AKP - Agent Kampuchea Press

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On the Universal New Year 2011, we would like to wish all readers good health, longevity, happiness and prosperity.

PM Hun Sen Attack Environmental Extremists’ Criticism on Hydropower Projects

Phnom Penh, December 31, 2010 AKP -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has attacked the environmental extremists for the criticism on a number of hydropower plant construction projects in Cambodia.

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, made the attack while presiding over a ceremony on Tuesday to block a river to build “Russey Chrum Krom” Hydropower Plant in Koh Kong province.

“Is there any development project that does not affect the environment and natural resources?” Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen asked the environmental extremists to give acceptable answers.

He referred to a number of examples in producing oil, gas, cement and steal using the natural resources that also cause the environmental problem.

To have a 338-megawatt hydropower plant at Russey Chrum Krom, the river had to be blocked and the surrounding forests would be inundated, but it was a swap for electricity, he further clarified.

If the reliance on gasoline and diesel needs to be reduced, and the energy safety needs to be guaranteed, so there must be the searches for the sources of hydropower and other alternative energies, he said. --AKP

Article in Khmer by CHIM Nary

Article in English by Ravuth M.

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AKP/02

Cambodian FM: No Release of 7 Thais Entering Illegally Cambodia

Phnom Penh, December 31, 2010 AKP -- Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Hor Namhong, minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said that there is no release of seven Thai entering illegally Cambodian territory.

The Cambodian foreign minister told this to reporters after meeting with his visiting Thai counterpart, H.E. Kasit Piromya, on Dec. 30.

“Let the legal procedure proceed the case as normal and as long as it is in hand of the court, the royal government cannot do anything,” he said.

The seven Thai nationals, including “yellow shirt” activist Veera Somkwamkid, had been arrested on Dec. 29 by Cambodian army.

He told Thai foreign minister that it was not the first time that Thais entered illegally Cambodia, but it was the third times, he said, explaining that the first was in July and the second in September, but they did not go too deeply into Cambodian soil, they were then banned by the Cambodian army and sent back to Thailand.

“The arrested Thais intended to go to Chok Chey village about 1,200 meters away from the border and they did not lose their way and they traveled across the border pole No. 46,” he said.

H.E. Kasit Piromya acknowledged that he did not know the Thais went to Cambodian village like that, he said, adding that the case went to the court’s hand and let juridical procedure proceed it.

Thai Foreign Minister H.E. Kasit Piromya said that he came to Cambodia to tell the truth of the Thai side and he respected the justice movement and demanded that the Cambodian royal government do as much as possible to finish the issue soon. --AKP

Article in Khmer by CHIM Nary

Article in English by THOU Peou

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AKP/03

DPM Hor Namhong Meets U.S. Lawmaker

Phnom Penh, December 31, 2010 AKP -- A visiting U.S. Lower House Member Ms. Laura Richardson met here on Dec. 29 with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation H.E. Hor Namhong.

On the occasion, Ms. Richardson said that she will discuss with U.S. Lower House members to write off the debts Cambodia owed to the U.S. during the U.S.-backed Lon Nol regime.

Through the U.S. Lawmaker Ms. Laura Richardson, H.E. Hor Namhong asked the American government either to convert some part of the debts to development assistance or to write off all the debts or some part of the debts.

Moreover, both sides also focused on the cooperation between Cambodia and the U.S., said Koy Kuong, undersecretary of state and spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. --AKP

By CHEA Vannak

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AKP/04

National Forest Programme Launched

Phnom Penh, December 31, 2010 AKP -- A 160-page document on the implementation of the National Forest Programme 2010-2029 was launched here on Dec. 29 in the presence of Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries H.E. Chan Sarun.

Some 300 officials of the Forestry Administration and representatives of community forestry, NGOs, private sectors, foreign embassies attended the launching ceremony.

On the occasion, H.E. Chan Sarun praised for the close cooperation between the Forestry Administration and relevant partners, especially DANIDA, DFID, NZAID, FAC and NFP Facility in setting up the National Forest Programme approved by the Council of Ministers on May 7, 2010 and officially signed by Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen on Oct. 18, 2010.

The National Forest Programme is aimed at creating a social framework and an appropriate policy in sustainably managing all types of forests, he said, adding that it will help develop the field of forestry in contribution to developing the economy and improving people’s living standard. --AKP

By SOKMOM Nimul

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AKP/05

Phnom Penh To Build Underpass

Phnom Penh, December 31, 2010 AKP -- Phnom Penh Municipality is planning to construct the first ever underpass to avert the capital city’s traffic congestion, Phnom Penh Governor H.E. Kep Chutema said yesterday.

Today there are around 2.5 million residents, 180,000 vehicles and 900,000 motorbikes in Phnom Penh, therefore underpass is one of the choices to be applied in the future, he said.

Nhem Saran, director of Phnom Penh Public Works and Transport said the underpass would be built at the intersection between Mao Tse Tung, Kim Il Sung and Russian Federation Boulevards. --AKP

By KHAN Sophirom

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AKP/06

Increasing New Media Access and Its Impacts on Cambodian Politics

Phnom Penh, December 31, 2010 AKP -- Giving the increasing trend of Cambodian web browsers, the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) on Dec. 31 organized a roundtable discussion on new media and the impacts on politics at Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh.

