Hun Sen’s Cabinet approves project to develop Anlong Veng for tourism

Photo by: Robbie Corey-Boulet

An old radio lorry in the grounds of Ta Mok’s compound in Oddar Meanchey’s Anlong Veng district last November.

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We HAVE WISHED TO MAKE THIS A TOURIST SITE FOR A LONG TIME NOW.
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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:04 Thet Sambath

THE Cabinet of Prime Minister Hun Sen has given approval for officials to develop Anlong Veng, the Oddar Meanchey district that was the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, into a historic tourist site that will allow “national and international guests to visit and understand the last political leadership of the genocidal regime”.

Officials in Anlong Veng said Sunday they were elated that the plan had been approved by the Cabinet, which passed a sub-decree on Friday.

“We have wished to make this a tourist site for a long time now, but we did not get official approval. Now that we have official approval, our dream is coming true,” said Peuy Saroeun, deputy governor of Anlong Veng district.

“It will be useful for the people who live here. They can make a living by selling their goods to tourists in the future,” he added.

Peuy Saroeun said officials in the district planned to hold discussions soon about how to best put their development plans into action.

So Mara, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Tourism, on Sunday noted that the district already attracted both foreign and domestic tourists.

Among the most popular sites, he said, are the grave of regime leader Pol Pot, located near the Chom border crossing with Thailand, and the compound of Khmer Rouge Central Committee member Chhit Choeun, alias Ta Mok.

Pol Pot died in Anlong Veng in 1998, and Ta Mok died eight years later in detention at a military prison in the capital.Other attractions are a munitions warehouse, homes belonging to former Khmer Rouge cadres, and the fenced-off area where Pol Pot spent his last months under house arrest.

Officials have been planning since 2000 to transform Anlong Veng into a showcase of the communist regime’s final days. The Tourism Ministry has picked out some three dozen sites of interest in the isolated area.

Ta Mok’s compound is currently operated by the Ministry of Tourism .

Prime Minister Hun Sen has asked Cabinet officials to compile a guidebook to the area that includes a description of his “win-win policy” to defeat the Khmer Rouge.

So Mara said he could not provide recent tourism figures for Anlong Veng, but Touch Ra, who works at the Chom border crossing, said between 400 and 500 tourists each month visited the district.

“We have 400 to 500 foreign tourists from Thailand visiting Anlong Veng each month,” he said.

Nhem En, who worked as a photographer at Tuol Sleng, the notorious secret detention facility in Phnom Penh, during the Khmer Rouge regime, said he welcomed the government’s decision to approve the development of Anlong Veng as a tourist attraction.

“I am very happy to hear this news. It will help encourage more tourists to visit here and promote people’s living condition,” said Nhem En, who is now deputy governor there.

Nhem En has long had plans to put his Khmer Rouge-era possessions – including what he says are Pol Pot’s shoes, walking stick and toilet – in a museum in Anlong Veng, though last year he decided to offer them up for sale for US$1 million. That attempt was unsuccessful.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP

Raids follow PM’s remarks last week on vice, gambling

Photo by: Sovan Philong

Hostesses greet a client at a karaoke parlour near Central Market last May. Phnom Penh officials say they have cracked down on vice in response to remarks last week from Prime Minister Hun Sen.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:04 Khouth Sophakchakrya

AUTHORITIES in Phnom Penh say they have arrested more than 100 people in multiple raids of businesses accused of hosting “raunchy dancing” and gambling, just days after Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly lambasted high-ranking officials for interfering in efforts to stamp out prostitution and illicit gambling.

Ya Kim Y, a military police commander in Phnom Penh, said authorities had focused in particular on massage parlours, guesthouses and nightclubs suspected of being havens of prostitution and gambling.

“For a few days, we have cooperated with police authorities to crack down on eight nightclubs, massage parlours and karaoke clubs that offered sex, drugs and gambling,” he said.

The various police actions included raids on establishments in the capital’s Chamkarmon, Daun Penh and Tuol Kork districts, as well as on unlicenced gambling houses near schools, Ya Kim Y said.

One sting targeted Club White, in Chamkarmon district, and saw 120 people arrested, including 99 customers.

“We released the customers and the students, but the employees and the owners of those massage clubs and gambling houses we detained in custody so they can be sent to court,” Ya Kim Y said.

The owners of the accused illegal clubs could face charges related to illegal weapons possession, drug trafficking and “raunchy dancing”, he said.

The raids came after a lashing from Hun Sen, who on Thursday accused unnamed senior officials of meddling with attempts to crack down on vice, decrying a “culture of impunity”.

The police raids reportedly reached beyond the capital as well.

Tol Meng, the chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking police bureau in Kampong Cham, said his officers raided three suspected brothels, arresting at least 17 people.

“We will continue to enforce the order of the prime minister to reduce and eliminate human trafficking in the Kingdom,” Tol Meng said.

Authorities in other areas, however, say such vices have not reached their jurisdictions.

“We crack down on crimes everyday,” said Siem Reap police chief Soth Nady.

“Until now, my province has no gambling, karaoke, or pornography nightclubs that offer drugs or raunchy dancing like Phnom Penh.”

Kampong Thom vendors seek Hun Sen’s aid

Photo by: Photo Supplied

A boy sifts through the rubble after a fire in Kampong Thom province’s Stung Sen district last week.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:04 Kim Yuthana

VENDORS from a market in Kampong Thom province that was heavily damaged by a fire last week rallied in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s residence in Phnom Penh on Friday to request his assistance in rebuilding their stalls.

The fire, which officials have attributed to faulty electrical wiring, tore through the main market in Kampong Thom’s Stung Sen district last Tuesday, destroying about 160 stalls. Five fire trucks were dispatched to fight the blaze, which began at about 2am and was extinguished by 4am.

