably help aggregate economic activity. But there is much less knowledge specifically about who would benefit and who would not benefit – I mean, who would suffer from it.

If we look at the [Cambodian-Thai Friendship Bridge in Poipet town, Banteay Meanchey province], this road is clearly facilitating migration because it’s just making it easier for people to go from one place to another much more quickly. And since we now have greater ownership of personal transportation like motorbikes and so on, people can go seasonally from one country to another and then go back for the harvest season or so forth, so that’s facilitating what’s going on. Since human trafficking is also clearly occurring across the border, then it is abetting human trafficking. That’s just one of the unintended consequences of the infrastructure development.

You think of a big, nice, new road and bridge, you don’t think of that as the standard avenue through which people would be trafficked.

But if, as so many people here have been arguing, there are established authority figures who have been facilitating human trafficking, then it makes sense for them to use the roads over which they’ve got control rather than taking them through the roads and the jungles through which they don’t have control.

What are the economic consequences of the Poipet Friendship Bridge?

Last night, I went to the Lucky Supermarket, because like all business-teaching people I have to see what’s being sold rather than go to the tourist places. In the supermarket, what can we find? Is there anything from Cambodia?

There are some natural products packed in Cambodia. But the majority of the stuff is Australian or Thai, or some stuff is Chinese and some stuff is Vietnamese and so on. Almost nothing is from Cambodia. OK, now, in a situation where very few Cambodian firms can produce and distribute food items on a reliable, high-quality basis, then clearly Lucky Supermarket as a representative of retail is going to get its stuff from overseas. So it’s easier, presumably, to get stuff from Bangkok and drive it across the Poipet border point than it is to try and get someone up-country in Cambodia for the same products.

So in this case, again, the local people, through lack of their own capacity and ability in business and so forth, are going to lose out, and the larger producers – through economy of scale, economy of scope, all this kind of thing – are going to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the road. But that’s a one-way thing because coming to Thailand you’ll find very few Cambodian products coming the other way.

So it’s not like it’s an equal exchange. It seems, so far as I can tell, to be going just in one direction principally at the moment. Cambodia, meanwhile, is exporting labour, and the research that we did said that remittances are so low that they’re not actually making a difference for the families on a day-to-day basis.

But even if the money is just going into, for instance, paying off debts, surely they will eventually pay off that loan and thus benefit?

Yeah, but is it a loan that is going to improve their lives for the long term? Are they buying livestock, are they building a farm or are they just repairing a house in which they have to live in any case? Or is it just a loan to meet living expenses or educational expenses and so on? The sense that I got from our research was that the loans are not making a qualitative difference to peoples’ lives. They’re enabling the families to keep going, but without necessarily improving themselves.

Interview by David Boyle

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Land Dispute : Villagers to meet over Kandal row

Monday, 10 May 2010
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
Land Dispute

Village representatives from Prek Sleng commune in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district will attend a meeting at the district governor’s office Monday to discuss a 200-hectare plot of disputed land that has been awarded to the Heng Development Company, villagers said. Oeung Chanry, a village representative, said Sunday she had received a letter from district authorities inviting her to an 8:30am meeting after she and 17 other villagers delivered a complaint to Prime Minister Hun Sen Friday. “We filed a complaint to the prime minister in Phnom Penh because the authorities here do not care about us,” she said. On April 4, Heng Development Company dispatched bulldozers to the disputed land, a move that spurred some 400 villagers to block National Road 2 in protest. Eleven villagers were arrested during the demonstration. Lim Leang Se, the premier’s deputy chief of cabinet, said that Kandal Stung district Governor Choie Sobin would explain the situation to the villagers. “Hun Sen has recognised that Heng Development Company has ownership of that land because they have land titles,” he said.

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On guard at Bangkok's frontlines

May 11, 2010
By Richard S Ehrlich
Asia Times Online

BANGKOK - He boasts of killing 20 Thai communists and fondly recalls working with the United States Central Intelligence Agency, but denies suspicions that he leads a death squad that is involved in bombings and shootings to help the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship protest group cripple Bangkok.

Major General Khattiya "Seh Daeng" Sawatdiphol is one of the biggest reasons the government and military are afraid to attack the red shirts' barricades and clear them from Bangkok's streets.

"Every morning at 4am, I inspect all these barricades," Khattiya said in Thai during an interview next to barriers built with bamboo spikes, rubber tires, rags, flammable oil, concrete blocks and razor wire. "Every day I go out and do a reconnaissance. I do a tactical show of force."

He is wanted for questioning about a mysterious alleged death squad known as "Ronin Warriors". The government and military blame them for several recent killings stemming from dozens of unsolved M-79 grenade attacks on banks, electric pylons, army positions, an airport fuel depot, government offices and a crowd of people on Silom Road one evening near the red shirts' barricades.

Wearing a camouflage military uniform and canteen, Khattiya denied any link to the Ronin Warriors. But his frequent warnings of grenade attacks - right before they occur - have raised suspicions.

In February, he boasted of training hundreds of former Ranger paramilitary troops to protect the Reds. "If the state clamps down on us, we have to defend ourselves. We and our red shirt brothers may need to resort to weapons," he told reporters at the time.

