Interior Ministry Rejects Khmer Machas Srok story

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 02:52 DAP-NEWS

(CAAI News Media)

The Cambodian Interior Ministry on Monday rejected a story published by the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper. The paper reported lawmakers plan to submit a letter asking Hun Sen to clarify the government’s recent decision to suspend all bonuses to civil servants, according a Monday press release from the Ministry.

“The Ministry rejected all remarks which the newspaper quoted Cambodia Opposition Party Leader’s saying,” the press release stated, referring to opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

Sam Rainsy could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Chum Sophal, Khmer Machas Srok’s editor, on Monday told DAP News Cam bodia that “I do not have any more comment on this topic as I only quoted Sam Rainsy.”

The ministry press release clarified that, “Firstly, to commit decentralize and centralize reform of the government limited bonus to capital, province, district and commune council members, motivating them to serve the people demands.”

“Secondly, the bonus to those officials which said in the sub-decree issued on December 14, 2009 do not include abuse on election law and not discriminate in political issue as the newspaper said. The sub-decree is to ensue and protect the citizens’ interests, especially to full demands and help the retired officials as they are not Cambodia People’s Party’s Supporters.”

Thirdly, the release said, “what Sam Rainsy told the newspaper does not depend on clear and legal grounds which are being implemented in the government’s three power institutions.”

SECC Approves Two Regulations

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 02:55 DAP-NEWS

(CAAI News Media)

The Security and Exchange Commis- sion (SECC) of Cambodia has approved two regulations to move a step closer to the Stock Exchange’s opening, a statement from the eighth meeting of SECC obtained on Saturday last week said.

The meeting was presided over by Deputy prime minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon. “The meeting has approved the statement of the publication of selling the public bond’s ownership on security claimed that the publication of selling public bond’s owner on security share will determine on the conditions of mechanism and procedures of publication of bonds or public bond’s share in the country. All the companies will be able to publish bonds to sell publicly unless they have total capital of at least US$1.25 million,” the statement explained.

“The companies that have least than US$5 million capital need to publish at least 20 percent of their shares and for the companies that have over US$5 million capital need to publish bonds to sell at least 15 percent,” the statement said.

“Companies must have US$250,000 profit for the last three years. In a separating case, for publication of bonds or share for private sector, the private companies must hand over involving reports of publishing bonds for sale to SECC and publication must do as persons who have at least 30 members and must not announce information publicly,” the statement added.

“For the second regulation that has approved from the SECC is that statement of governance of corporation for companies that publishes the bonds to sell publicly and that regulation determined that the defense rights of share owner, defense rights of relevant agencies for determination of power’s rights and duties of the director board in preparing the management structure of the companies in establishment of controlling system and providing the information to all members of companies, the statement said.

This regulation also requested all the companies to have at least one fifth members as independent members of director board and the council of the governors needs to have the separating committee of audition for companies that have the active asset of US$50 million. for the companies that has active asset of US$50 million, They need to have a committee of disaster management and the independent governors need to implement the role as president of the those committees and moreover the companies that has rights to publish bond to sell publicly need to change the audition companies in every three years,” the statement said. Cambodia plans to open the stock exchange next year after it was delayed after the global economic crisis.

Tipping the scales

Photo by: Pha Lina

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:03 Pha Lina

A market vendor weighs fish Monday at Kilometre 9 Market in Russey Keo district. Data by the Ministry of Commerce showed prices rose just under 1 percent on a basket of 36 common household foodstuffs during the fourth quarter, compared with the period before, a 3.25 percent increase overall for 2009.

PM blasts January 7 detractors

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:02 Cheang Sokha and Vong Sokheng

Defends CPP celebrations of fall of Khmer Rouge regime.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Monday branded as “animals” opposition politicians and other commentators set on painting January 7, the date on which the Khmer Rouge regime fell from power 31 years ago, as an anniversary not of liberation but rather of invasion and occupation.

“The day of January 7 is not an enemy for anyone. It is a victory for all Cambodian people and the nation,” Hun Sen said during a speech at the inauguration of a school in Battambang province. Like other senior government leaders, the premier was among the Khmer Rouge defectors who fought alongside the Vietnamese to overthrow the regime.

“The oppositionists who use the legacy of January 7 for their political campaigns are sinful, and they will end up 92 floors underground,” he said in an apparent reference to a Khmer proverb holding that the depth at which sinners are buried correlates directly with the gravity of their sins.

“You can lie about everything else, but don’t lie to yourself,” he continued. “Things will be difficult for the bad people who do not recognise the truth of history. We can say they are not human. They are animals. They know who gave birth to them.”

Opposition leaders regularly accuse the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of using the January 7 anniversary to stage shows of strength throughout the Kingdom. Senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said Monday that the party this year would organise a rally of 10,000 supporters at its central headquarters in Phnom Penh.

“The party will continue to support Prime Minister Hun Sen as the long-term leader, and we will promote the political platform of the protection of the monarchy of the Kingdom and the prevention of the return of the genocidal regime,” he said.

“Only the CPP has enough power to protect the monarchy and the throne, and to bring political stability to the nation.”

He added that government officials would use the anniversary to call for strong law enforcement and respect for the rule of law.

Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann defended opposition lawmakers’ attempts to highlight what he described as the malevolent presence of Vietnamese forces following the Khmer Rouge overthrow. Vietnamese soldiers withdrew from Cambodia in 1989.