According to the Cambodian Publication Review produced annually by the Department of Media and Communication of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, as of 2010 there are more than 110 thousand web browsers among the Cambodian population of around 14 million. And 72 percent of the browsers are male.

In his presentation, CCJ President Pen Samitthy shared his observation of declining readership of print media and the increasing browsership of new media, adding that Cambodian government is also starting to turn their interest to new media.

In his example, Mr. Samitthy projected high number of Facebook fans of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, especially for his greeting message posted in July that reads “…I love you all and without you I am working for nobody…”

It is reflected that limited access and knowledge about the new media among Cambodians, especially those in the rural areas, may restrict political role in the means. However, it will not be true in the future as more and more internet coverage has been made possible from time to time.

Funded by Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the roundtable discussion also highlighted drawbacks of the not-yet-controllable new media not only in political, but also in cultural and social aspects. To maximize positive consequence of the emerging new media, it calls for the collaboration among policy makers, media practitioners, development agency and other stakeholders.

Talking about his experience, Radio France International reporter Ky Soklim said that the new media can influence voters. “Traditionally a political belief of a family can be shaped by the family leader or anyone who is more knowledgeable in the family. Therefore, when influenced by abundant information from new media, those key persons in the family may change their political stance.” The question is how the politician can take advantage of this.

For the print media journalists, the new media poses new challenges as warned by the CCJ president Pen Samitthy that questionable quality and ethical standard as well as issue in terms of timeliness are becoming more critical now if the ‘traditional’ journalists want to sustain. --AKP

By MOM Chan Dara Soleil

Election NGO fends off PM’s criticisms

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Vong Sokheng

LOCAL election monitor Comfrel yesterday moved to defend itself against criticisms from Prime Minister Hun Sen, who said this week that the body’s most recent quarterly report on the National Assembly was biased toward the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.

During a speech to hundreds of officials at the Chaktomuk conference centre on Wednesday, the premier said the report, released in October, was misleading.

“There was an evaluation that our lawmakers did not visit their constituencies and lawmakers from the opposition party visited their constituencies more than us,” Hun Sen said. “I am sorry, you are wrong.”

Koul Panha, Comfrel’s executive director, said yesterday that the report was designed to provide an accurate and balanced assessment of the National Assembly.

“We collected all information related to the National Assembly and individual lawmakers, because we need the voters to have information about their representatives,” he said.

“We will accept any feedback in order to improve our report monitoring the National Assembly and individual lawmakers, and if the government officials want to know how we [conducted the] analysis in our report, we are ready to explain.”

During the same speech on Wednesday, Hun Sen also alleged that he has spies embedded within the SRP, who are relaying “secret information” about the party’s activities.

“The person [inside the SRP] who is insulting me more than the others is who is leaking more secret information,” he said.

“There are many Hun Sen spies embedded in the opposition party and if the SRP wants to hide its secrets, its must destroy the entire group.”

Chea Poch, an SRP lawmaker, yesterday described Hun Sen’s comments as an attempt to “incite” problems within the opposition party. He said he was confident that SRP members were loyal to the opposition and would continue to “frankly discuss” party affairs internally.

Five held on drug trafficking charges

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

PHNOM Penh Municipal court yesterday charged five people with drug trafficking following their arrest in a raid in the capital earlier this week, said Sok Roeun, deputy prosecutor at the court.

“I have charged them today with drug trafficking committed in Cambodia. They are now being sent to prison [to await] their trials in the future,” Sok Roeun said.

He said the group were arrested during a raid in Stung Meanchey commune on Monday night, an operation that was carried out by anti-drug police in collaboration with Meanchey district authorities.

Moek Dara, secretary general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, said that the arrest of the five alleged smugglers was made possible by the effective cooperation between multiple branches of the police force.

He said on Wednesday that officials had also seized nearly 7 million flu tablets containing the ingredient pseudoephedrine, which can be chemically altered to produce methamphetamine and other forms of amphetamines.

“This is another big crackdown on drug trafficking made by our authorities in Phnom Penh at the end of this year,” he said.

Moek Dara added that the authorities are now working hard to continue investigations into other individuals who could be part of the same drug trafficking network.

According to a report released by the NACD yesterday, a total of 272 drug-related cases were prosecuted between January 1 and September 30 this year, while 233 cases were brought to court in the whole of 2009.

The NACD figures show that 536 people were arrested on drug charges in the first nine months of 2010, compared to the 467 people arrested on similar charges in 2009 – an increase of 14.8 percent.

Vendors oppose rent rise

Photo by: Sovan Philong

Vendors protest at Heng Ly market yesterday after the owner of the market increased their rent.

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Mom Kunthear

MORE than 100 vendors at Phnom Penh’s Heng Ly market closed their businesses yesterday morning and held meetings with the chief of Teuk La’ak III commune and the governor of Toul Kork district, pressing for them to intervene in a dispute over stall rental prices.

About 80 vendors staged a protest outside the market early this month, after the market owner announced that he would be raising annual stall rental prices.

Rental fees for some of the larger stalls will be raised from US$2,800 per year to $4,320, while prices for some of the smaller stalls will increase from $350 to $450. Vendors say about 800 stallholders will be affected by the price rise.