When he discusses military tactics, people on all sides listen because his combat experience outweighs many officers in Thailand's coup-minded army. His snarling, insult-laden warnings come at a time when the government and military are licking their wounds after the army's disastrous failure to crush the reds' occupation of Bangkok's streets on April 10, which resulted in 25 deaths and 900 injured.

Khattiya said a Ronin Warriors' M-79 grenade assault killed several senior military officers during those clashes, forcing the army's retreat. The Ronin Warriors opened fire after a rival, hooded "men in black" death squad aided the government's side and killed civilians, he said.

"The Ronin Warriors help the red shirts because the government shoots the people," he said during the interview. "The men in black come from the government."

No one has independently confirmed all the facts of who killed whom that night.

Partly due to the Ronin Warriors' willingness to help the reds fight back, the military is unable or unwilling to use force to end the red shirts' occupation of Bangkok's streets, which began on March 12.

The Ronin Warriors could protect the red shirts behind the barricades, Khattiya said.

"I think they can, because the government's soldiers are wearing helmets and bullet-proof vests, and very tight clothing, and they will get very hot and suffer heat stroke" during their assault, he said. "There is no way for the army to dig a fortified position here on these streets. The army will be standing out as targets."

The Ronin have an advantage in urban warfare against the army, he said, pointing at the nearby security forces.

"Here there is a lot of concrete, and all these places where the Ronin can hide behind," he said, gesturing at several tall buildings, including shops, restaurants, offices, a hotel and a hospital.

A publicized rift between the army and police also makes the military vulnerable.

"If the army uses war weapons, the police at the front will turn around against the army, because the police are with the reds. In that event, the Ronin will have an advantage."

He could not, however, guarantee the Ronin would appear in time to rescue the reds.

"The reds have to hang on until the Ronin come to help. If the Ronin don't come, it is over. It is like the movie Braveheart. Thailand's Ronin Warriors use the name to honor stealthy Japanese ninjas. Thailand's version has “assault rifles, M-79 bombs and hand grenades. You don't need anything more than these for close combat like this. The Ronin and the enemy army have the same capability. It is a matter of tactics now."

Another reason Khattiya attracts listeners is because he says things designed to disgust and outrage.

"It is the thought process of homosexuals, using tanks and armor against the population," he said, laughing wildly while describing the evening street battle on April 10.

"The tactics you are supposed to use are to fight early in the morning, or during daylight hours, not at night. But the army acts with homosexual emotions."

When army commander-in-chief General Anupong Paojinda reassigned him to teach aerobics in 2008, Khattiya announced: "I have prepared one dance. It's called 'The Throwing a Hand Grenade Dance'."

Born in 1951, and due to retire in 2011, he is an "army specialist" but was "suspended" on January 14 by Anupong for alleged violations. The next day, a rocket-propelled M-79 grenade exploded in Anupong's office.

"Khattiya's predictions always turn out to be true," a government spokesman, Buranat Samutrak, said in January.

"Everybody thinks that I am the Ronin leader, the samurai. I deny. I deny. I am not a Ronin," Khattiya said during the interview. "I only want to fight with peaceful means."

Cursing, he demanded the arrests of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs Suthep Thaugsuban, Anupong, and others because "the government shot the citizens" on April 10.

Khattiya was once a Ranger, an often brutal paramilitary force that includes current and former troops loyal to him.

"A true soldier like me was never promoted to the position I should be. I helped kill 20 people, 20 enemies, and I was wounded." He says they were Thai communists, “killed in a tactical conflict, an ambush” that he led in northern Thailand near the border with communist Laos in 1976.

Some speculate Khattiya is using the reds so a cabal of rightwing military officers and retirees can seize power. Police jailed him for a couple of days in March for alleged weapons possession and helping a criminal suspect escape.

On nationwide TV, Abhisit publicly named Khattiya for the first time on April 25 and said without elaborating: "Everything is connected. All names like Seh Daeng [Khattiya]" and others were "not cases of coincidence".

His website, www.sae-dang.com, is officially blocked in Thailand but his books are bestsellers and he occasionally appears on TV talk shows. The major general is friendly with Thaksin Shinawatra, the former billionaire prime minister who was toppled in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin is an international fugitive dodging a two-year jail sentence for corruption. He is close to the reds shirts.



"On March 9, I was in Dubai and saw Thaksin and spoke with him, and [on May 3], I spoke on the telephone with him. I explained to Thaksin how the army committed murder on April 10, and how they are now bringing tanks and will do it again. I told him now we have to fight. They will shoot women and children. I also described the barricades here." because Thaksin is one of the reds' top leaders.

Other red leaders have distanced themselves from Khattiya, fearing his image is too violent. In turn, he has condemned them for recently retracting a barricade from a hospital.

"The red leadership don't agree with me, and they lost all this land by moving the barricades," he said, pointing at an unblocked street in front of Chulalongkorn Hospital.

The reds were denounced as thugs when some of them stormed the hospital on April 29 to search for army snipers, and left without finding any.

"There were soldiers inside," Khattiya insisted. "The red leaders are assuming the posture of retreating, but the red citizens are not. People said the red shirts were becoming stronger than Thaksin. Now the red shirts are going over the heads of the red leaders. They are scared their leaders will give up."

He said Thaksin told him on the telephone: "'Don't let a lot of people die. I don't want a lot of deaths. You have to hold back the army.'

"Thaksin has no idea about the tactics of fighting. But he's a nice guy."