“The SRP still considers January 7 as the day the Vietnamese soldiers invaded Cambodia, and I think that these anniversaries should not be used to promote any one party,” he said.

Pen Sovan, a senior member of the Human Rights Party who served as prime minister in the early 1980s and was later arrested for speaking out against Vietnamese influence, said he believed that the January 7 anniversary could be used to mark both the fall of the Khmer Rouge and the occupation of “Vietnamese colonisers”.

“I acknowledge that January 7 is the day that millions of Cambodian people were liberated from the genocide, but I oppose it because the Vietnamese used the fall of the genocidal regime to keep Cambodia under its control,” he said.

Leaflets found in Takeo

Hours before Hun Sen delivered his remarks, police in Takeo town reported finding about 600 anonymous anti-Vietnamese leaflets scattered outside a high school, said a senior police official at the Interior Ministry who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to discuss the incident.

“We are conducting an investigation to find out who distributed the leaflets and why,” the official said.

A copy of one of the leaflets obtained by the Post asserted that January 7, 1979, should be remembered as the day that Cambodia became a captive of Vietnam. The leaflet employed a racist epithet in reference to the Vietnamese throughout.

“January 7 is the day that Khmers fell into the iron grip of the communist [Vietnamese] who abused and occupied Cambodia,” the leaflet reads.

“The communist dictatorship regime of Hun Sen is a puppet of the communist [Vietnamese], since they were installed by the [Vietnamese] when they came to power on January 7, 1979.”

New Year’s Eve fireworks

On a lighter note, Hun Sen regaled his Battambang audience Monday with a description of how he spent New Year’s Eve at Preah Vihear temple shooting off fireworks with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and Pol Saroeun, commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

“There is no need to search in Iraq or Iran,” he said to laughter. “The weapons inspection teams should come to inspect the fireworks in Cambodia.”

Adhoc activist returns to Ratanakkiri

Photo by: Sovan Philong

Rights activist Pen Bonnar, who was forced to leave Ratanakkiri province last year to avoid arrest on charges of incitement, is pictured at his office in Phnom Penh in this file photo.

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WE HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO PROTECT BONNAR AGAINST THE INCITEMENT CHARGE.
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(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun

A HUMAN rights activist from local rights group Adhoc has returned to his post in Ratanakkiri despite criminal charges pending against him, claiming he has enough evidence to prove his innocence.

Pen Bonnar was the Adhoc provincial coordinator until July, when he was removed from his position and sent to Phnom Penh to avoid incitement charges in connection with a November 2007 land dispute. He returned to his former post on Friday, however, remaining defiant about the case against him.

“I don’t feel worried or concerned at all about the legal charges because I am innocent,” he said, noting that the UN and other civic groups have already spoken out on his behalf.

“My lawyer and I will be present at the court for interrogation if the court issues another summons, and we would like to have Investigating Judge Thor Saron removed,” Pen Bonnar said, adding that the judge had been “biased from the start, without concrete evidence or reason to back up the charges”.

Thor Saron said Monday that the investigation against Pen Bonnar has faced delays in the past few months but remains ongoing.

“According to court procedure, Pen Bonnar must show up at the court for interrogation over the charges, and if the investigating judge determines that the suspect was involved in incitement or causing insecurity, we have the right to detain him,” Thor Saron said.

“If he is innocent, we will drop the charges against him – all of this is up to the investigating judge.”

Adhoc President Thun Saray said his organisation had sent Pen Bonnar back to Ratanakkiri on a temporary basis, pending the recovery of erstwhile provincial coordinator Sam Sarin, who is ill. Adhoc stands ready to support Pen Bonnar in court, Thun Saray added.

“We have enough evidence to protect Bonnar against the incitement charge, in our opinion,” the Adhoc president said, declining to elaborate on the nature of this evidence.

Thor Saron said in September that Pen Bonnar and Radio Free Asia journalist Ratha Visal could face disinformation charges for accusing him of corruption.

In October, Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana said Thor Saron could be investigated for ethics violations in connection with his use of a truck that had been confiscated as evidence in a murder trial.

Ratanakkiri provincial police Deputy Chief Phen Dina said Pen Bonnar must be careful not to run afoul of the law in his newest stint in the province.

“In my opinion, it is a positive sign that the human rights activist is coming back to do something legal that we support, but he mustn’t do any work that causes anarchy or disorder,” Phen Dina said.

Thun Saray said Adhoc hoped to resolve the issue without further controversy.

“We would like to settle this quietly. We don’t want to have this problem anymore,” Thun Saray said. “But if the judge would like to continue, we have to follow him.”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JAMES O’TOOLE

Land fees pose delays for Group 34 relocation

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:02 May Titthara

FORMER residents of Chamkarmon’s Group 34 community said Monday that delays in a government-brokered deal to purchase subsidised land in Dangkor district has reached an impasse over delays in relocation.

An arson attack on April 15 last year destroyed 150 homes and killed a 4-year-old girl in the Group 34 community in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district. Authorities brokered a deal whereby residents pay US$100 for land in Dangkor district.

Residents say they have struggled to raise the money for the land purchase and would prefer officials allow them to relocate first.

“Now I regret having paid already, because I still haven’t received a land title or been allowed to relocate,” said Horm Noeun, a former Group 34 resident.

Toch Sophan, a Group 34 community representative, said families have been contributing what money they can towards the price of land but fear authorities will not honour their commitment.

“We’ve collected money now from 80 families. Some gave us $10, others $40 and $80, whatever they could manage,” Toch Sophan said. “All of them said they would have preferred to get the land first and then provide the money later.”