Tan Heang, a vendor representative, said yesterday that stallholders had decided to take the dispute to the commune chief and district governor yesterday after receiving no response from the market owner.

Tan Heang said vendors could not afford the new prices, and that a January 1 payment deadline was drawing near.

“We decided to close all our shops since today to demand the authority help us to reduce the rental price,” he said.

“The market representative told us that they will close the market if we don’t pay them at the new price on January 1.”

He said vendors had asked authorities to find a way to keep the rental prices at the same rate that they were this year.

He said vendors would stage protests outside City Hall and Prime Minister Hun Sen’s villa in Phnom Penh if local officials failed to find a resolution.

Lay Sophy, a vendor selling secondhand clothes at the market, said the commune chief had told stallholders he could not help them, referring them instead to the district governor.

“We went to meet the district governor and the governor accepted our suggestion and he promised to make an appointment with the market owner in order to find a solution for us,” she said.

She said the market owner had proposed raising her rent from $920 per year to $1,200.

District governor Seng Ratanak yesterday declined to comment on the situation at length, saying he had just received the complaint and needed some time to research the issue.

“I will research to learn more clearly about their problem and then I will invite the market owner to ask him about this issue,” Seng Ratanak said, adding that he was committed to finding a solution for the vendors.

Heng Ly, the owner of the market, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Battambang police arrest 11 women in alleged brothel

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Phak Seangly

BATTAMBANG provincial police have arrested 10 sex workers and a 46-year-old woman during a raid on an illegal establishment concealed within a karaoke parlour in Phnom Proek district, officials said yesterday.

Kuy Heang, director of the provincial Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau, said the raid on the establishment, located about a kilometre from the Thai border, took place on Tuesday evening.

He said the 10 sex workers, aged between 20 and 32, were sent to the provincial Department of Social Affairs. The woman was sent to court yesterday. “There are no brothels in Battambang now,” he said.

Uy Samphea, deputy prosecutor at the provincial court, said the court had not yet decided whether to charge the woman with procurement of prostitution, or aggravated procurement of prostitution.

A conviction on procurement of prostitution charges would result in a sentence of two to five years in prison, while aggravated procurement carries a maximum punishment of 10 years, he said.

District governor Suon Koeurn said charges for sexual services in the area ranged from 200 Thai baht (about US$6.50) to around 400 baht ($13).

“The prices of sexual intercourse rank from 200 baht to 400 baht based on the period of time and the beauty of the sex workers,” he said, adding that he doubted that the 10 women picked up in the raid had been forced into sex work.

“I think they themselves need extra money to live on from their sexual intercourse,” he said.

Villagers complain in wake of fishing fight

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Meas Sokchea

FIVE Prey Veng villagers filed a complaint to the provincial court yesterday, requesting compensation from a fishing lot owner whose guards allegedly beat them up during a quarrel on Tuesday.

The five were part of a group of 17 people who went to fish in a private pond in Peam Chor district but were confronted by two district police and Vietnamese security guards. In the mêlée that ensued, the villagers claim they were shot at and beaten by the guards.

Hun Samet, 34, one of the five complainants, said yesterday that his group filed a complaint to the court yesterday, asking for Nguyen Yang Tong, the owner of the fish lot, to cover their medical costs.

He said the group were just fishing for food when Nguyen Yang Tong ordered his employees to beat them up.

Seth Seap, 24, was arrested in the aftermath and still remains in police custody, his father Soy Seth said.

Peam Chor district police chief Suon Savath said the authorities had an obligation to crack down on illegal fishing, and accused the villagers of attacking the authorities first.

He also denied villagers’ claims one of the men was shot.

“I speak as a centrist. I have gone to visit the victim in the hospital, and he was not injured by a bullet, but was injured by solid thing,” he said.

Lay Im, an investigator for local rights group Adhoc, said the five villagers had been clearly wronged by the security guards.

“Police should not use weapons and sticks to shoot and beat people like this. They just fished for food, they were not fishing for sale,” Lay Im said.

Police Blotter: 31 Dec 2010

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Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Sen David

Frog fare fatal for diner, another not faring well

At least one man died and another became seriously ill after eating frog meat in Kampong Thom province’s Prasat Balang district on Wednesday. Family members said the men had caught the frogs in a nearby field on Wednesday before enjoying them as a snack while drinking wine in the evening. The men began vomiting almost immediately after eating the frog meat, but did not think it was serious and waited a few hours before seeking medical help. Doctors saved one of the men but said they were unable to save the other because they had arrived at the hospital too late.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

Cops detain four after flutter on football

Four men were arrested and detained in Preah Sihanouk province on Wednesday, accused of gambling on football matches. Police said the men were arrested after neighbours tipped off police to their illegal practice. Police seized 99 betting invoices, a copy machine, two motorbikes, and about US$46,500 during a raid of the apartment of one of the suspects.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

Tree feller falls foul due to carelessness

A 20-year-old man died after a tree he was cutting down fell and crushed him in Pursat province on Wednesday. Police said the man’s employer had ordered him to cut the tree down, but noted that the accident was entirely the victim’s own fault. The victim was sent to hospital but died on arrival. The victim’s employers have agreed to compensate his family.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