There were a total of 400 stalls in the market prior to the fire.

Nam Chreng, a 45-year-old vendor, said he and 127 other vendors presented a letter at Hun Sen’s house requesting assistance, adding that a Cabinet official had accepted the letter on the prime minister’s behalf.

Another vendor, who gave her name only as Mabb, said the vendors would not be able to repair the market by themselves.

“We would like to call for Prime Minister Hun Sen to help rebuild the market for us so that we can resume our jobs again,” Mabb said.

“We believe that only the prime minister can help us, as he has helped vendors of markets in other provinces.”

Cabinet officials could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Nhem Chhunly, inspector for Stung Sen district police, on Sunday estimated that the fire caused US$530,000 in damage.

Two days after the fire, more than 100 vendors rallied in front of Kampong Thom provincial hall to ask the provincial governor to intervene.

Chhun Chhorn, the provincial governor, said Sunday that he had already finalised a report detailing the damage caused by the fire, adding that it had been sent to Hun Sen on Friday.

“The provincial authority has no money to rebuild the market, the construction of which costs about $200,000, so we will have to wait for comments on what we should do from our superiors,” he said.

Assembly reinstates Ho Vann’s immunity

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Lawmaker Ho Vann on a visit made by Sam Rainsy Party officials to the Vietnamese border in Svay Rieng province in January.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:04 Chhay Channyda

THE National Assembly has restored the parliamentary immunity of opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ho Vann, more than five months after a Municipal Court judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to find him guilty of defamation, an assembly official said.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Chheang Vun, chairman of the Assembly’s Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Media and Information, said Ho Vann’s immunity had been restored during a meeting of the Assembly’s permanent committee.

“From today, he has gained back his immunity,” Chheang Vun said of Ho Vann.

The National Assembly voted to lift Ho Vann’s immunity in June, and he stood trial for defamation in July after 22 senior Royal Cambodian Armed Forces officials accused him of denigrating the quality of academic degrees they received from a Vietnamese military institute in an interview with a local newspaper. Judge Sin Visal cited insufficient evidence in dismissing the charge on September 22.

Ho Vann said Friday that he was “happy” to have his immunity restored, but that the process had taken too long.

“The lifting of the immunity was urgent, but the reinstatement came late,” he said. “First, I was victimised when my immunity was suspended, and I was victimised again when I received it back because it was a late process.”

Senior Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap said in February that the permanent committee had recently received a letter from the Municipal Court and Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana explaining the court ruling.

As for the other two Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers who lost their immunity last year, Chheang Vun said there was nothing the Assembly could do because both still had cases before the courts.

“We cannot interfere in the court case,” he said.

Party President Sam Rainsy’s immunity was lifted after an October demonstration during which he joined villagers in Svay Rieng province in uprooting six temporary demarcation posts near the border with Vietnam.

Svay Rieng provincial court in January found him guilty of racial incitement and destruction of public property and fined him 8 million riels (around US$1,912). He remains abroad, though he has been summoned to appear in Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday to answer to charges of disinformation and falsifying public documents after producing maps he said were evidence of Vietnamese territorial incursions.

Mu Sochua also lost her immunity. She was later convicted of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen, a ruling she has appealed.

Three held over abuse of two elder women accused of witchcraft

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:04 Chrann Chamroeun

THREE people arrested after they allegedly locked up two elderly women and accused them of witchcraft are facing a court investigation, police said Sunday.

Police in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district say the suspects, including the grandson of one of the victims, detained the elderly women after blaming them for a mysterious illness that afflicted the daughter of one of the suspects.

“We will send the suspects to Phnom Penh Municipal Court for interrogation over the allegations of illegal detention,” said Mak Hong, the police chief in Sen Sok district, who did not specify a court date for the trio.

Police believe the two women, who are 98 and 71 years old, were locked in a room on the upper floor of the house that they shared with one of the suspects.

Toek Thla commune police chief Pen Thol said the women were forcibly confined after one of the suspects sought the advice of a traditional doctor when his daughter fell seriously ill.

The doctor accused the two elderly women of conjuring sorcery that caused the suspect’s daughter to contract the illness, he said.

The suspect “locked the two elderly women in their own house, which made the women angry”, Pen Thol said.

“They didn’t eat anything and, due to their elderly age, it caused them to go senseless.”

It wasn’t until other family members came to Phnom Penh in early February to visit the women that they were freed, Man Sophal, a lawyer representing the victims, said Sunday.

Man Sophal said he approached the police after the son of one of the victims asked him for help on February 5.

“He said they were locked in a room and accused of witchcraft,” Man Sophal said.

The two women have recovered from their ordeal, said Pen Thol, the Toek Thla commune police chief, who estimated that the women had been locked up for “a few days”.

Suspects found guilty of illegal confinement face prison terms of between three and five years if the detention in question lasted for less than one month.

Superstitions rife

For years, officials throughout Cambodia have reported cases in which people accused of black magic and causing illness have been murdered.

Sorcery has also been stated as a motive in at least one killing that rights groups suggested was actually politically motivated.

In 2001, a man affiliated with the Sam Rainsy Party was gunned down while bathing. The man convicted in the killing told authorities he believed the politician was a “sorcerer” who dabbled in black magic. However, rights groups at the time questioned why the court didn’t explore possible political motives for the killing.

How not to protect children

Photo by: PHOTO SUPPLIED

A photo from rights group Licadho shows children about to be transported to the Youth Rehabilitation Centre in Choam Chao district after being caught in police street sweeps. UNICEF said the vehicle, donated to government authorities, was not used in the arrests.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:03 Joe Amon

UNICEF must do more to oppose Cambodia’s involuntary rehab centres.