Chor Pheng, chief of Chamkarmon’s Tomnup Toek commune, said the delay in resettling community residents was due to negotiations over the price of land in Dangkor district. “Now we are discussing the price with the landowner because the land used to sell for $28 per square metre, but now prices have come down and the owner is willing to sell for $20.86 per square metre,” he said.

Ranariddh ready to 'serve nation'

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Prince Norodom Ranariddh addresses journalists at a press conference in 2004. The Prince announced last week that he is seeking a new role in government.

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:02 Meas Sokchea and Sebastian Strangio

FORMER prime minister and Royalist figurehead Prince Norodom Ranariddh has said he is again ready to serve the nation, more than a year after he returned from exile and announced his withdrawal from active politics.

In an interview with Rasmey Kampuchea newspaper published on Friday, Ranariddh said he was ready to serve the government if called upon by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“I have always been prepared – anytime, any day. I have a title to accompany the King, but I have long prepared myself for government service,” he said in the interview.

“If Samdech wants to call me anytime, even if I’m not in the country, I have the ability to return.”

Ranariddh stopped short of declaring his intention to re-enter the political fray, saying that although he was once a professional politician, he could serve the government in other capacities including diplomacy.

“I do not have a wish [to reenter politics],” he said. “Any day Samdech needs me in any department, I have the ability to serve.”

Ranariddh returned from exile in Malaysia in September 2008 after receiving a royal pardon for a 2007 fraud conviction. The following month, he publicly announced his intention to walk away from active politics, taking up a post as a senior adviser to King Norodom Sihamoni, his half-brother.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Ranariddh and Hun Sen – once fierce rivals – now enjoyed a friendly political relationship, but warned that the Prince’s current role prevented him from re-entering politics.

“Being an adviser to the King, he has to be with the King; he cannot enter politics,” Khieu Kanharith said. “As chief adviser to the King is how we receive him.”

Some other observers raised questions about the intentions behind Ranariddh’s comments.

“It’s not a surprise because I don’t think he can stay idle without doing any political activities,” said Son Soubert, a member of the Human Rights Party who sits on the Constitutional Council. Although it was difficult to see what role he could play in government, Son Soubert said Ranariddh could potentially bring a sense of balance to Cambodian politics.

Chea Vannath, an independent political analyst based in Phnom Penh, said Cambodian politics was often marked by win-win compromises and that it was possible the ruling party would find a position to accommodate Ranariddh. She did warn, however, that his chance for advancement might be limited in the current government.

“At a professional level, he might be able to contribute his knowledge and professional experience, but at the very top there are few seats available,” she said.

HRP President Kem Sokha, a former close colleague of Prince Ranariddh, said his reputation as the man who who led Funcinpec to victory at the 1993 election would ensure he would not give up politics easily.

“I don’t believe that a history-making politician can give up politics right away while our country’s political problems are still unresolved,” he said.

No worries for rapist’s health, say authorities

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun and Rann Reuy

A NEW Zealand national convicted of rape will not die behind bars despite fears for his health from his supporters, according to officials at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison, where the man is imprisoned.

Graham Cleghorn, 57, was sentenced in 2004 to a 20-year prison term for raping five of his employees – aged between 14 and 19 – in Siem Reap.

He now faces an extra 10 years behind bars after failing to pay reparations to the victims, as Judge Plang Chlam ruled he would serve an additional two years for each victim if he failed to pay US$2,000 to each girl’s family.

Cleghorn “is strong and healthy, and I see him almost every day in prison”, said Mong Kim Heng, director of Prey Sar prison. “He can run better than you.”

Cleghorn has said he was framed by the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Centre, which he says fabricated the story to get foreign aid money.

Chap Moun, a spokesman for the CWCC, denied the accusation and said the group has all the documents related to the case.

“It’s not just the CWCC who worked on this case, but authorities from Phnom Penh and six doctors,” he said.

“It took three months to arrest him after the first 13-year-old girl complained to us.”

He said the CWCC does not have the money to bribe people, adding that “almost no-one dared speak of the case, even the village chief”.

Brand-new homes for 80 families

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:02 Tharum Bun

SOME of the city’s poorest residents gathered in Sen Sok district Monday for the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to win a brand-new home.

But in the end, only half of the 160 families present would be awarded a place in a 1-hectare housing project on the outskirts of the city, as part of a “lucky draw” for low-income residents.

Pok Maly, 75, was one of the fortunate winners.

“I’m very happy,” she said, after learning her family had won a place in the complex, a housing initiative of King Norodom Sihamoni and the Phnom Penh Municipality. “I want to live in the newly built house as soon as possible.”

She currently lives in a rented home with her husband, who is paraplegic, and three children.

Kingdom looks at year of dire and costly natural disasters

Photo by: AFP

A mother holds her child amid the ruins of a Kampong Thom home in the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana, which struck in September with lethal force, killing at least 43 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless and without food. The total cost to Cambodia has been estimated at more than US$140 million.

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We will continue to educate people about the impact of climate change...
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(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:01 Khouth Sophakchakrya

THE toll that natural disasters took on the Kingdom last year was revealed by the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) on Monday, when it released its assessment of events that impinged development efforts across the Kingdom in 2009 along with plans for combating similar scenarios in 2010.

“Natural disasters last year destroyed thousands of hectares of paddy rice and killed hundreds of people and cattle,” Keo Vy, deputy director of the communications office at the NCDM, said at a press conference. “Moreover, thousands of schools, sanitation systems, irrigation systems and roads were destroyed as well.”