Khattiya is also fond of America, which he has visited several times, including when his daughter recently graduated from George Washington University in Washington DC, he said.

"Earlier, I took General Vang Pao, from the Hmong resistance, to America."

Vang Pao was an infamous leader of the CIA's failed "secret war" in Laos up until 1975, when communists achieved victory alongside communists in Cambodia and Vietnam against the Americans.

Khattiya said he helped smuggle Vang Pao across Thailand into Malaysia. "I stayed with him in a safe house. I took Vang Pao out to Penang, and sent him to America. I also did fundraising with Vang Pao in America, for the anti-communist effort," during the past few decades.

Vang Pao was arrested in 2007 and charged with trying to purchase an anti-aircraft Stinger missile and other weapons in California, and was jailed for several months before being released and acquitted, though others in his group were sent to trial.

"I have a history of working with the CIA as well," Khattiya said, referring to US and Thai efforts to kill Communist Party of Thailand suspects during the 1970s.

Khattiya said he had a message for US President Barack Obama: "This government is murdering people. Bring the United Nations in, because it is going to be like Pol Pot, Mussolini and Hitler."

Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco, California. He has reported news from Asia since 1978 and is co-author of the non-fiction book of investigative journalism, Hello My Big Big Honey! Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews. His website is www.asia-correspondent.110mb.com.

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Vietnamese goods attain many advantages upon entering Cambodian market [... thanks to Uncle Hoon Xhen]

Monday ,May 10,2010
Saigon Giai Phong (Vietcong communist party)

Firms said Vietnamese goods would likely dominate Cambodia’s market if the country offers them favorable policies about taxes and fees, issues laws to protect them, and helps them maintain updated information concerning evolving markets.

Vietnamese goods exported to Cambodia managed to remain at a growth of 30 percent a year, while the country’s overall export market suffered a decrease. The conference on border trade cooperation and development between Vietnam and Cambodia, held recently, mainly discussed how to maintain the two-way trade growth between the two countries with a focus on strengthening that partnership over the next ten years.
Potential hard to exploit

According to Vu Huy Hoang, minister of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Cambodia is an important and potential market for Vietnamese goods as the two countries share a border of 1,137 kilometers that goes through 10 Vietnamese provinces and 9 in Cambodia. There are 10 pairs of international border gates, 12 pairs of main border gates, and 25 secondary gates along the border. In addition, there are many trails, which facilitate trade between the two countries.

Vietnam and Cambodia share several similarities in terms of local customs and consumer demand, which benefits Vietnamese firms in the exportation of goods. Many Vietnamese consumer goods groups, including cosmetics, instant noodles, plastic products, and fertilizers account up to 50 percent of market share in Cambodia. Meanwhile, Vietnam mainly imports materials for manufacturing.

Vietnam has great structural advantages in the exportation of goods to Cambodia. However, as for now, the neighboring country is merely a potential market.

According to Tran Huu Duc, foreign relations director of Nutifood, through goods fairs and mass media, the percentage of Cambodian people, who know about Nutifood’s dairy products, has recently risen. However, as the applied tariffs for dairy products have risen to 35 percent, Vietnamese firms primarily sell products into Cambodian markets by unofficial cross-border trade, taxed at just 10 percent.

On the other hand, the cost spent to sell Vietnamese products in the supermarket system is rather high, creating an unsolvable puzzle for Vietnamese firms.

Sharing the same opinion, Lai Quoc Doan from plastic company Dai Dong Tien, added that Vietnamese goods have an important position in Cambodia, especially plastics. Nevertheless, many firms remained hesitant because of complicated administrative procedures, unclear customs clearance, and high tariffs. Besides the import tariff of 7 percent, and value added tax of 10 percent, firms have to pay an import fee of US$120 per time. This combined with a customs declaration fee of US$200 per container, makes the exportation rate too high for a batch of goods valued between US$16,000-US$18,000.

Pham Le Huynh Mai, representing the instant noodles company Colusa-Miliket, said exporting a batch of goods to France by sea costs only $85, while to Cambodia by road costs them up to $95. High cost has increased the price of a case of instant noodles by at least VND20,000.

Change advantage into reality

The Ministry of Industry and Trade expected that revenues gained from trade with Cambodia possibly reached $2 billion this year, and would rise to $7 billion by 2015.

Cambodian trade minister said statistical figures hadn’t reported exactly the actual turnover between the two countries, as unofficial cross-border trade was much higher.

Firms said Vietnamese goods would likely dominate Cambodia’s market if the country offers them favorable policies about taxes and fees, issues laws to protect them, and helps them maintain updated information concerning evolving markets.

By Thuy Hai – Translated by Vinh Nghi

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US rebuked for involvement in Thai politics

10/05/2010
Achara Ashayagachat
Bangkok Post

The US ambassador received a rebuke this afternoon from Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya for Washington's perceived intervention in Thai domestic politics, diplomatic sources said.

Ambassador Eric John was summoned by Mr Kasit at 4.30 pm.

It followed a Sunday working breakfast involving US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell and former Thaksin cabinet members Jaturon Chaisaeng, a red-shirt leader, and Noppadon Pattama, a former foreign minister and legal adviser to former PM Thaksin Shinawatra .

The Foreign Ministry considered the present political stand-off between the government and the red-shirted demonstrators led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to be a domestic affair. It needed no mediation from foreign partners, sources said.