COMMENT

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Joe Amon

MY 8-year-old son was understandably confused earlier this month. He was sitting in my lap as I read news that the United Nations agency responsible for protecting children’s rights was being criticised for supporting Cambodian detention centres where children are subject to arbitrary detention, torture, violent beatings and other sadistic punishments. “UNICEF is torturing kids, Dad?” he asked.

Investigations by Human Rights Watch had uncovered widespread and serious abuses in Cambodia’s drug detention centres, including a “youth rehabilitation” centre run by the Ministry of Social Affairs. The news accounts were critical of UNICEF’s support for the ministry and for the youth centre at Choam Chao. UNICEF’s Cambodia office was vague and equivocal in response to the reports of torture and abuse, but no, I told my son, UNICEF was not torturing kids.

Our report was not the first to describe abuses in Ministry of Social Affairs-run centres. In 2008 a local human rights organisation had reported that guards raped women and severely beat those who tried to escape or complained about conditions. The report documented that two people, possibly more, were beaten to death by guards. As with our report, the government held no one accountable and UNICEF – which was informed of these allegations – continued its support to the ministry. The Social Affairs Ministry said that UNICEF’s support was proof that there were no abuses.

In the recent Human Rights Watch report, children described being picked up in street sweeps and taken to detention centres: “They didn’t tell me why they arrested me.... I never saw a lawyer.... They simply put me into the truck, and I arrived at Choam Chao”, one said.

The children described horrific abuses at Choam Chao. Children spoke of being given electrical shocks, beaten and forced to dance naked. One child who had been held there described the “rehabilitation” they received: “They train [kids] like soldiers to harden their bodies,” he said. “The training is to make them strong, to make them stay away from drugs.... If they fell out of line while rolling [on the ground], the guards kicked them in the head.”

In September 2009, Human Rights Watch briefed the UNICEF office in Cambodia on the abuses we had documented. They said that they were shocked and they promised to investigate. Four months later UNICEF told us that they had investigated only by asking Ministry of Social Affairs staff if the reports were true; government officials had denied the abuses. More than a month since our report has been released, UNICEF’s Cambodia office continues to say that they believe that the Choam Chao centre is “open” and “voluntary”. The Cambodian government again cited UNICEF’s support to suggest that detention centres are not mistreating kids.

The suggestion that these centres are open and voluntary defies credulity, and local reporters have quickly refuted that contention, interviewing kids who have been abused and detained against their will. “They just didn’t want us to stay on the street,” one child who had previously been held at Choam Chao told The Phnom Penh Post. “They pointed at the car, and then they pushed me in.”

Following the release of our report, many UN agencies spoke critically about the centres. WHO called them ineffective, and UNAIDS said that they would like to see all the centres closed. On February 16, the UN announced that it would provide support to the government for community-based, voluntary rehabilitation centres, provided that the government respected human rights. The announcement declared that there could be no illegal detention, abusive treatment or torture.

Unfortunately, the UN couldn’t muster the strength to say what human rights law requires them to say – that people currently detained without legal grounds should be released. Equally disappointing, they had nothing to say about the need to hold torturers accountable. This has long been the approach that UNICEF’s Cambodia office has taken: ignoring credible reports of abuses and engaging with the government, with a vague hope that the abuses will stop. Just after our report was released, UNICEF’s representative in Cambodia, Richard Bridle, explained to one reporter that UNICEF’s approach was “to look for the positive”.

Part of looking for the positive seems to be ignoring the negative, even when that includes the torture of kids. No wonder my son was confused.

I have great respect for the work that UNICEF does around the world. I would like to believe they are truly shocked by our findings, that they are looking into them, and that they will withdraw their support from the Social Affairs Ministry unless there is accountability. I had hoped that they would use their unique position to advocate for the immediate closure of all such centres and work to ensure that they are replaced by effective, genuinely voluntary, community-based alternatives. Quite simply, to make sure that children in Cambodia are protected from mistreatment and abuse.

After a series of meetings with UNICEF representatives in Phnom Penh and in New York, I am losing that hope. My son, and hundreds of children suffering from torture and ill-treatment in drug detention centres across Cambodia, are waiting for UNICEF to speak out.

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Joe Amon is director of health and human rights for Human Rights Watch

Revenue from tourism falls around 2pc in difficult 2009

Photo by: Uy Nousereimony

A tourist takes a photo of sunrise over Angkor Wat last month. Tourism officials say that after a difficult year in 2009, when average spending and length of stay in the Kingdom fell, tourists are returning as the global economy recovers.

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Last year, foreign tourists tried to reduce their expenses.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:03 May Kunmakara

Sector analysts point to shorter lengths of stay and less spending following crisis.

REVENUE generated from the Kingdom’s tourism sector fell by about 2 percent last year as the sector suffered a drop in spending amid the fallout from the economic crisis, a Ministry of Tourism official told the Post.

Director of Tourism and Statistics Kong Sophearak said the industry generated revenues of US$1.561 billion in 2009 compared to $1.595 billion the previous year despite an overall 1.7 percent rise in the number of visitors to Cambodia, according to ministry figures.

“Last year, foreign tourists tried to reduce their expenses by reducing their stay and downgrading from high-end hotels to cheaper ones,” he said. “Although the number of foreign tourists to Cambodia went up last year, most of them were from the region, not from European countries.”

A Ministry of Tourism report showed that while total visitors climbed in 2009, air arrivals sank as Vietnamese visitors claimed the number one spot from South Koreans – visitors from neighbouring Vietnam climbed 51 percent last year, and those from Laos were up 55 percent.

Kong Sophereak said that Cambodia had therefore effectively replaced higher-spending Western tourists with visitors who stayed a shorter time and spent less.