At least 188 people died, 164 were seriously injured and thousands of homes were destroyed during the course of the year in disasters ranging from floods to Typhoon Ketsana, government data showed. “Some national infrastructure [was also destroyed] by the floods caused by Typhoon Ketsana, local storms and lightning,” Keo Vy said. “It cost around US$140 million to save people during the event and reconstruction afterward.”

Some 48,787 families are still struggling with food shortages after their close encounters with the wrath of nature, he added.

“One hundred and sixty-seven roads in rural areas were destroyed by Ketsana, while 1,169 schools were flooded and damaged,” Keo Vy said.

Ketsana also destroyed 6,693 toilets, 1,696 wells and 102 irrigation systems, he said.

During the past 12 months, lightning strikes have also taken their toll, claiming 140 lives and injuring 39 people. In total, electrical storms damaged 1,598 homes across Cambodia, according to the NCDM.

Fires, meanwhile, killed 11 people and left 12 seriously injured. A total of 86 blazes were reported to the authorities, which destroyed 722 homes and 230 commercial properties.

“In 2010, we are preparing strategies to reduce all types of disasters such as improving security response,” Keo Vy said. “The committee will help with vocational training for officers to intervene during natural disasters as well as increase materials for – and cooperation with – local and international communities.”

Keo Vy called on relevant ministries to educate the public about protecting their crops against elemental onslaughts. “We will continue to educate people about the impact of climate change because natural disasters are a result of that,” he said.

Eviction: Status frozen for residents of ice factory

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:01 Tha Piseth

Eviction

A group of 18 families living in an abandoned Battambang province ice factory remain facing an uncertain future after a delayed eviction deadline passed two days ago with no word from the authorities on either a new deadline or plans for the families’ relocation. “I don’t know where to go if my family is evicted,” said resident Kim Hour. “We’ve decided along with the other families here that we will not leave unless the government finds a proper place for us to relocate.” The families say they have been living on the two-hectare plot of land since 1979 and are former factory employees. In October the group was informed in a letter from the Department of Industry, Mines and Energy that the factory had been sold and they had three months to relocate. Neither the department nor Battambang Governor Prach Chan have made any overtures to the families to explain the delay, nor could they be reached for comment. Factory resident Hay Vanny said the families had sent a joint letter to the department last week, but had not yet received a response.

Villagers take action in Kandal land fight

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:01 Chhay Channyda

A LONG-RUNNING land dispute in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district flared up again Sunday when 100 protesting villagers uprooted eight poles marking a tract of disputed lakeside property.

More than 1,000 families from the villages along Boeung Ampeach lake claim the stretch of shoreline as communal land and accuse local officials of breaking the law by selling it to a group of businessmen in 2005.

“We removed the poles because the land is still in dispute,” said villager Un Oeun.

“Ever since these villages were founded in the 1980s, the people of Prek Kampeus commune have caught fish, gathered lotus and otherwise earned a livelihood through the lake. It is here for the benefit of the people.”

Un Oeun also said that the property’s buyers were able to circumvent this problem because the 18.7 hectares they purchased had been under water until 2003, when part of the lake was filled in to support a new flood barrier.

Bun Theng, the former deputy governor of Kandal Stung district accused by villagers of arranging the sale, said that complaints about “businessmen” were being used to mask the true nature of the dispute.

“This is a dispute between people from five of the villages and the people from the sixth village, which happens to have seen more benefits from local business development,” he said.

“The authorities are only acting as intermediaries, but some resentful people have put the blame on us. We wish they would be honest and face up to what is really going on here.”

Rainsy facing uphill battle in wake of arrest warrant

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy speaks during a press conference with the Human Rights Party in January last year.

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:01 Sebastian Strangio

Observers remain divided on the eventual outcome of border incident.

ANALYSIS
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Sebastian Strangio

(CAAI News Media)

BY uprooting six wooden stakes close to the Vietnamese border, opposition leader Sam Rainsy has again cast himself in a familiar role as the agent provocateur of Cambodian politics. The act, committed during a Buddhist ceremony in Svay Rieng on October 25, was small but symbolic: With attentions distracted by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s high-profile standoff with the Thai government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the border stunt gave voice to the enduring Khmer fear of Vietnamese domination and was a none-too-subtle hint about the cosy relationship between Hanoi and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

But with the issuing of an arrest warrant for Sam Rainsy by Svay Rieng provincial court last week – effectively marooning the SRP leader overseas – the government has upped the ante on the opposition, and political observers have offered a mixed analysis on what moves it has left to play.

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said Monday that the party had “a clear policy” for negotiating Sam Rainsy’s return: the release from prison of those detained in land disputes with powerful business interests, including the two Svay Rieng villagers detained for involvement in the October 25 incident.

On the one hand, the fact that an arrest warrant is hanging over the opposition leader’s head is hardly novel. “Sam Rainsy has been out of the country around half of his time as opposition leader,” said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights. “This is nothing new.”

The most recent point of comparison is Sam Rainsy’s absence during 2005-06, when he lived in self-exile in France for a year after being stripped of his parliamentary immunity and sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison on criminal defamation charges. Sam Rainsy only returned to Cambodia in February 2006 after recanting comments about Hun Sen and receiving a Royal pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni.