Mr John was quoted as relaying a message from Mr Campbell, before flying on to Burma over the weekend, that the ``US was here not to mediate a solution or to offer support for any particular outcome, but to underscore US support for Thailand, the oldest treaty ally in Asia, and for the Thai people in this challenging period''.

The public highest level-yet US contact with the pro-Thaksin camp was seen as underpinning the red-shirted movement's proclaimed justifications, at a time the Abhisit government was trying desperately to disperse the demonstration and the ministry, in particular, was trying to nail down the fugitive Thaksin, who was believed to be behind the prolonged protest in the heart of the capital, the government source said.

The US embassy said the Sunday working breakfast was meant to hear views on the Abhisit's roadmap from all parties concerned. The invited government representative, the PM's deputy secretary general and acting spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn, had called on Saturday night to cancel his attendance.

The US ambassador had been hosting a few rounds of discussions in the past two months with various people including former PM Abhisit's secretary general Niphon Phromphan, former Thaksin administration's deputy prime minister Chaturon Chaisaeng, and appointed senator Gen Lertrat Rattanawanit to see how Thailand would come out of the predicaments, sources said.

``We are neither anti-red or pro-red. We support principles (non violence, peaceful resolution), talk to all sides, and want to promote relations between our two countries and peoples, and not to take sides in a partisan political debate that is not ours to mediate or to resolve the conflict,'' an American diplomat said.

Mr Campbell publicly said Sunday that ``We strongly welcome the Prime Minister's roadmap for national reconciliation and commitment for new elections. We are also encouraged by the UDD's positive response to the roadmap. Restraint and foresight are critical for both sides at this time.''

The US, he said, remained cautious about progress as those who don't want peace or political progress continue to employ violence as a means to undermine resolution of political differences.

"Like the unfortunate shootings Friday night that resulted in the loss of lives. In addition to those injured directly, political violence damages the nation, undermines democratic institutions and legal mechanisms for dispute resolution.''

Military sources said the US has trid to assess what camp will govern Thai politics in futureand would like to balance its investment away from Democrat backing.

``Washington has been closely attracted to Thai politics all along. The US was one of the six countries that was concerned about terrorist action during the airport occupation in November 2008 and has issued a statement of concern over political developments since then,'' the military sources said.

In fact, the Abhisit coalition government has relied very much on intelligence information from the US as Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and Mr Panitan said before the protests began in mid-March that the government had received intelligence from the US warning of possible sabotage at the protests.

The chronic political rallies in Thailand have caused concerns for all the Asean countries as well. Cambodia has reportedly lobbied some Asean members to issue a statement of concern right after the 10 April incident, which saw 27 deaths and over 800 injured.

However, thanks to friendly member Indonesia's and indecisive Vietnam chair' reluctance as well as strong protest by Kasit, no statement was issued.

Kasit had also to fly to Jakarta to brief his counterparts and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about the Thai situation and took time to update the information to some 40 ambassadors who were attached to the Asean secretariat in Jakarta as well.

Previously, the International Crisis Group (ICG) has suggested Thailand consider mediation help from other countries to defuse its political crisis and avoid a slide into further violence.

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Cambodia and Malaysia ink 6 pacts

05.10.10
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Malaysian businessmen accompanying Prime Minister Najib Razak on an official visit have signed six agreements worth about $1 billion with their Cambodian counterparts.

Nguon Meng Tech, director general of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, said the pacts signed Monday covered coffee cultivation, information technology security, production of halal food, education - including the creation of two universities, setting up a poultry farm and opening of a commercial consular office.

Najib arrived Cambodia on Sunday for his first visit since coming to office last year. Malaysia ranked fourth among foreign investors in Cambodia in 2009. Najib said Malaysia has been the biggest cumulative investor with $2.19 billion over the past 14 years.

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Boxing champ Pacquiao optimistic of 'congressman' title

World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao expressed confidence of winning a new title as the Philippine elections opened on Monday - congressman in the House of Representatives. "Today is the day, the judgement day," Pacquiao said in a television interview as he waited to vote in the southern province of Sarangani that he hopes to represent.

10/05/2010
AFP

World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao expressed confidence of winning a new title as the Philippine elections opened on Monday -- congressman in the House of Representatives.

"Today is the day, the judgement day," Pacquiao, sporting a red polo shirt and flashing his bright-eyed smile, said in a television interview as he waited to vote in the southern province of Sarangani that he hopes to represent.

"Of course I'm very confident to win the election."

Pacquiao said he received no VIP treatment at his polling station in Kiamba town, close to the city where he spent his early years in abject poverty before rising to global fame through his golden gloves.

"We have to queue up and wait for our number," the 31-year-old welterweight champion, one of the world's highest-paid athletes, told national broadcaster ABS-CBN.

It is his second attempt to run for public office since 2007, when voters in General Santos city supported his rival, which was seen then as a sign that fans wanted him to remain a boxer and stay off the tainted world of politics.

Pacquiao is now running in another district against a local businessman. He is again regarded as the underdog because his rival comes from a powerful clan that has ruled the area for many years.

Experts say Pacquiao, who is regarded as the world's greatest active boxer, pound for pound, has only a few more years -- even bouts -- of peak form before he risks losing to younger boxers or severe injury.

Pacquiao has said that public office would be his way of paying society back by helping poor Filipinos after his fighting career is over.