Four masked thieves flee scene of the crime

Police in Preah Sihnaouk province’s Prey Nop district are searching for four men accused of robbing a fisherman at gunpoint on Wednesday. The victim said the men, who were masked, had threatened him with guns before stealing a necklace and a ring and fleeing the scene. The victim said he was terrified during the attack, but noted that on reflection, the guns may not have been the real deal.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Man, 55, arrested for rape of 6-year-old girl

A 55-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of raping a 6-year-old girl on Tuesday. Police said the victim’s mother filed a complaint after finding the girl, who had gone alone to a nearby market to buy palm juice, in a field with blood between her legs. The victim reportedly identified the suspect, saying he had lured her to the field with the promise of candy. The victim was sent to hospital and the suspect is being detained, police said.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief

via CAAI

Serviceman shoots and kills two in jealous rage

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Phak Seangly

A 35-YEAR-OLD soldier shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and another soldier when he found the two sleeping together at a military barracks on Wednesday night on the Dangrek mountains in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province. He then committed suicide by shooting himself at the scene. “Her ex-boyfriend saw her sleeping with her new boyfriend. He burst in and shot them with his AK-47 rifle, killing them instantly and then killing himself,” Bun Neng, the deputy police chief in Anlong Veng district, said yesterday.

Ratanakkiri families seek graft body’s help

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:01 Tep Nimol

SEVERAL families in Ratanakkiri province’s Banlung district filed a complaint to the Anticorruption Unit yesterday, demanding that it punish three men that tricked them into buying disputed land in 2007, villagers said yesterday.

“These three people cheated the villagers and said that the land they sold to us belongs to them, but actually the land is in being disputed in a lawsuit, so we need the ACU to find justice for us and punish them through the law,” Noun Mol, a 50-year-old villager, said yesterday.

CEO outlines future of Post

Moun Ramady, Post Media’s new chief executive officer. Photo by: Will Baxter

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:00 Catherine James

POST Media’s new chief executive officer Moun Ramady is not fazed about taking the helm of a newspaper company at a time when globally the industry is downsizing. On the contrary, he says that in the Cambodian market there is plenty of room to grow.

“All the newspapers in the world are shrinking, and we are growing. People are shutting down, and we are expanding. I see the potential,” he says.

His vision for Post Media’s publications - both Khmer and English editions of The Phnom Penh Post - is expansion, particularly for the Khmer edition, which he describes as “the future of Post Media”.

“[The Post Khmer] is going to overtake the English edition, no matter what,” he says.

“The expat readership for the English edition here is maybe 20,000, but for the Khmer edition, you’ve got a population of 14 million. In the future, the flagship of the company will be the Khmer edition. And this is where our future is.”

Moun Ramady says although the company is operating at a loss, he is confident this will turn around as the fruits of expansion take hold. For example, The Post’s online site is getting between 20,000 and 30,000 hits a day.

“The reason we are in the red is because we invested heavily,” he says, listing all the big-cost expenses the company has recently made, including a wholly owned printing house and last year’s launch of the Khmer newspaper.

“We launched the Khmer publication last year and with any product that comes to the market, you won’t make money straight away – it’s investment and more investment and more investment.”

Further outlay is on the horizon with a new provincial bureau scheduled to open in Sihanoukville in “a few months”, he says, to add to The Post’s headquarters in Phnom Penh and bureau in Siem Reap.

Born in Battambang in 1974, Moun Ramady says he doesn’t remember much of the Khmer Rouge regime in which both his parents were killed, but recalls life was tough in the years that followed.

“I only remember bits here and there – I remember running around asking for food. Everyone was hungry during that period,” he says.

“But I do remember very well when the Vietnamese came and the Khmer Rouge was kicked out of Phnom Penh. It was tough. Everyone had a pretty hard life to survive in the early 80s.”

After finishing school in 1990, he decided to learn English which he regarded as “the way to the future”.

Ultimately his professional studies were undertaken in Australia. He moved to Melbourne in 1996 and completed a Bachelor of business, international trade and marketing, at Victoria University.

He returned to Cambodia in 2006, working as a sales manager for a logistics company, before moving to Post Media in 2009 as a sales executive and then as circulation manager.

He regards his promotion to take charge at Post Media as a sign of the times.

“The younger generation is taking up more leadership and running the country, from business to government,” he says.

Even at Post Media, he feels a shift is underway, with more Cambodians having a bigger role in the company. He points out the new commercial director, the head of sales for the English edition, the circulation manager and the human resources manager are all Khmer.

“It’s very important because we understand better how to interact with the Cambodian community and we would like to see the community working more with us,” he says.

However he believes foreign expat staff are teaching the local employees and journalists “invaluable experiences”.

“The expat colleagues are an important factor as well for Post Media to grow,” he says, elaborating that they bring a different level of knowledge to the paper, including the Khmer edition.

“[The Post Khmer] has raised the bar for the old style Khmer newspapers that have been here for years and years. This is a new playing field, a new competition,” he says.

Post Media’s former CEO Michel Dauguet has left the company to become CEO of a multinational based in South-East Asia.

Coastal hotels raise prices despite request from Tourism Ministry

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:00 Soeun Say

MANY hotels in the Kingdom’s coastal areas are increasing prices for the International New Year, despite Ministry of Tourism announcements that hotels ought to avoid increasing rates.