Hang Chhaya, executive director of the Khmer Institute for Democracy, described the issuing of an arrest warrant for Sam Rainsy as a “political game” that could pose concerns for the opposition leader. He said it was hard to know if it would mirror the events of four years ago, but that if he remains overseas much longer it will be detrimental for the SRP. “You need all hands on deck in order to help build the country,” he said.

Despite the precedent of 2005-06, Ou Virak said that one new problem for Sam Rainsy is that repeated petitions to international organisations – one of the few cards the leader has left to play – could be falling on increasingly deaf ears. “You can do it once or twice, but governments get fatigued, donors get fatigued.… You’re running a risk of people no longer paying attention,” he said. “Eventually he’ll have to take it to the next level, and that means facing possible imprisonment.” And unlike 2005-06, he added, the prospect of a political settlement seems slim.

Writing in an email from Paris, Sam Rainsy said he would give the authorities time to respond to his “consistent and legitimate offers” before returning to Cambodia, but also held out the prospect of reassessing the situation with his colleagues and political allies if he receives no answer.

Either way, he said, his absence is unlikely to hurt the party. “By past experiences, I can say it affects the SRP only to a limited and manageable extent, but my ‘absence’ from Cambodia gives us many opportunities elsewhere,” he said.

His 2005-06 absence was compensated for by the “continuous presence on the spot of countless competent and dedicated colleagues at all levels”, Sam Rainsy said, pointing to the party’s successes at the 2007 commune council polls as evidence that it would not be detrimental to the party.

Others predicted a resolution to the issue on similar terms to 2006. Thun Saray, president of local rights group Adhoc, said the current situation, like the earlier standoff, would likely reach an equilibrium before the next cycle of elections in 2012-13.

“[In 2005] the political space was narrowed down for more than a year and later on, when the election approached, the situation became better again,” he said, adding that the ruling party could not move towards a one-party state without undermining its democratic legitimacy. “When election time approaches, they have to show the public and that they believe in democratic principles in order to attract support,” he said.

Ou Virak, however, was not optimistic about the likelihood of Sam Rainsy returning to face jail. “He’s no Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said. “He’s not going to come back.”

Leopard Capital closes fund at just over $34m

Photo by: Phar Lina

Traffic passes Monday in front of Kingdom Breweries on National Road 5 just outside of the centre of Phnom Penh. The brewery is one of five Cambodian investments made by Leopard Capital.

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We are constrained by our small fund size, not by our deal flow, which continues to grow."
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(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:01 Nathan Green

Having already lined up five multimillion-dollar investments, Leopard says it will go in search of more funds during 2010

PRIVATE equity fund Leopard Capital closed its first Cambodia-focused multi-sector investment fund Thursday with US$34.12 million in capital and said it plans to launch a second fund in 2010 on expectation it will soon be fully committed.

“We have committed over half of our fund to five investment projects and are evaluating several more which we hope to close in the months ahead,” Leopard founder and Chief Executive Officer Douglas Clayton said by email.

He did not go into further detail but Leopard’s newsletter for November and December said it had committed $15.8 million to five projects, paying in $11.6 million of the total.

These include boutique beer maker Kingdom Breweries, which is set to launch its first offering later this year, and Siem Reap luxury apartments Angkor Residences.

It is also currently undergoing due diligence on two further investments worth a combined $4.6 million, which will take its invested capital to 66 percent of the total fund as of late November.

The fund has also made a $3.1 million venture investment in a new WiMAX broadband service provider, and a $1.5 million growth investment in what it claims is a profitable microfinance institution. Neither target was identified by name.

Leopard Capital was set up in 2007 to invest in Asian frontier markets. Its Cambodia fund was launched in April 2008, and the firm announced last year it would launch a fund in Sri Lanka in 2010.

Clayton said the second Cambodia fund would be launched following that.

The proportion of the fund’s capital committed was boosted last month by Leopard’s $5 million investment in a syndicated 18-month bridging loan arranged by Standard Bank and ANZ Bank to finance Royal Group's acquisition of the 61.5 percent stake in Mobitel it did not already own.

“This deal was quite a complex transaction in the development of Cambodia’s financial sector and helps open the door to other Cambodia businesses to access the global syndicated loan market,” Clayton said.

Leopard also extended the second $300,000 tranche of its structured loan to Greenside Holdings late last year, increasing its total exposure to $1.3 million in the company, which has a 45 percent stake in the electrical power grid in Kampong Cham province.

According to Leopard’s newsletter, the loans to Royal Group and Greenside are at “the safer end of our risk spectrum as they provide immediate secured cashflow”.

The Royal Group group loan will be repaid when it resells the controlling stake to “a new foreign strategic investor”, Leopard said in the newsletter.

“There should be another big M&A deal ahead, which will again put Cambodia into the global spotlight,” it said, in the first clear sign that Royal Group does not intend to run the operator itself.

The firm has remained quiet on its intentions for the operator, but it has been linked to talks with France Telecom, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and Malaysia’s Axiata, among other foreign players reportedly interested in a stake in the operator.

Leopard said it was also in advanced discussions to invest in a bank, a rice mill, a water bottler, a seafood processing plant, a renewable energy producer, a family entertainment project, some incomplete or distressed buildings, and various other proposals.

“We are constrained by our small fund size, not by our deal flow, which continues to grow as people contact us constantly to pitch deals,” the newsletter said. “Unless we get some more investor inflows this month we anticipate that Leopard Cambodia Fund may be fully invested in the next 3-6 months.”