He is regarded as a national treasure in the impoverished Philippines, where even Muslim extremists and soldiers silence their guns during his fights.

Pacquiao is the only boxer in history to have won seven world championship belts in as many weight divisions.

He defeated Ghana's Joshua Clottey to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt in the United States in March.

He has now won 12 consecutive fights, eight by knockout.

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Cambodian garment industry remains wary despite export growth

May 10, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodian garment and apparel exports have increased 7.24 percent for the first quarter of 2010 compared with the same period last year, but remain below the pre-crisis levels of the first quarter in 2008, local media reported on Monday, citing the figures from the Ministry of Commerce.

Ministry of Commerce (MoC) figures value Cambodia's garment and apparel exports for the first quarter at 671 million U.S. dollars, up from 626 million U.S. dollars for the same quarter last year, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

According to a country by country breakdown, exports to the U.S. market went up 4.13 percent - from 395 million U.S. dollars to 411 million U.S. dollars - while the EU markets saw a 7.32 percent increase, and other foreign markets were up 20.12 percent.

Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) Secretary General Ken Loo was restrained in his response to the new figures, emphasising that the increase was from "the very low level of 2009 ", the Post said.

But MoC Secretary of State Ok Boung was more optimistic, saying he believed the sector would continue to recover thanks primarily to an improved economic outlook in the U.S., the biggest market for Cambodia's garment industry.

Total garment export dramatically fell more than 20 percent to 626 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of last year, from 784 million U.S. dollars for the same period in 2008, according to MoC data.

Overall, the year 2009 saw Cambodia's garment and apparel exports sliced by 15.46 percent compared with 2008.

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Girl Suggests Marriage to Her Boyfriend- Boyfriend Murders Her

05/10/2010
ShortNews.com
Source: www.phnompenhpost.com

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - A man told police that on Tuesday he had had sex with his girlfriend for the first time after being together for more than a year. After the sex his girlfriend suggested that they get married.

The man told police that he was afraid that soon his girlfriend may demand they get married so when his girlfriend first suggested they get married, the man refused and then murdered her.

Police found the victim´s clothed, lifeless body in the bathroom of the man´s rented house.

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Land thief Ly Yong Phat clears land and destroys one house belonging to Omlaing villagers

CPP land-thief and Hun Xen's crony Ly Yong Phat

Omlaing villagers protest against land clearing by the land-thief Phnom Penh Sugar Co. (Photo: Adhoc)

09 May 2010
By Tin Zakariya Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The chronic land dispute between Omlaing villagers and the Phnom Penh Sugar Co. belonging to CPP tycoon-senator-cum-land thief Ly Yong Phat has not ended yet. The villagers claimed that several of their families are now facing the loss of their rice fields.

On Sunday 09 May, O’Ponlov villagers in Omlaing commune, Thpong district, Kampong Speu province, indicated that, recently, several pieces of land clearing equipments belonging to Phnom Sugar Co. came to clear the village land and they even razed down a house belonging to one of the villagers.

Yim Sieng Hoy, a villager, said that the sugar company’s equipment started to clear the village land on 08 May. This land clearing operation affected more than 10 families in the village, and one of the houses in the village was also destroyed in spite of the fact that the villagers tried to stop them from clearing the land. The reason these equipments were so obstinate in their destruction was because they had about 100 soldiers to protect them.

Yim Sieng Hoy said: “Now, they have reached my aunt’s house, they have not razed it down yet, but they are 20-meter away from the house that they razed down. Yesterday they did not bring too many soldiers, but today, they brought in many soldiers.”

Mrs. Khieu Sophy indicated that in April, the villagers and Ly Yong Phat’s company agreed at the Omlaing commune office that the company will leave a swath of 200-meter behind the villagers from land clearing, but now the company is also clearing the villagers’ land.

She said: “When they cut the backyard, they said that they will leave 200-meter for us, now they came to clear that 200-meter swath also.”

Sieng Kim Sun, a representative of the land thief company, denied that her company cleared the village land, it was only clearing forest land that belongs to the company. Sieng Kim Sun claimed that all land disputes with the villagers have already been resolved by the land thief company with a swapping of land and a compensation payment of $250 per hectare.

Sieng Kim Sun claimed: “As for the villagers, they do not live there, this is all forest land, the owners transferred the title to me.”

Sieng Kim Sun added that the land-thief Phnom Penh Sugar company came to invest in Omlaing commune and provided jobs to the villagers, and that currently it employed 100 villagers and it will also need more than 20,000 laborers for work.

In spite of Sieng Kim Sun’s claim, Am Sam Ath, a top investigator for the Licadho human rights group, indicated that the Phnom Penh Sugar company is currently grabbing rice fields and lands belonging to the villagers because this land-thief company did not come to make any proper survey at all.

Am Sam Ath added: “The villagers do not have the ability to rent bulldozers to clear their lands like this company, therefore, they work on their land clearing in piecemeal fashion. In some places, the villagers did not touch it [for a while], then the forest trees grew back, then the company came and claimed that this is state land.”

The Phnom Penh Sugar company was awarded a 99-year land concession from the government in February 2010 for planting sugar canes on 9,052 hectares of land. However, in this concession, the government stipulated that the company must cooperate with the local government and the ministry of Agriculture to perform a detailed study, and it also should get away from any land that affects the interest of the local villagers.