Hotels from the K4 region of Kampot, Kep, Koh Kong, and Preah Sihanouk) provinces said they were full for the holiday, despite the temporary increase in prices. Golden Sand Hotel in Sihanoukville has been fully booked for two weeks, according to Accountant Executive Hang Vannaren.

“We’re full now, we have no room for customers,” she said. The hotel normally prices rooms at US$30, but rooms cost an extra $10 to $15 during the holiday.

“It’s not only our hotel increasing prices. Every hotel in Sihanoukville is increasing the prices as well.”

Crystal Hotel employee Samnang Makara echoed claims that seaside hotels were fully booked. “[Our hotel] is full – we cannot receive any more customers,” she said.

Ministry of Tourism director of the Tourism Industry Department Prak Chan Dara said yesterday that the ministry had urged hotels not increase prices over International New Year, celebrated on January 1, in order to boost customer satisfaction and trust in the prices.

“We announced not to increase the price on New Year’s in order to help customers feel relaxed, and come again next time,” he said.

Hotels in Kampot and Kep provinces also said they had no vacancies, with many adding they had increased prices.

Chan Rina, general manager of Brise De Kep Guesthouse, said they were fully booked from December 25. “We have no more places for guests to say,” she said, adding guests were almost entirely foreigners.

“We only increased prices by 10 percent, and it’s only during big festivals in Cambodia – on others days the price is normal,” she said.

Kampot River View guesthouse was seeing an influx of tourists, with the hotel raising prices by US$5 to $6 a night, according to employee Oeung Sophorn.

Luu Meng, president of the Cambodian Hotel Association, said the increase was mostly in coastal areas.

“There’s a simple reason they increase prices during the festival … on that day, the hotel often pays its staff double to work during the holiday,” he said.

Khmer focus in giant puppet parade

Children march down the street with their giant puppet in the 2010 parade

via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:00 Craig Miles

THE increasingly popular Giant Puppet Project in Siem Reap will kick off again on February 19, with master classes and workshops beginning from February 1.

One emerging feature this year is that the project is no longer organised only by westerners, with the reins now almost ready to be handed over totally to the Khmer artists who participate.

Project director of the Giant Puppet Project, Stuart Cochlin, said that this year there would be two international artists in Siem Reap working part-time to assist the Cambodian artists.

He said artistic director Jig Cochrane from the UK, who normally organises and runs the workshops, would now take more of a backseat role.

The other international artist, Peter Rush, a paper sculptor and painter also from the UK, will be in Siem Reap in February and will help with a few different workshops.

The focus for February, according to Cochlin, is to improve what was already accomplished last year, rather than focus on making the project bigger. “We’re trying to turn it into a well-oiled machine,” he said.

At the last puppet parade there were about 550 children who took part in the workshops, and Cochlin expects around 600 in February Organisers are also trying to get local schools involved with a brass band marching with the parade.

“Ultimately what I would like to see would be all the wats and schools of Siem Reap participating,” he said. “Giant puppets created by every wat and school in town – now that would be something.”

Talks have also been under way with the organisers of the puppet parade during Khmarnaval, an annual three-day celebration in Sihanoukville, to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia.

Cochlin said the Sihanoukville parade will be held one week after the Siem Reap version and the Siem Reap organisers hoped to take some of the giant puppets down for it.

“We could also look at the possibility of having some of the Sihanoukville puppets here,” he said.

The Giant Puppet Project began in 2007 and has rapidly increased in popularity. About 200 children attended the workshops in the first year, but this has more than doubled since.

The project’s first week involves Khmer student artists from nearby Battambang taking a master class, run by artistic director Jig Cochrane, to exchange skills and ideas.

The second aspect involves children’s workshops from participating NGOs, taught by the Battambang student artists, where they learn how to create and manipulate their giant puppets. This includes learning about the issues behind the theme of the puppet.

Cochlin said it usually takes two days for the children to create the giant puppets. “New guys usually say ‘we can’t do that’. But then they learn and they make it and they see it’s possible.”

The project climaxes with the puppet parade through the streets of Siem Reap. The parade starts at Old Market, goes past Cafe Central, down Pub Street, and then onto the park near the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor where the finale takes place.

A shadow puppet performance is also being planned for the finale, as well as other performances including bokator demonstrations.

“Last year saw a shadow puppet theatre show made by children from Pre Se Ar Pagoda near the Bayon temple, clowns from the Battambang Circus, and a musical troupe from [the NGO] Krusar Thmei playing classic 1960s Khmer rock music,” said Cochlin.

He said the organisers are open to sculpture, music, or anything creative being incorporated in the project.

“We’re open to anything, as long as its fun, but we want to keep it as Cambodian as possible.”

The Giant Puppet Parade is always a brilliant spectacle and has fast become a highlight of the Siem Reap calendar. How could it not, when organisers say they will try to make it “as loud and noisy as possible”.

Two-night concert could resurrect reputation

13-year-old Bosbapanh will headline two concerts at Bayon temple in late February.

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It promises to be one of those very special occasions and certainly boasts artistic integrity

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via CAAI

Friday, 31 December 2010 15:00 Peter Olszewski

BAYON Temple has replaced Angkor Wat this year as the site for live concerts aimed at the high-season tourist market.