Typically a Vietnamese traveller to the Kingdom would stay just three days and spend as little as $150 during a trip, explained Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents (CATA). A European visitor, by comparison, would usually stay about 10 days and spend many times more, he added.

“The global economic crisis was a significant factor in regards to the decline in tourism sector revenue as tourists’ incomes were hit, therefore they needed to secure expenses,” he said.

Although the Kingdom’s aim of attracting tourists from a wide range of countries had appeared to have paid off in some respects given the overall rise in tourist numbers, measures such as granting visitors from certain countries free visas had delivered little impact, said Mohan Gunti, a CATA advisor and member of the tourism working group which liaises with the government.

Still, Kong Sophearak forecast that further government measures – including the promise of further direct air links to the Kingdom, which will soon include a route to Indonesia – and a general improvement in the world's economy, and that of Cambodia, would help avoid a further drop in tourism revenues during this year.

“We have taken a lot of action to promote the tourism sector,” he said.

Recent rebound

Kim Eang said there had been recent evidence of an upsurge in visitors to the Kingdom’s main tourism sites including to Angkor Wat.

“Things have become positive now,” he said. “The number of tourists from the region, as well as from Europe visiting the ancient Angkor temples has risen.”

Mohan said that further cooperation among the private- and public-sector stakeholders would be required to continue promoting Cambodia as a tourism destination.

“The crisis is over, so things are moving,” he told the Post.

SKorean firm plans $300m project

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:02 Soeun Say

SOUTH Korean developer Hi-Sun Group is set to invest US$300 million on a commercial and residential development in the capital’s northern Russey Keo district, said a company representative.

Joseph Lim, personal secretary to Chairman Kim Byung-hak, said the firm would start building offices buildings and residences, including luxury villas, on the 2.5-hectare site by the end of the year.

“We are planning to start construction on our project this year, but we are not being specific on the schedule for completion, as we don’t yet know,” he said, adding that Hi-Sun was specifically targeting South Korean companies to invest in the development.

South Korea’s Technology Innovation Construction Co Ltd (TIC) would be partnering on the project, Lim added, which will include buildings 25 storeys high.

The start date for the project appeared to be some way off, however, as an official of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction said it had not yet received any request to build on the site.

“This is a big investment for the construction sector, if it is really going to be built,” said Lao Tip Seiha, director of the department, adding that the firm would receive governmental backing were it to apply for the necessary paperwork.

Hi-Sun has partnered with TIC on a number of Phnom Penh construction projects. In September, TIC Sales and Marketing Manager Charles Villar told the Post the two South Korean firms were working together on five projects in the Cambodian capital – two on the outskirts and three within the confines of the city.

The group has already completed a luxury residential development, De Castle Diamond, in Toul Kork district, the largest condominium project in Phnom Penh at 178 units within an 18-storey building on 2,500 square metres of land.

Another project, the $11 million L’Artisan Takhmao Villa Development, features 40 luxury villas on the outskirts of the capital in Kandal province. Construction work began following a groundbreaking ceremony at the site in Toul Krasang Village on June 26.

Canadia Bank cuts NPL rate in half

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

A bank clerk binds some US dollars on February 23 at Canadia Tower, the bank's Phnom Penh headquarters.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:02 Nguon Sovan

Unaudited results show bad-loan rate declined to just under 5pc last year, vice president says.

CANADIA Bank cut its rate of non-performing loans (NPL) to below 5 percent last year, said Vice President Dieter Billmeier, after hitting 11.1 percent in 2008 as the bank became overexposed to Cambodia’s struggling property sector following the global economic crisis. Overall net profit fell 15 percent, he added.

According to unaudited results for 2009, Canadia managed to cut its NPL rate by more than half from the $45.5 million recorded the year before, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of rising bad loans along with a lack of openness and supervision within the banking sector.

“We just recovered some loans [repaid late] last year and we have been more prudent like all the banks with loans in 2009,” said Billmeier ahead of audited results due in the coming weeks.

The bank remained confident of keeping the NPL ratio at about the same level this year, he added, although Canadia was working towards a target of 4 percent or below as its risk-management committees worked to monitor key ratios and financial performance.

At the start of April, Billmeier told the Post that Canadia had recorded an NPL rate of just 2.35 percent in 2008, a discrepancy that was not immediately explained by the bank.

At the start of 2009 the IMF accused lenders in the Kingdom of underreporting bad loans, though it did not name specific banks.

Billmeier said last year that Canadia had attributed additional reserves to its burgeoning bad loans following the economic crisis.

Canadia Bank recorded the second-highest level of NPLs in Cambodia during 2008, according to a National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) banking supervision report. Foreign Trade Bank (FTB) endured a staggering 32 percent NPL rate in 2009, or $27.6 million, and ANZ Royal saw bad loans rise to 2.6 percent, or $6.4 million, by the end of 2008.

Gui Anvanith, FTB’s general manager, said Friday that audited financial results would be finalised by the end of March, declining to release unaudited figures.

“We worked hard last year and it paid off, so the trend is favourable,” he wrote in an e-mail referring to FTB’s bad-loan rate. “And in certain instances, even if the client has recovered, we still do not recognise a full recovery just in case 2010 may result in a slow recovery – so we are managing our portfolio very conservatively.”

Stephen Higgins, CEO of ANZ Royal Bank, did not reply to repeated emails late last week.

Although Canadia slashed its rate of bad loans last year, profits still fell, the bank’s unaudited results showed.

The lender recorded a 15 percent drop in net profits last year to about $18.7 million, Billmeier said, citing the effects of the economic crisis, from a reported $22 million the previous year.

“Even though it dropped ... we did quite well last year if compared to other financial institutions,” he said.