Am Sam Ath said that the land-thief company did not perform any study and did not show any proper document about the potential affect on the villagers. Quite to the contrary, the company started by clearing lands and it affected rice fields and plantations belonging to a number of Omlaing villagers. This situation has lasted for many months already and there was no proper resolution given to the villagers yet as of now.

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Hun Phoeung's sacking signals more serious internecine split within Funcinpec?

Nhiek Bun Chhay (R) and Lu Laysreng (2nd from R) during the peak of their heyday

General Hun Phoeung

Secretary of state for the ministry of Defense from the Funcinpec quota sacked

Monday 10 May 2010
Rasmei Kampuchea
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

General Hun Phoeung, a high ranking general who is also the secretary of state of the ministry of Defense from the Funcinpec quota, was removed from his position by Hun Xen through the latter’s declaration made during the 07 May 2010 meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Source from the Council of Ministers indicated that during the closed door meeting, Hun Xen announced that 3-golden-star general Hun Phoeung from the Funcinpec party will be removed from his position as secretary of state of the ministry of defense because Hun Xen claimed that this general works with the opposition party.

The same source indicated that during the Council of Ministers meeting, Hun Xen indicated that there are two clans within Funcinpec: the Nhiek Bun Chhay clan which works with the government, and the Lu Laysreng clan which works with the opposition party. Within the Funcinpec, one leg works with the government, whereas the other works with the opposition party. Therefore, the sacking of General Hun Phoeung was made so that he is not too busy (sic!).

Regarding Hun Xen’s decision above, on 08 May, the sacked General Hun Phoeung said that Hun Xen’s decision was made through a request from Funcinpec and he said that his position belongs to the Funcinpec quota, therefore another Funcinpec official will replace him.

Hun Phoeung added that he does not know the real reason why Hun Xen announced his sacking and he does not pay much attention to it.

Hun Phoeung said that, in the past few years, not only has he never work with the opposition party, he also never met with any ordinary members of the opposition party recently, not even a single one.

Regarding the sacking of Hun Phoeung, no comment is provided by the Funcinpec party yet as of 08 May 2010.

Lu Laysreng, the no. 1 vice-president of the Funcinpec party, declined to comment claiming that he did not receive clear information about this sacking yet.

It should be noted that Hun Phoeung’s sacking is the first of its kind since the CPP and Funcinpec consumed their political marriage of convenience on 24 September 2008.

The Funcinpec party led by Nhiek Bun Chhay was authorized by Hun Xen to nominate one secretary of state and one undersecretary of state in each of the ministries in the 4th mandate government (2008-2013).

Funcinpec and the Nationalist Party (formerly the Norodom Ranariddh Party) are currently under negotiation to form an alliance and their agreements will be inked soon to allow them to prepare for the upcoming 2012 commune election and the 2013 general election.

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Tuol Sleng: Hill of the Poisonous Trees

Tuol Sleng (Photo: Tristan Clements)

Monday, May 10, 2010
Op-Ed by MP

There is a habit in most autocratic rules to invert conventional idioms and languages by hijacking their customary meanings and replacing those meanings with their exact opposite. Thus, we have ‘Democratic Kampuchea’, ‘People’s Republic of Kampuchea’, ‘State of Cambodia’ as well as ‘the Cambodian People’s Party’ just as we have ‘Security 21’ (S21 or Tuol Sleng), ‘Stupa’ of Choeung Ek, and now the excitingly named ‘Freedom Park’.

FROM a distance the Museum of Tuol Sleng looks much like most rundown building compounds in Phnom Penh. A former high school, the building was chosen by the Khmer Rouge to function as their foremost national security centre which they renamed S21 or Security 21 in 1975. It appeared where most prisons – referred to by the regime as ‘re-education centres’ – were spread throughout the country’s rural regions where virtually all of Cambodians were made to reside, Tuol Sleng was chosen for its physical proximity to the KR leadership as a soundboard for political activities being waged inside the regime in general, but more specifically, it provided the Pol Pot faction with a microcosm of what was at stake within the ranks of even this exclusive, tight band of close associates who had been together in one way or another since the 1950s. Among the thousands of victims who passed through the centre were also prominent figures and intellectuals such as Hu Nim who might have posed leadership contention threat to Pol Pot himself. Although, Pol Pot did lead a faction that decisively broke clear of the guidance and shadow of Hanoi and many commentators have since made references to ‘the Pol Pot faction’ as such, in reality, the man himself remained aloof and distrustful of most of his political colleagues and therefore the ascribed faction might well be – strictly speaking – misplaced.

There is something of a fateful coincidence that this aptly named location – Hill of the Poisonous Trees - was chosen as an incarceration site in the capital city otherwise emptied of its former inhabitants of 2 million plus. Yet there was certainly an irony in the fact that the leadership forcefully evacuated the city’s residents fearing espionage and enemies of the Revolution could be fermented and sheltered among the population, nevertheless, ensured that it had direct, personal command over its most feared dissidents by maintaining such an establishment in its own backyard. It was as if Pol Pot, himself used to a life of an incognito, could only feel ill at ease among the masses which had provided him what he most sought for his own personal security and protection: shelter and anonymity, yet at the same time dreading the same advantages that conceivably could be extended to his enemies, now that the table has been turned and he transformed from one of persecuted to Persecutor in Chief of the nation.