The highlight of the entertainment to be staged at Bayon this season is scheduled for February 25-26. This is a two-night concert and dinner called Tribute to the Masters featuring gifted 13-year-old soprano Bosbapanh and a host of other performers.

It promises to be one of those very special occasions and certainly boasts more artistic and cultural integrity than the show now running at Bayon until January 28, the heavily promoted Smile of Angkor Grand Epic Show. This is staged by Performance and Arts (Cambodia) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Angkor Coex, the company that runs the international convention and exhibition centre on the edge of town.

The organisers claim they have sunk $4 million into this schlock extravaganza, which seems aimed mostly at the Korean tourist trade, and which promises to “bring the real ancient Cambodian songs, dance, dressings, fairy stories, temples, back to life”.

Tickets for dinner and the 70-minute show are on sale at Angkor Coex headquarters for $68 for a-class seats and $58 for B-class seats. VIP tickets are available for $168, but prices have been reduced at a sales outlet in Pub Street.

This concert echoes two similar extravaganzas run at Angkor Wat over the last three years, and both ventures ended as box office turkeys.

The most professional was a $1.5 million “mega-theatre” performance, The Legend of Angkor Wat, which debuted in the 2007-2008 tourist season.

This was produced by Bayon CM Organiser, a joint venture between Cambodia’s Bayon Radio & TV, and the Bangkok-based CM Organiser, an event and production company.

Slick as it was, with big-name Cambodian performers in lead roles, the show never achieved its revenue targets and its death blow was delivered in 2009 with the onset of the economic crisis.

Later in 2009 the locally registered Korean company, Sou Ching, announced that was staging The Angkor Night Show in the Angkor Wat precinct every evening during the dry season.

The nightly production featured more than 150 performers, 45 lighting technicians and engineers and 50 support staff. It was massive, moving across the interior of Angkor Wat and culminating in a traditional dance show held on a stage with light gantries that have been erected on the site.

The entire temple interior was lit up and wired throughout for sound, with an upmarket dining area.

This turned out to be a loser as well, and before its brief run came to an end, it became embroiled in a controversy over alleged damage to the temple by the installation of lighting fixtures. The project sparked outrage when the company began inserting lights into holes in the walls of the temple to replace lights placed on the ground.

The company said the holes were pre-existing, though tourists and others said they suspected that the holes had been carved out specifically for the project.

Photos of Angkor that showed lights placed at regular intervals in part fuelled the allegations, though Sou Ching denied causing any damage to the temple.

The government and the Apsara Authority also rejected claims that Angkor Wat sustained damage as a result of the project.

Then, on June 2, 2009, the government filed a suit in which it charged Moeung Sonn, president of the Khmer Civilisation Foundation, with spreading false information and inciting the public in connection to his claims that holes had been drilled deep into the temple’s walls.

Shortly after the suit was filed, Moeung Sonn flew to France to avoid arrest.

The Angkor Night Show limped on for a few weeks, and the production was then officially suspended, never to be heard of again.

It then became obvious that authorities had a change of heart about using Angkor Wat for long-running theatrical productions.

A Moscow-based company in 2007 had pitched a series of concerts at Angkor Wat as part of a festival titled Angkorica.

The proposal, which included plans for an appearance by the Icelandic singer Bjork as well as elephants covered in white-and-gold cloth, was priced at between $3.5 million and $5 million.

But in June 2009 Vladimir Meshkey, general producer for Rise Entertainment, told The Post that the company had been advised by the Apsara Authority to consider a more modest festival at another site.

The suggested new site was the Bayon temple.

Rise Entertainment then said it would opt for a scaled down three-day festival which to date, perhaps thankfully, has not happened.

2010: The year in pictures

via CAAI

Thursday, 30 December 20102010 has been a tumultuous year for Cambodia, filled both with surprises and long-standing developments.

If 2009 was a year for the consolidation of domestic power by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, 2010 saw them increasingly emboldened in dealings with the international community. Following the escalating legal campaign against government critics that marked 2009, opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who fled the Kingdom last year under the threat of criminal charges, was ultimately convicted in January of this year for incitement and destruction of public property in relation to a protest along the Vietnamese border, receiving a two-year prison term. In September he received an additional 10-year term in connection with his attempts from abroad to vindicate his claims of Vietnamese encroachment.

Donors offered a muted response to Sam Rainsy’s convictions, and in general, there were few apparent consequences for government behaviour that rights groups branded authoritarian. In April, the United States announced the suspension of a shipment of military trucks in retaliation for the Kingdom’s much-criticised deportation of 20 Uighur Chinese asylum seekers in December 2009, though China quickly stepped into the breach with a replacement shipment. In June, donors pledged a record US$1.1 billion for the subsequent 18-month period.

Despite this largesse, the government took an occasionally hostile tack with donor countries, calling on foreign diplomats to avoid attempts to “give lessons” to Cambodia. United Nations Resident Coordinator Douglas Broderick was threatened with expulsion in March after the UN urged a lengthier public debate of the Kingdom’s long-awaited Anticorruption Law, which was pushed through the National Assembly that month. In October, during a rare visit by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, Hun Sen spoiled the party by declaring the government’s intention to close the UN’s human rights office and stating that there would be no further prosecutions at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal following its second case.