Last year bank lending dropped about 4 percent to $375 million from $390 million in 2008, and deposits rose 22 percent to $560.5 million from $460 million in 2008, he added.

“We were too liquid at the end of last year – our liquidity deposited at the NBC was about $200 million – [this is] very strong liquidity.... We are preparing to look into the loan market more favourably again,” said Billmeier.

Analysts forecast there may be as much as $1.5 billion in liquid assets in private hands in Cambodia, he said, predicting, therefore, that deposit rates would continue to rise at a rate of between 10 to 15 percent per year.

Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon said at the beginning of last month that private banks in the Kingdom held about $900 million in reserves with the central bank.

Borrowing started to rise in October, Billmeier said, a trend that continued into the first two months of this year.

“We see a potential growth rate [in lending] of 15 to 20 percent compared to the end of 2009, carried by agriculture, the services sector, wholesale and retail, and import and export,” he said. “We also see a return of confidence in the housing market; therefore, demand for housing loans from ... end-users will also grow.”

Police Blotter: 8 Mar 2010

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:03 Sen David

MAN SURVIVES SCARY FISH SUFFOCATION

Officials in Prey Veng province say a 48-year-old farmer was lucky to escape a brush with death after a fish leaped into his mouth and lodged itself in his throat Friday. The man’s sister reported that her brother had caught the fish and was cooking his meal in a clay cooker. But the fish was far from dead. It suddenly stirred and flipped straight into the victim’s mouth. The man could not speak and was, according to the sister, close to death because the fish had jammed itself in his throat. But a doctor at the local hospital managed to pull the fish out safely. The physician said the man was lucky to be alive because there have been “a few people” who have died after fish jumped into their mouths.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

MUM'S CARPING LEADS TO SELF-POISONING

A 52-year-old woman in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district tried to kill herself by swallowing poison after an argument with her mother, police said. The incident happened Saturday, when the woman got into a spat with her mother. The mother reported berating her daughter, who she said never did housework or went to work after her husband struck up a relationship with another woman. The 52-year-old was also reportedly angry with herself for being so poor. She then swallowed a poisonous substance, but her mother managed to rush her to hospital, and she survived.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

MAN GETS STABBY ON WIFE AND NEIGHBOUR

A 43-year-old Banteay Meanchey man is facing charges after he failed in an attempt to stab his wife, and instead reportedly lodged a knife into a passing neighbour three times. The incident happened Saturday. The wife claimed her husband wanted to stab her but “was not successful”. Instead, he saw a neighbour who happened to be minding his own business as he passed in front of the home and allegedly stabbed him three times. The neighbour was seriously injured. The wife said her husband is constantly angry and sometimes tries to stab himself, and that she has been forced to intervene on several occasions. A doctor said the man is “crazy”.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

MEN BRANDISH AK-47 TO ROB GOLD VENDOR

A jewellery vendor was robbed by four men who smashed open a cabinet while armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, police in Kandal province said. Investigators are still looking for the suspects after the Friday robbery. The vendor said the robbers got away with 15 ounces of gold, 20 ounces of platinum and a large sum of cash.

DEUM AMPIL

Axiata hits 17-month high on financials

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:02 Steve Finch

KUALA Lumpur-based mobile operator Axiata, which runs Cambodian telecoms firm Hello, started last week brightly by climbing 4.3 percent to a 17-month high of 3.89 ringgits (US$1.16) on March 1, as Citigroup backed the company the same day as the pick of Malaysia’s telcos.

The best performer this year on the Bursa Malaysia fell, however, over the remainder of last week despite a Friday rally that saw the stock rise 0.3 percent by the close to 3.87 ringgits.

Axiata on February 24 announced a $164 million profit for the last quarter, as subscribers rose 34 percent in its regional markets, which included a 30 percent increase in active Cambodian users, overall results that led financial analysts to single out the stock for future gains.

Rival Vimpelcom, which operates as Beeline in the Kingdom, posted a strong end to last week, rising 2.73 percent Friday on the New York Stock Exchange to $18.45. The stock was down 0.54 percent for the week.

Analysts are predicting the Moscow-based operator will post healthy group earnings when fourth-quarter results come out Wednesday.

OZ Minerals, which operates a number of mining concessions in eastern Cambodia, last week recorded a turnaround to a recent bad run.

The stock soared 7.69 percent over the past five days trading in Sydney, culminating in a 2.27 percent rise by Friday’s close to A$1.12 (US$1.02) after RBC Capital on Wednesday raised the stock to “outperform”.

Marcus outguns Ei Phouthang

Photo by: Rebert Starkweather

23-year-old Canadian kickboxer Simon Marcus (left) inflicted just the thirteenth loss in Ei Phouthang’s 180-plus fighting career Saturday at TV3 boxing arena.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:01 Rebert Starkweather

Canadian Simon Marcus deals a rare loss to Cambodia’s undisputed king of kickboxing, Ei Phouthang, in their international bout at TV3 arena on Saturday

NO one ever expects legends to lose, but on Saturday, Canadian Simon Marcus pummelled Ei Phouthang with hard punches and big knees to score a lopsided decision victory Saturday at the TV3 boxing arena.

The decision marked just the thirteenth loss of Ei Phouthang’s 20-year career, dropping him to 163-13-5.

“He was good, and big,” Ei Phouthang said of Marcus. “He smothered me in the clinch. I could not do anything.”

At 37 years old, Ei Phouthang is far past his prime. Time has softened his once-ripped physique, and the former light-middleweight champion weighed in for Saturday’s bout at a smooth 82 kilograms.

Still, if the Koh Kong native’s speed and skill have faded somewhat over the years, his power has stayed. In his last outing February 6, Ei Phouthang stopped Spanish veteran Pitu Sans in the first round with just four kicks.