From this dialectic and pattern of thought beset by paranoia and fear that have underpinned Cambodian politics in the last 50 years; a perennial living condition that continues to shape present and foreseeable future political life, one discerns clear running parallels at work within the current leadership and its behavioural structure in terms of so-called national security decisions, notwithstanding its apparent relative openness and political inclusion. Where national leaders put in office through popular ballot in most genuine democracies have had to take up minimum precautions and means to protect their selves from possible assassination attempts or terrorist attacks, none to my knowledge has restricted public demonstrations to one confined single location, curiously named ‘Freedom Park’.

If the creation of the park is meant as a precursor of further reforms to come rather than a substitute for the citizens to bring their legitimate grievances to the notice of the government of the day by their preferred routes that could include marching in front of governing institutions like the National Assembly or the official residence of the PM, then it would be in line with democratic developments worldwide and accepted as within genuine national security and interest.

Many have pointed to the destabilising impact that on-going demonstrations in Thailand have exerted upon Thai society and well-being as an example to be avoided, but instances of violence apart, public protests and riots are the identifiable symptoms or indicators of a society in transition towards something far more substantive and wholesome than what it has hitherto been allowed to taste and enjoy: democratic freedom. In the 19th century the emergence of ‘Speakers’ Corners’ in a number of public parks and venues in England was also marked by public riots which led some observers to describe the event as the beginning of the English revolution, but if these observers were anticipating violence and bloodshed on the scale of the French Revolution, they would have been deeply disappointed.

There is a habit in most autocratic rules to invert conventional idioms and languages by hijacking their customary meanings and replacing those meanings with their exact opposite. Thus, we have ‘Democratic Kampuchea’, ‘People’s Republic of Kampuchea’, ‘State of Cambodia’ as well as ‘the Cambodian People’s Party’ just as we have ‘Security 21’ (S21 or Tuol Sleng), ‘Stupa’ of Choeung Ek, and now the excitingly named ‘Freedom Park’.

It is not comforting for individuals sympathetic to the current regime who otherwise feel they are nationalists or patriots, trying to do their bid to help the country advance socially to read this. However, overall reality presents them with a world far removed from their carefully inculcated dreams and indoctrinated visions. The country we know and love, the people and their smiles as well as their sorrows and tears are all real enough. But on the other hand, to suggest that the country is in their possession, that they have mastery over its destiny and fate, that the Party represents them nationally, that the Stupa is there to commemorate and honour the dead in the way traditional Khmer stupas do rather than exploiting their memory for political propaganda purposes, that Freedom Park denotes anything other than straight jacketing public expression of any kind deemed inimical to the stability of the regime, to assume all this is tantamount to taking a leap in imagination into the realm of pure make-belief.

This is far from implying that tyrants and autocrats lack conviction or belief in their own slogans - far from it. Belief can lead to conviction which could in turn harden into intolerance when confronted with contradiction or opposition where such a belief is held within, or derived from, narrow confines of temporal personal circumstances in combination with deep-seated insecurity and fear.

Take the issue being raised (legitimately, in my view) about the possibility of graffiti being applied inside the museum of Tuol Sleng itself. The man who brought his art to the museum is either being condemned for defacing this monument to human suffering or condoned for dramatising that tragedy by magnifying expressions of the dead on the walls of this former prison. The artist himself could have chosen a less sensitive place for showcasing his art, but whatever his motives, he would have found it exceedingly difficult - if not impossible - to do the same in other countries with a similiar past. Indeed everyone could have their piece of Cambodia if they are willing to go by the rules – Indian archaeologists and experts ruined most of the bas relief work at Angkor Wat with their acid like chemical substance that they used to ‘clean’ up the surface of the delicately carved gallery walls (why could not experiment be carried out on sample sandstones prior to the wholesale application of the chemical on the gallery proper itself?). After all, the artist worked in full view of the authority and therefore the weight of judgement (if graffiti has indeed resulted from his work) or censure falls heaviest upon the local authority that has allowed narrow political self-interest or manipulation to override considerations of national sentiment and collective values.

Cambodia stands today - three decades after the fall of the Pol Pot regime - like the Hill of the Poisonous Trees that is Tuol Sleng, a shattered, haunted society in desperate need of healing, but has instead found only the known certainty of its ill-fated past through tortured memory like the curse of the museum’s ill-fated name itself.

MP

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Abhisit's Ultimatum

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Forest Governance [or lack thereof?]

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Inside the Freedom Park

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Red Germs

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Vast potential for M’sian investors in Cambodia

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (L), accompanied by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, stand during their national anthems at a welcome ceremony at the Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh May 10, 2010. Najib is in Cambodia for a three-day official visit. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

10th May, 2010
New Sabah Time (Malaysia)

PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is expected to witness the signing of six business agreements worth US$1 billion during his three-day official visit to Cambodia beginning Sunday.

The five business agreements will be between the private sectors of both countries while another agreement will be signed between a Malaysian company and a Cambodian government agency.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will join the visiting premier on Monday to witness the inking of all agreements covering education, ICT security, halal industry, agriculture, training and retail sectors.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman told Malaysian journalists here that Najib’s first official visit to this country, after assuming office April last year, was very significant in further cementing bilateral ties between both countries.