Despite worries about delays and political interference, Cambodia’s war crimes tribunal succeeded in handing down its historic first verdict. Former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was convicted in July of crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Appeals in the case begin in 2011, as will the court’s second trial, which features the most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. This case, which prosecutors have said will last at least two years, is considered central to the court’s success.

“Case 002 is the most political, the most important, and the most difficult,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.

The Kingdom’s economy bounced back from a weak 2009, following on the Asia-led recovery from the global financial crisis. Last year, key sectors including garments, construction and tourism were battered by a plunge in external demand. However, groups such as the Asian Development Bank have projected that Cambodia’s GDP has grown by around 5 percent this year, with an additional 6 percent growth projected for next year.

“2010 would be the year of recovery,” said Peter Brimble, senior country economist for the ADB. “I think it reflects, to large extent, a relatively well-targeted and sensible response of the government to the global financial crisis.”

The recovery has been driven in large measure by the garment sector, which accounts for the majority of Cambodia’s exports. However, the high price of raw materials and the threat of labour disruptions leave this important industry vulnerable. In September, tensions in the sector came to a head when thousands of garment workers took to the streets to protest a July bump in their monthly minimum wage by US$5 to $61 that they said was inadequate.

The agriculture sector, meanwhile, remains the backbone of the economy and the key for the livelihoods of the 80 percent of the population who live outside of Phnom Penh. The government has announced ambitious plans to boost the Kingdom’s rice exports to 1 million tonnes annually by 2015, though experts agree that the Kingdom must develop its processing capability and reduce its transport costs for this policy to be successful.

A worrying backdrop to the agriculture sector’s development are the Kingdom’s innumerable land conflicts, which have continued to pit private companies against “the poor and the powerless”, said Thun Saray, president of the local rights group Adhoc. Thun Saray said over 300 Cambodians were prosecuted in connection with land disputes this year.

Foreign investment dropped for the second year in a row, according to the Council for the Development of Cambodia, which projected in October that $4.25 billion in projects would be approved for 2010, down from $5.86 billion last year.

China has accounted for the lion’s share of investment and economic assistance. Beijing has focused in particular on infrastructure projects such as roads and hydropower, signing a deal in November to invest $1.6 billion in such projects over the next five years.

As the Kingdom continued moving closer to China, it also reversed the trend of conflict with Thailand that characterised much of 2009. Fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra quietly resigned in August from his position as economic adviser to the Cambodian government, prompting Thailand and Cambodia to return ambassadors that had been withdrawn the previous year in the row over Thaksin’s appointment. Abhisit and Hun Sen have since held several one-on-one meetings and have touted the warming relations between the two countries. It remains to be seen how this week’s arrest of a Thai parliamentarian for trespassing at the border might affect the thaw in relations.

Looming large over the year’s events was the Diamond Island bridge disaster, which Hun Sen called the country’s worst tragedy since the Khmer Rouge regime. The stampede claimed the lives of 353 people during the final night of the Kingdom’s annual Water Festival in November, and the victims were overwhelmingly youthful festival goers. A government investigation of the incident later concluded that those on the bridge had panicked over reports that the structure was swaying back and forth, causing the crush; critics have called for a more extensive probe looking at the issues of preparation and crowd control and assessing responsibility for the tragedy.

“The problem is that the spirit of responsibility in Cambodian society is still not high, not like in other countries,” Thun Saray said.

Looking ahead, Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said 2011 would be a chance for the government to build on achievements from this year including the passage of the Anticorruption Law, successful macroeconomic management and ongoing reform of the judiciary.

“To build a democratic society, we have to be partners together,” he said. “Everyone, together, to enhance democracy in Cambodia.” 17:26 Post Staff

A new century for rubber

Photo by: Jeremy Mullins
Rubber drips from a tapped tree in Kampong Cham’s Tboung Khmum district. The province has become the heart of Cambodian rubber production.

via CAAI

Thursday, 30 December 2010 20:03 Jeremy Mullins and Rann Reuy

Kampong Cham province

The Kingdom’s natural rubber industry is primed to grow dramatically in coming years, industry experts say, as Cambodia fetes 100 years of domestic rubber plantations.

The French protectorate planted the first trees in what is now Preah Sihanouk province in 1910. By 1924 plantations were moving further inland to Kampong Cham province – which today is the heart of Cambodia’s natural rubber industry.

Chub rubber plantation – presently the Kingdom’s largest – now covers 17,000 hectares in Kampong Cham, producing between 33 and 38 tonnes of rubber per day. All of its trees date from 1986 or later, except for fifteen hectares of old trees that have been preserved since 1924.

The site has become a tourist attraction, but also draws back former workers to see the rubber plantations they worked on before the Khmer Rouge. Chub protects the trees standing on the fifteen hectares by regularly clearing back the brush.

“We preserve these trees from vanishing,” says Chub technical director Meas Meannith.

“They are evidence of the beginning of rubber in Cambodia. If we cut the trees down, we lose an important mark in the line of events since the beginning.”

Ly Phalla, general director of the General Directorate of Rubber, says cultivation originally began in coastal areas, but Kampong Cham’s strong growing conditions had made it the centre of the domestic industry.