Against Marcus, however, Ei Phouthang was clearly the smaller man.

Marcus weighed in at a ripped 80 kilograms, having fought three weeks ago 16 kilograms heavier.

“I overcut,” he said. “I thought the scale in my hotel was broken. I was suppose to be 82. But it’s nice to know I can go that low without any problems. I’m not tired or anything.”

A native of Toronto, the 23-year-old kick-boxing instructor arrived on his third visit to Thailand about three months ago, and he has been training in Chachoengsao at the world renowned Por Pramuk Gym, home to two-time K-1 Max champion Buakaw Por Pramuk.

Hints of the upset came early Saturday. In the second round, Ei Phouthang unloaded with the full fury of his bone-breaking right roundhouse, catching Marcus flush on the left bicep.

Marcus stopped flat, dropped his gloves to his sides and stared hard into Ei Phouthang’s eyes, freezing the arena in a moment of uncertainty.

Was he hurt? Was the arm broken?

Then Marcus shrugged his shoulders, as if to say “so what”, sending a wave of nervous laughter through the sweltering TV3 arena stands.

Was he bluffing?

Ei Phouthang kicked again. Marcus caught it and twisted Ei Phouthang off his feet, then tried to kick him in the head as he fell to the canvass.

When the bell rang, Marcus stepped slowly back to his corner, looked out into the crowd and, in another gesture of confidence, turned his left hand back and forth near his face.

It was no bluster

Marcus appeared to rattle Ei Phouthang early in the third round with a straight right hand, and the punishment may have been worse, but Marcus’ groin protection came loose and much of the round burned away with Marcus behind a towel ringside and Ei Phouthang waiting in the neutral corner.

Marcus caught up with Ei Phouthang in the fourth, trapping him twice in the corners and once against the ropes, connecting with a series of punches that bloodied the Cambodian’s nose.

“He was tough,” Marcus said. “My technique was a little off. Some of those shots were not perfect.”

In the co-feature, Eam Vutha squeaked past Matt Embree with a narrow victory decision.

Embree, a teammate of Marcus’s from Toronto who is also training at the Por Pramuk Gym, pushed the action in all five rounds, catching Eam Vutha with hard shots throughout.

But Eam Vutha landed the more damaging blows, bloodying Embree’s nose with an elbow in the first round and cutting him on the head with another in the fifth.

“Every loss is tough,” said Embree, clearly disappointed with the decision, as blood from his head dripped onto the floor.

Preah Khan Reach beat Naga Corp 3-2 to take third

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)

Naga Corp’s Sun Sovannrithy (right) sees his second half penalty saved by Preah Khan Reach goalkeeper Ouk Mich during their playoff.

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Monday, 08 March 2010 15:00 Andy Brouwer

Preah Khan Reach overcome a two-goal deficit from the first half of their Samdech Hun Sen Cup third-place playoff against Naga Corp Saturday

Determined not to repeat their dramatic penalty shootout defeat in last week’s semifinal, Naga began like a runaway train in Saturday’s third-place playoff of the Samdech Hun Sen Cup. Preah Khan Reach (PKR) simply couldn’t contend with the pace set early on by the casino-backed side, succumbing to two neat strikes from youngster Kop Isa in the 15th and 18th minutes.

Naga, affected by suspensions and with Sun Sovannrithy surprisingly relegated to the bench, gave Kop Isa a rare start, and he repaid his manager’s faith with a lively pace and two goals. His first was a coolly taken finish after Teab Vatanak’s header sent him on a clear run at goal. He lashed home his second from eight yards after Kim Chanbunrith’s byline pull back found him in acres of space. It was no more than Naga deserved for their bright opening to the game.

After going behind, PKR brought on their talismanic skipper Sam El Nasa, also left on the bench before the start, and his introduction gave them much needed impetus. He twice broke free in the penalty box, but Naga’s goalkeeper Pich Rovin Yothin was in great form, diving at his feet to snuff out the danger while receiving a boot in the face on both occasions for his troubles.

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)

Preah Khan Reach’s Nguon Chansothea (below) fails at a sliding challenge on Naga Corp’s Chhim Sambo during their match Saturday.

With shades of last week’s semifinal when Naga came back from the dead against Phnom Penh Crown, it was PKR’s turn to stage a comeback. Fifteen minutes into the second half, PKR pushed Sam El Nasa up front, allowing the former national team captain to round off a pass from Kao Kiry with a neat finish.

The writing was on the wall as PKR piled on the pressure. On 72 minutes, Khuon Laboravy had the easiest goal of his career when Heang Saravuth broke clear and unselfishly squared it to his teammate for a tap-in. Seven minutes later, Saravuth scored PKR’s third to put them in the lead, albeit with a fluked finish after he miscontrolled a pass from Prak Monyoudom and toe-ended a lob over the onrushing Pich Rovin Yothin that sailed into the net.

Less than a minute later, Naga were given a lifeline opportunity to level the score. Sun Sovannrithy, an early second-half replacement, went down under a clumsy challenge by Sok Rithy, and referee Khuon Virak pointed to the penalty spot with a flourish. Sovannrithy picked himself up to take the spotkick, but his low drive was smothered by PKR’s keeper Ouk Mich as the chance to equalize went begging. Penalty kicks have not been kind to Naga in this Cup competition.

There was still time for PKR’s Sam El Nasa to be dismissed with a second yellow card for a trip, but Naga failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage with the six minutes remaining, and PKR ran out 3-2 winners, earning themselves 20 million riels (US$4,781) in prize money. Referee Khuon Virak had a busy day too, brandishing nine yellows in addition to the late red.