Malaysian Ambassador to Cambodia Datuk Pengiran Mohd Hussein Pengiran Mohd Tahir Nasruddin disclosed that total trade volume between the two countries amounted to US$150 million last year.

Ninety per cent of the trade involved Malaysian exports of textile, palm oil, food and beverage while the remaining 10 per cent constituted Malaysian imports of rubber, textile and rice, he said.

Mohd Hussein said there were vast opportunities for Malaysians to explore Cambodia’s services sector such as education, healthcare, construction, halal industry, tourism and, oil and gas.

Malaysia, with an investment of US$1.8 billion, is currently the fourth largest investor in Cambodia after China, Korea and Vietnam.

The ambassador said Malaysian investment in Cambodia included the manufacture of sports apparels, hotels, education, banking and fast food chains.

“Trade and investment between both countries are expected to be intensified as the region moves towards becoming an Asean Economic Community by 2015 which allows the free movement of goods, capital and people,” he added.

Mohd Hussein called on Malaysian businessmen to consider Cambodia seriously as it was also located in the Mekong basin comprising Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam with a population of 100 million people.

A total of 117 Malaysian businessmen will join the Malaysian delegation during the official visit.

On Monday, the prime minister is expected to attend the wreath laying ceremony at the Independence Monument, call on Hun Sen and later hold bilateral talks at the Council of Ministers, here.

Najib will then hold a dialogue with Malaysian investors and businessmen in Cambodia before he is joined by Hun Sen at the Malaysia-Cambodia Business Forum and Luncheon.

Both leaders will then witness the signing of the six business agreements.

Najib is also scheduled to visit Hello Axiata Operations Centre here, a Malaysian- Cambodian telecommunication joint venture, and later visit the construction site of the new complex which will house the Embassy of Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Rosmah will have a separate function on Monday by visiting the Kantha Bopha IV Hospital and the Bun Rany Hun Sen High School.

The prime minister and his wife will conclude their second-day visit by attending the official dinner hosted by Hun Sen and wife Bun Rany.

On the final day, Najib will have an audience with King Norodom Sihamoni at the Royal Palace.

The visiting premier will also call on the President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin and President of the Senate Chea Sim.

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Thai PM demands "red shirt" response to peace plan

Anti-government 'red shirt' protesters walk in front of a barricade inside their encampment in Bangkok's financial district May 8, 2010. (Credit: REUTERS/Damir Sagolj)

Sun May 9, 2010
Alan Raybould and Ploy Ten Kate

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva demanded that anti-government protesters respond by Monday to his offer of an early election, running out of patience after attacks that killed two police officers at the weekend.

The "red shirt" protesters, drawn from the rural and urban poor, failed to come up with anything on Sunday, cancelling a late news conference amid reports their loosely organized leadership could not find a common response.

It was unclear what Abhisit would do if there was nothing on Monday either. The authorities are still faced with the dilemma of how to dislodge thousands of protesters, including women and children, from a fortified encampment sprawling through 3 sq km (1.2 sq mile) of an upmarket central Bangkok shopping district.

Thai stocks would not be helped by the uncertainty but might still rise on Monday, following some other Asian markets up on optimism over a European Union plan to help indebted euro zone countries, analysts said.

"There is still no sign of the protesters leaving," said Kiatkong Decho, a strategist with CIMB Securities (Thailand). "The prime minister called for a quick end to the protests but there hasn't been any concrete response from the red shirts, raising the risk that this deal could be off at any time."

The red shirts have been demonstrating since mid-March, at first demanding immediate elections, and have been in the shopping area since April 3, forcing malls and hotels to close.

"NO MORE VIOLENCE"

Abhisit does not have to call an election until the end of 2011 but has offered polls on November 14 as a way to end a crisis in which 29 people have died and more than 1,000 been wounded.

In a weekly televised address on Sunday, he restated his commitment to the plan but said: "All parties have to cooperate and there should be no violence. If we can do that, the election will happen. If not, it won't happen."

His proposals call for reforms to address social injustice, a big red shirt grievance; an independent body to ensure unbiased reporting by the media; a committee to investigate violence; and political reform, possibly including constitutional amendments.

The protesters want Abhisit to set a precise date for dissolving parliament and a say in any constitutional changes.

The red shirts also want an investigation into the events of April 10, when a failed military attempt to break up the protest led to a gunbattle in which 25 people were killed.

They have promised a response by May 15, which Abhisit said was too late. And he added: "As for my proposal, it's non-negotiable and nobody can propose conditions."

The most recent attacks took place in the Silom Road area of the capital guarded by soldiers and packed with offices, hotels and bars popular with tourists. The area is close to an entrance into the fortified encampment held by the protesters.

Two policemen were killed and 13 people wounded in gun and grenade attacks late on Friday and early on Saturday.

The red shirts denied involvement in the attacks, which will add to pressure on Abhisit from the Bangkok middle classes and elite to take a tougher line with the protest movement.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, passing through Bangkok en route to Myanmar, welcomed the peace plan and said he was encouraged by the protesters' positive response.

"However, it must be said that we remain cautious about progress as those who don't want peace or political progress continue to employ violence as a means to undermine resolution of political difficulties," he told a news conference.

The red shirts support ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by the military in 2006. They say the ruling coalition has no mandate, having come to power in a parliamentary vote 17 months ago that they claim was orchestrated by the military.

(Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak, Khettiya Jittapong and Alex Richardson; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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