Poipet tax revenues fall by close to 50pc

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:00 Soeun Say

CUSTOM tax revenues at the Poipet International Border Checkpoint fell by almost half in 2009 compared with a year earlier amid fallout from the global economic crisis, a reduction on duties on some products and political tension with Thailand.

Revenues fell 48.81 percent to US$40 million in 2009, down from $79 million in 2008, the checkpoint’s Chief Customs and Excise Officer Chuop En said.

“Imports of general goods has fallen a lot because of the influence of the global economic crisis and the Cambodian-Thai conflict,” he said.

A reduction in duties on cement imports from 15 percent to 5 percent in 2009 also contributed to the checkpoint meeting just 80 percent of its revenue target for the year, Chuop En said.

The setback came after the they exceeded targets in 2008, he added.

Cement imports through the border declined from 444,073 tonnes in 2008 to 385,385 tonnes last year as construction activity in the Kingdom fell significantly, their figures showed.

Imports of motorbikes fell 62 percent over the period from 196,241 in 2008 to just 74,313.

Chuop En said trade in the two goods were key indicators of the health of the local and regional economy.

Tim Daro, chief of police at the checkpoint, said about 5,000 Cambodian people crossed the border into Thailand every day to work or trade in goods. He said the political conflict with Thailand had had no impact on their activities.

“There is still good relations between Cambodian and Thai people in their business,” he said.

However, Sok Poy, a 38-year-old taxi driver at the border, said there were fewer customers since the Cambodia-Thai dispute. “Last year [2008] I could earn 40,000 riels per day, but this year I earned only 20,000 riels per day,” he said, “Customers are very scarce now. It is not like before.”

According to a local trader who has made a living from importing goods into Cambodia from Thailand since 1983, as economic conditions worsened, border officials were requiring more informal payments, asking for 20,000 riels ($4.80) per cart of goods imported.

Seung Ny said her profits had decreased from around 60,000 riels per day to between 30,000 and 40,000, making it harder to afford the informal charges. She also needed to pay police and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials to verify the health of imported animals, she added.

Telcos to be given more time to comply on new tariffs: govt

Photo by: Phar Lina

A man talks on his mobile phone last week outside qb- and Metfone-branded stores in Phnom Penh. The government says some mobile firms have struggled to comply with new tariff rules.

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No matter whether they agree with it or not, they have to follow it."
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(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:00 Ith Sothoeuth and Nathan Green

MPTC official maintains it will withdraw licences if firms fail to meet conditions

THE government has said it would be flexible over new rules on minimum tariffs for the mobile sector to allow telecoms companies more time to adjust their pricing plans.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Secretary of State Sarak Khan said that all operators had agreed in principle to follow the ministry’s prakas, or edict, on minimum tariffs, which was due to take effect from December 22, but said some needed additional time due to what he termed “technical problems”.

“They need more time to make some changes with the software,” he said. “We … understand their difficulties.”

The ministry was working with companies to ensure they understood the regulations and was planning to set a new deadline for compliance, he added, though it had not yet been determined.

“They have been implementing [the changes], he said. “In the name of the government, we usually help companies if they are not clear about regulations. We try to explain things to them.”

The prakas, which was signed December 7 and announced December 9, was designed to take the sting out of a price war that the government said was destabilising the sector.

It prevents operators from offering within network calls at less than US$0.045 per minute, not including taxes. Call specials of up to one month were still possible at up to half that tariff, but only with prior permission from the government.

The prakas also made binding a long-standing agreement setting the cost for cross-network calls at $0.0595 per minute.

Most operators appear to be in compliance with the pricing directive, though Smart Mobile; qb, the mobile network owned by CADCOMMS; and Beeline all have long-standing pricing policies offering free minutes or packaged deals that violate the rules.

Smart Mobile said late last month it had “severe concerns and reservations” over the new rules and that it was discussing them with the ministry. It also said the 15-day compliance window was not feasible and that its pricing policies would remain unchanged until further notice.

Ministry Director General Mao Chakrya said Monday the shifting enforcement timeframe did not mean the government was backtracking on the edict in the face of objections from operators.

“It takes time to do such a thing,” he said. “No matter whether they agree with it or not, they have to follow it. This is a new regulation.”

Sarak Khan confirmed that those who failed to comply in due course would have their licences revoked.

“We have no choice aside from this,” he said.

Beeline and CADCOMMS have both declined to comment publicly on the issue.

Villagers find a hole new way to catch fish

Photo by: ROTH MEAS

Meas Seiha crouches down next to a hole that attracts Snakeheads seeking warmth.

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:00 Roth Meas

The sun hasn’t risen yet, but several teenagers have got up and left their beds, bound for nearby rice fields. It takes at about 15 minutes for them to walk the one kilometre down a narrow path to some holes they have dug near the edge of the paddy.

Carrying a plastic container, Meas Seiha, 17, a young boy with muddy trousers, takes the thatched cover off one of the holes at the corner of a rice field. Meas Seiha sticks his hand in recess hoping to find trei ros, or Snakehead fish, that might have crawled in during the night.

Snakeheads are a strange evolutionary phenomenon. They are one of the few species of fish that can breathe in and out of water. A small cavity allows for air intake, so they can survive for hours out of water, and can even move on land.

During the cooler months of October, November and December, the people of Kampong Preah commune, Sangke district, Battambang province, dig holes at the edges of their rice fields to catch these fish.

“The fish look for the holes because they don’t like the cold paddy water during the cool season,” Meas Seiha explained.