Express.co.uk - WILD MONKEYS SENT TO BRITISH LABORATORIES

Parks attract more visitors

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March 7, 2010

New road for Angkor complex

South Korea has provided $9.2 million to Cambodia to build a new road that will circle the famed Angkor temple complex and reduce traffic in the area, officials said Monday.

The 13-mile road will be closed to trucks to reduce pollution, noise and vibrations that could damage the ancient ruins, said Soeung Kong, vice secretary-general of the Apsara Authority, the government agency that oversees the temples.

Construction will start this year and take three years to complete, he said.

It will be the second road in the Angkor area funded by South Korea, connecting with existing roads to the north and northwest of the temples, said South Korean Embassy official Son Sungil. The first road extended south from the temple complex.

Tourism is a major foreign currency earner for cash-strapped Cambodia, which hosts nearly 1.5 million foreign tourists each year, mostly from South Korea, Japan and the United States. More than half of the tourists visit Angkor, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northwestern Siem Reap province.

The temples were built when Angkorian kings ruled over much of Southeast Asia between the 9th and 14th centuries.

China drives ahead with Asian rail link

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By Elaine Moore in Phnom Penh

Published: March 7 2010 18:36

Plans for a long-discussed rail network to link China to six south-east Asian countries are advancing as critical gaps are filled in Cambodia.

An antiquated line to Vietnam built by the French a century ago is at present China’s only rail link to the region, but officials began plotting the new network in 1995 to extend the French connection through various national lines all the way to Singapore, the southern tip of mainland south-east Asia.

The network is expected to strengthen economic ties by reducing transport costs and making travel more convenient. A new trade agreement came into effect in January slashing tariffs on most goods exported between China and members of the Association of South East Asian Nations.

The Asian Development Bank recently agreed to extend a second $42m loan for the $141m reconstruction of Cambodia’s rail network. Australia and Malaysia have also advanced funding.

Cambodia’s rail network c ollapsed over decades of war, neglect and vandalism. Phnom Penh, the capital, lacks a functioning train station. In the north-west, locals ride along the tracks on bamboo platforms balanced on wheels.

More than 650km of track is to be renovated, including a 48km section running west to Thailand that will then connect Cambodia onward to Malaysia and Singapore.

The first segment of renovated track, between Phnom Penh and Touk Meas on the coast near Vietnam, is to open to freight trains late this year.

The other segments are to be finished by 2013.

The national network will be operated by Toll Holdings, an Australian company, and Royal Group, a local company.

Cambodia’s roads often become waterlogged and impassable during the rainy season, so Senaka Fernando, the chairman of the British Business Association of Cambodia, welcomed the railway project’s potential to improve transport.

The next project will be to fill the gap between the Cambodia-Singapore and Vietnam-China lines. Preliminary estimates put the cost at $600m-$700m (€440m-€514m, £396m-£462m).

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Amnesty International: Cambodia Must Act Against Rapes, Sex Crimes

http://www1.voanews.com/

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Robert Carmichael | Phnom Penh

07 March 2010

Amnesty International says rape and sexual crimes committed mainly against women and children has become a growing problem in Cambodia.

To mark the 100th International Women's Day, the human-rights group Amnesty International is releasing a report on the scourge of rape and sexual violence in Cambodia.

Amnesty's report, called Breaking the Silence, criticizes what it says is a culture of impunity, corruption and indifference to victims of sexual violence. The result is justice denied for Cambodian women, and increasingly for Cambodian girls.

During its research, Amnesty interviewed 30 victims of rape, as well as 50 non-government aid workers, police and government officials, and even a number of perpetrators. Brittis Edman, who wrote the report, explains its focus.

"What we specifically looked at is the aftermath of rape, what are the obstacles that victims face when they seek justice and when they seek access to services," said Edman.

Amnesty found that victims seeking help ran into several problems that made their situation even worse.

"Police often do not take them seriously, they do not necessarily investigate," added Edman. "They ask for bribes to launch an investigation. Court officials typically ask for bribes at all levels of the process."

Edman says medical specialists generally do not provide much in the way of free treatment, meaning victims need to pay money, which they often do not have, if they want help.

There are only a few places in Cambodia where victims can go for help. One of those is called Banteay Srei, which is based in Battambang province in western Cambodia.

Banteay Srei provides a safe house, counsels victims, and connects them with non-government organizations that provide legal services and health services.

Sun Maly is Banteay Srei's team leader. She says demand for its services has increased dramatically since it was set up five years ago.

Last year Banteay Srei helped 71 victims of rape, which was almost twice the number it helped the previous year. Sun Maly says part of the reason for the rise is that more women and local officials are aware of Banteay Srei's existence.

But, she says, the problem of rape and sexual violence against women is getting worse. And that is not due to a lack of sufficient laws.

"Cambodia has good laws, but they are not enforced and the perpetrators are not punished," said Sun Maly. "And that provides a model for other people to follow suit."

Sun Maly says most rape victims helped last year by Banteay Srei were girls.

"The number of rape victims we helped was 71, and most were underage," she added. "The majority, around 80 percent, were just 12 or 13 years old."

Amnesty's Edman says half of the rape victims she interviewed for the report were children.

And she stresses that she did not set out to interview child victims. Instead, the high proportion simply reflects the large numbers of children, mainly girls, who are victims of rape and who were being helped by the non-government organizations that coordinated interviews.

Why does Edman think so many children are becoming victims of rape?

"Children are clearly more vulnerable in many ways," Edman explained. "What we have seen in the research is that those who live in poverty are more vulnerable, we have seen that sex workers are more vulnerable, and it appears also that children are more vulnerable."

In its report, Amnesty outlined five pages of recommendations for the government. Among those is wholesale reform of the way rape allegations are investigated and processed through the court system.

Amnesty says bribes demanded by police must cease, more female police officers should be recruited and trained, and courts should be more sympathetic to victims. The rights group also says the practice of paying compensation to victims in exchange for charges being dropped should cease.

But most importantly, says Edman, the government must vocally condemn rape. That would cost the government nothing, but would provide comfort to victims and let society know that the crime of rape would not be tolerated.

As one women, who was raped by a monk last year, told Amnesty of her unresolved case: "If he cannot be touched, and is not brought to account, he can do it again. This would make him arrogant and a terrible role model to the people."

WILD MONKEYS ‘SENT TO BRITISH LABORATORIES’

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Sunday March 7 2010

WILD monkeys are being illegally trapped and plundered from the forests of south‑east Asia for use in British research laboratory experiments, fear animal welfare ­campaigners.

Campaigners and MPs are calling on the Home Office to examine allegations that wild-caught macaques are being sourced from the jungles of Laos and Cambodia in breach of international conservation regulations.

Undercover investigators from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) found “appalling” conditions at one primate centre in Laos where the “factory farming of macaques takes place on an industrial scale”.

They said monkeys were kept in rows of small chain-linked pens whose floors were made of either concrete or suspended wire.

And infants were taken from their mothers aged six months, they said, causing extreme distress to both.

Non-human primates can only be imported into the UK for toxicology and medical research tests from companies approved by British inspectors.

Frightened jungle monkeys are kept in netting bags after being trapped in the wild

The regulations are aimed at ensuring adequate conditions and preventing ruthless businessmen cashing in on the booming trade by trapping monkeys in the wild. However, the BUAV fears those rules are being broken.

It is concerned that UK-approved centres in China and Vietnam are sourcing their primates from unapproved farms in Laos where there is no requirement to give long-tailed macaques permanent markers such as tattoos or chips.

Instead, they are simply given removable neck tags, which the BUAV says can be “changed at will” and which renders record-keeping “seriously questionable”.

BUAV’s investigators say they witnessed horrific conditions at the largest of Laos’s three primate centres, the Vannaseng Trading Company.

They claimed that the monkeys’ distress was intensified by overcrowding and by up to two months kept in dark conditions prior to export to China and Vietnam.

They are then shipped onwards to Europe and the USA on journeys that can take up to two days, the BUAV said.

The group also raised concerns that the British Government has just approved a primate centre in Cambodia where campaigners have also found disturbing conditions.

The BUAV wrote to Home Office minister Meg Hillier last week. Its director Sarah Kite said last night: “The continued use of wild-caught primates is universally accepted as being cruel and unethical.

“For the UK to be part of a trade where monkeys continue to be plundered from the wild would be unacceptable.”

Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock, who has raised his own concerns in Parliament, described the conditions in Laos as “nothing short of disgraceful” and called for an investigation into possible import rule breaches.

He said: “The British Government is being completely complacent in this and it now needs to take decisive action.”

However, the Home Office yesterday ruled out any investigation, saying “we have received no evidence to suggest one is needed”.

It stressed that it had inspected conditions the breeding centre in Cambodia last year and found it to be an “acceptable source”.

A spokesman added: “We expect and require the highest standards in all aspects of animal research and will thoroughly examine any evidence that suggests these standards are not being met.”

Some 2,000 primates were imported into the UK from China and South East Asia over the past two years and there is no suggestion that British research centres are breaching international regulations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT http://www.buav.org/

EXCLUSIVE BY TED JEORY

Group Trashes Cambodian Plan For Sponsored Army

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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Published: 6 Mar 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A British institute has condemned a Cambodian government plan to use private businesses to sponsor the country's military units.

London-based Global Witness said the plan announced by Cambodian premier Hun Sen last week, in which 42 private businesses will partner with individual military units, "threatens to undermine the legitimacy of international aid."

"This fire-sale of military units represents an appalling breach of governance standards and threatens to undermine the country's future stability," Global Witness campaigns director Gavin Hayman said.

The group called on international donors to denounce the scheme, saying it would undermine aid from the United States, EU, Japan, China and others.

"Donors should send a firm and decisive message that Cambodia's military exists to protect the people, not the financial assets of a privileged few," Hayman said.

International donors pledged nearly $1 billion in development aid to Cambodia for 2009, and the U.S. spent more than $1 million on Cambodian military financing and training last year.

The strongly-worded statement by Global Witness, which also accused Cambodia's military of being "a vast organized crime network," called the government plan "tantamount to sanctioning a mercenary force."

"It is unacceptable for private companies to be financing a military renowned for its corruption and involvement in illegal activities, and human rights abuses," said the statement.

Cambodian cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan denied Global Witness accusations that there was graft among the country's armed forces.

"The watchdog doesn't know the culture of sharing among Cambodians. ... The donation is an issue of humanitarianism, there is no mixing between the private sector and the military," Phay Siphan told AFP.

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

About 500,000 Myanmar, Lao & Cambodia Migrant Workers will be Sent Back

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by Dr. Khin Myint Oo

March 07, 2010

Thai government will send back illegal migrants from Myanmar, Lao and Cambodia. Its about 500,000 workers all three countries. Mr. Supat Gukun,Dy. Director of Labour Inspection, Thailand said that Thailand cannot accept them more. Workers have failed to make Bank ticket, i.e.temporary passport.

A female Myanmar labour told that she has to spend about Batt 20,000 to get bank ticket and she could not offered such amount.

Myanmar megrants have to do identity card first from Kaw Thaung, boarder town at Thai-Myanmar area. Then they have to apply for bank ticket to work at Thailand.

Thailand is the country that compete India and China at market concerned garment sector and agricultural sector and so Thailand has to heir cheap workers.