Seiha says that the fish crawl out of the cold water and seek the holes too keep warm.

“Last month, it was not too cool like this, but some fish were lying on the levees in the rice field. My father and I got up early and collected the fish.”

As soon as the sun sets, the temperature in Battambang province drops quickly, and the people, like the fish, try to keep warm. People wear jackets and sweaters to protect themselves from the cool air from Tibet.

“I cannot even put my leg in the water, and I sometimes don’t take a bath for the whole day,” commented Seiha.

To make a hole for the fish, Meas Seiha needs to dig about 30 to 40 cm into the ground to prevent the fish from swimming and squirming out again.

“By making a hole near water, the fish will look for it, jump into it and stay there for a whole night, so it doesn’t take much time for me to find them.”

The Snakeheads caught this year have been fewer and the fish have been smaller than previous seasons, which Meas Seiha blames on less rainfall.

On some days he says he can collect an entire kilogram of fish, but on others he cannot find even one fish because they are not cold enough to go in search of a cosy hole.

“Last year, villagers and I could get at least five kilogrammes per day,” Meas Seiha said.

To improve his catch, Meas Seiha plans to dig more holes in a variety of places in the hope of catching more fish before the end of the cool season.

Police Blotter: 05 Jan 2010

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:01 Phak Seangly

POLICE SAY DRUNKARD BEAT WIFE, IN-LAW

A man was arrested after allegedly beating up his father-in-law in Kampot province on Friday. Police say the man was drunk when he came home and began verbally abusing his wife, prompting his father-in-law to step in. The intervention sparked a violent retaliation from the 29-year-old man, who began beating his relative with a piece of metal. He later confessed the assault to police and was sent to court.

DEUM AMPIL

DRUGS BUST NABS RENTERS, NOT OWNER

Police have arrested six people in a drugs raid but failed to stop the 49-year-old owner of the house from fleeing. The alleged drug users were caught trying to gather their stash after police officers burst into the Phnom Penh rental property on Monday. The operation involved multiple surveillance cameras and netted drugs, video equipment and other drug-related materials. Teuk Thla commune – where the house is located – is notorious for its illicit drug trade, a police officer said.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

TEEN DEAD AFTER GANGSTER SCUFFLE

An 18-year-old teenager died after a violent clash between two rival groups of gangsters in Mong Russey district, Battambang province. Witnesses say the two groups attacked each other with sticks and swords. A 19-year-old man was apprehended and has subsequently confessed his involvement in the killing, but police are searching for 11 other men who are still at large and wanted in connection with the killing.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

QUICK ARREST AFTER SLOW GETAWAY

A 17-year-old student was arrested in Kampot province walking with a motorcycle he is suspected of stealing from a local hospital. He was apprehended by military police on Friday – four days after the bike went missing from the hospital. The suspect’s family says he suffers from a mental illness that has caused him to engage in other episodes of erratic behavior. But despite the family’s pleas, police still sent the suspect to a provincial court.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED RAPE

A man has been charged with attempting to rape a 5-year-old girl in Battambang province. According to the girl’s parents, the 45-year-old tried to lure the child into his house so he could assault her. The suspect told police he wanted to “play” with the girl and offer her some food, but that he never tried to rape her.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Lao Sinath remains the best

Photo by: ROBERT STARKWEATHER

Lao Sinath (left) won 3 million riels (US$720) cash for retaining his lightweight title at CTN boxing arena Sunday, while Van Chanvey colected 1.5 million riels.

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:00 Robert Starkweather

Among the most destructive fighters in the 60-kilogram division, Van Chanvey was no match for champion Lao Sinath, who easily retained his lightweight belt Sunday

Defending lightweight champion Lao Sinath scored a third-round knockdown against Van Chanvey Sunday, and cruised easily to a points decision to retain his title at the CTN boxing arena.

Lao Sinath, a southpaw, landed a powerful right-left combination early in the third, sending Van Chanvey careening across the ring into the ropes and tumbling to the canvas. The champ came charging forward after the count, hunting for a stoppage, but Van Chanvey quickly found his composure, countered well and used his feet to stay elusive.

“He didn’t want to fight; he wanted to run,” said Hong Suen, Lao Sinath’s trainer at the Commando 911 Boxing Club.

The judges’ scores were not announced, but the final decision could not have been anything but unanimous.

Lao Sinath, 25, dictated the pace of the fight from opening bell, pushing forward through all five rounds and forcing Van Chanvey, 23, to fight off the back foot.

Using long jabs and push kicks, Lao Sinath worked his height and reach advantage to keep the shorter Van Chanvey on the outside. He scored with punches, knees and low kicks in effortless combinations.

On the rare occasion that Van Chanvey ventured inside, he found the champ’s defense impenetrable. In five rounds, Van Chanvey landed virtually nothing of substance.

After tasting Lao Sinath’s power in the third, Van Chanvey appeared reluctant to exchange. In the fourth, an apparently frustrated Lao Sinath responded to his opponent’s evasiveness with a questioning smirk and shrugged shoulders.

It was unusual, though perhaps unsurprising, to see a typically dominant Van Chanvey so completely contained. The Battambang native had earned a title shot against Lao Sinath by demolishing the pack during last year’s CTN lightweight tournament.

Van Chanvey lead the eight-man field with five knockouts, four of them coming in the first or second round, and he finished the competition with a seven-fight winning streak, including two huge decision upsets over Long Sophy and Kao Roomchang.

But against the taller, faster, stronger Lao Sinath, Van Chanvey’s power proved far too little, as nearly everyone had expected.

Oddsmakers had Van Chanvey a 10-to-1 underdog at opening bell.

In a brief, prefight interview with CTN ring announcer Ith Sita, Van Chanvey answered questions about his chances of winning with a decidedly apprehensive “50 percent.”

Phan Phanath, one of Van Chanvey’s trainers at Club Preah Khan Reach, answered similar questions with a bashful smile and a silent shake of the head.

During prefight preparations, former lightweight champion Sarim Vonthon offered Van Chanvey a fight plan that sounded less like a strategy and more like a prayer. “You go in there, you catch him with an elbow, you put him to sleep, and you win this thing,” he said.

But the fight gods were not listening.

Lao Sinath won the lightweight title from Sarim Vonthon in 2008. He successfully defended against Long Sophy in February 2009, scoring a third-round knockout.

He will go to France in February, for what is expected to be a three-month stay with three fights scheduled.

Khemara Keila struggle to turn silverware into survival

Khemara Keila striker Kuoch Sokumpheak (left) celebrates a goal with teammate Loch Ratha during their CPL match on June 7, 2008.

(CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:00 Ung Chamroeun

Celebrated club Khemara Keila remain in desperate need of funds despite finishing second in the league and boasting many top names in their lineup

Khemara Keila, one of the most popular Cambodian Premier League sides, are facing tough times ahead despite their decorated history. The Phnom Penh club triumphed in the inaugural Samdech Hun Sen Cup in 2007, and took the domestic league titles in both of the two previous years. They also finished the last CPL season as runners-up, having lost 2-1 to Naga Corp in the final of the Super 4 competition in September.

Khemara have run into severe financial difficulties over the last few years resulting from the departure of key sponsor Prince Norodom Ranariddh in 2006. However, Lah Salakhan, club founder and team manager, is adamant that that his squad of young players will make the most of their skill and intelligence to lift the side into the knockout stage of the 2010 Samdech Hun Sen Cup.

“[Because of a] lack of money, we can’t recruit new players to build up our club, but we have some new youngsters who accept playing for us voluntarily,” revealed Lah Salakhan. “We can’t do anything else. My players have their financial issues with my club, but they will play with determination to try to win the cup.” The manager also added that his team plays in the same way as in previous campaigns, without any special training.

The team face Prey Veng, Kandal and Arizon Cambodia FC in group G of the preliminary round, played in Svay Rieng province. Their first game is against Prey Veng at 4:15pm Thursday at the Svay Rumpea field.

Khemara Keila have nurtured the talents of many local stars over the years, including Naga Corp’s Om Thavarak and Pok Chanthan, Phnom Penh Crown’s Chan Chhaya, Chan Rithy and Thul Sothearith, and Preah Khan Reach’s Keo Kosal, San Narith and Ouk Mich. Cambodian national team hotshot Kuoch Sokumpheak is amongst the big names that have opted to stay at the club, along with Sophal Udom, Ty Bunvichet, Chan Piseth, Loch Ratha and goalkeeper Mak Theara.

Khemara Keila manager Lah Salakhan is pleading for companies to sponsor the team.

The club have only two defectors from last season’s line up, with defender Chan Dara, confirming that he will be joining his brother Chan Rithy at Phnom Penh Crown, while coach Ung Kanyanith has successfully recovered from injury to take to the field once more with Preah Khan Reach. “We wish the best to the ones who leave the club, and we are happy with the ones who keep staying with us,” stated Lah Salakhan, who will also take up coaching duties for this year. “But we don’t know what they will decide in the future.”

In light of their current situation, the manager expressed the need for new sponsorship to ensure the club’s stability. “For the companies which want to develop the football sector, or introduce their logo or names via our team, they’re welcome,” declared Lah Salakhan. “We cannot employ more than twenty men without money. We can run for this season’s Hun Sen Cup, but I can’t guarantee that Khemara Keila will have the possibility to join the upcoming Cambodian Premier League if we still face financial problems.”

Ouk Sethycheat, general secretary of Football Federation of Cambodia, could not be reached for comment Monday, but has stated in the past that the federation always encourages teams to find the sponsors themselves. Lah Salakhan did not confirm the costs of running the team.

Photos by Nick Sells http://www.nicksellsphotography.com/

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief

(CAAI News Media)

Forex reserves up 10pc

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:00 Nguon Sovan

CAMBODIA’S foreign reserves rose 10 percent in 2009 despite the global economic downturn, according to National Bank of Cambodia Director General Tal Nay Im. She did not give figures, but foreign reserves were worth US$2.16 billion at the end of 2008, according to figures from the central bank. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said last month it expected official reserves to remain stable in 2009 as sharply declining exports and foreign direct investment offset plunging imports. It said reserves were worth three and a half months of imports. Reserves were boosted in August by an IMF $108 million Special Drawing Rights allocation.

Camko to speed up

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 15:00 POST STAFF

CAMKO City plans to accelerate construction of mid-rise and high-rise apartment buildings now that the rainy season is over and following what it called the “successful completion” of its townhouse and villa section in April. South Korean developer World City Co said in a press release Monday that the first phase, consisting of 1,009 residential units and retail shops, was “in progress as scheduled” but did not provide further details on how many apartment buildings it planned to build. Construction of the US$2 billion, 126-hectare satellite city, which will play host to a so-called Financial Development District and the Cambodia Securities Exchange, is scheduled to be fully completed in 2018.