By 1979, domestic rubber plantations totalled 45,750 hectares, largely left over from the French regime. Today it totals 166,750 hectares, and could reach 250,000 hectares by 2015, according to Chub managing director Mak Kim Hong.

But the industry in Cambodia is still small compared to many neighbouring countries. The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries – which claims its members constitute 92 percent of global output – compiled statistics showing Cambodia produces less than 0.5 percent of the association’s total. Thailand and Indonesia each produce close to one third of the Association’s output.

Nevertheless, experts say the domestic sector has strong upside potential.

Agriculture is the traditional backbone of Cambodia’s economy, according to Leopard Capital CEO Douglas Clayton.

“[It] is a great sector to develop now that commodity prices are trending upwards,” he says.

“Rubber will once again become an important industry here just as it was before the war, when Cambodia used to manufacture tyres.”

Rubber prices hit an all-time high this month, selling for over US$5,000 per tonne in trading on the Malaysian Rubber Exchange this week. Prices have risen rapidly this year as demand outstrips supply. A tonne fetched $2,955 on the last day of trading in 2009.

Recently, persistent rains have hit supply among major exporters, including Thailand, the world’s largest, while international demand remains strong.

After the Khmer Rouge period brought production to a halt, the domestic industry was restarted in 1979 by seven state-owned companies, including Chub, which were later privatised by 2008.

However, though many point to strong prospects for the future of Cambodian rubber, the sector is not without its challenges.

One problem, Clayton says, is that much of Cambodia’s best farmland is tied up under long term concessions to speculators with no intention of farming.

“The government should steadily increase taxes on concession that haven’t fulfilled their business plans,” he says.

Domestic rubber producers have also complained of difficulties in measuring market data, claiming fewer available means to store rubber and arrange future contracts can put them at a disadvantage.

Cambodia’s rubber industry enjoys several advantages, such as lower wages and a business-friendly government, though other costs remain higher, according to Mak Kim Hong. Electricity, and petrol used for transport are often more costly than in neighbouring countries, he says.

Prominent Cambodian businessman Mong Reththy has advocated building rubber plantations near the coast, where the original French rubber plantations first sat 100 years ago. The scheme has its pros and cons, according to Mak Kim Hong. On one hand, the cost of transporting the rubber to Sihanoukville port for export is lower, but on the other hand, stronger winds and rains could make cultivation more challenging.

A plastic rain guard can be fitted to protect tapped trees from the rain, but the wind is more difficult to protect against. Kampong Cham’s rusty-coloured soil is also superbly suited to rubber.

“Red soil is rich soil,” Mak Kim Hong says.

Another major obstacle to increasing production has been convincing the world of the quality of Cambodian rubber.

Cambodian rubber fetched some 20 to 25 percent less than prices for Malaysian rubber in the 1990s, Mak Kim Hong says, but he claims the gap is closing.

Cambodia has joined several international organisations in a bid to earn global recognition of its produce. The Association for Rubber Development of Cambodia has joined the ASEAN Rubber Business Council, for instance – a six-member organisation it joined ahead of regional rubber producers Laos or the Philippines.

The ARBC and other organisations have provided a forum for Cambodia to showcase the quality of its products.

Last week, Chub plantation rubber earned the ISO 9001:2008 certification from the QMS Australia standards company, which Mak Kim Hong claims is the highest standard ever obtained by a Cambodian rubber producer.

“This certificate has more conditions, very strict conditions [governing the quality of our rubber],” he says. “We can sell for higher prices with this certificate.”

During a visit to Phnom Penh this month, France’s Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche said that French expertise had played a role in helping establish a successful industry in Cambodia. The French Embassy held an event to mark the 100-year anniversary during his visit.

Yet despite rubber’s century-long history in the Kingdom, some in the industry claim little knowledge of the sector’s past.

Quickly tapping trees in Kampong Cham’s Tboung Khmum district, 20-year-old rubber worker Sin Sreylen told The Post she had never asked why there were so many rubber trees growing in Kampong Cham.

But local life revolves around the rubber plantation, she says.

She was born on a rubber plantation, and has lived to see the constant cycle of worn-out trees being cut down and replanted. She said she had noticed an increase in local living standards on the back of the burgeoning rubber industry.

“I used to hear my parents complain about difficulties making ends meet, but now I never hear those complaints,” she said. “I hope in the future that more rubber trees will grow and I will get more work and a higher salary.”

Army official gets 18 years for murder

via CAAI

Thursday, 30 December 2010 19:08 Chrann Chamroeun

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced and convicted two men, including a military official, to 18 years in prison after finding them guilty of the pre-meditated murder of a Kampong Cham woman.

Military official An Sophoeun, 35, and his accomplice Meng Ly, 27, were arrested in April after spiking the woman’s drink, beating her to death, stealing her vehicle and disposing of her body in Preah Vihear province on March 14.

Vietnamese national Din Yong Dave, 53, was also arrested and charged with receiving stolen goods, after buying the woman’s car from An Sophoeun for US$5,000. Presiding judge Kor Vandy also sentenced him to two years in prison for his part in the crime.

He also ordered the three men to jointly pay compensation of 100 million riels (about $25,000) to the victim’s mother, who initially requested $100,000.

Bun Kong, a lawyer representing An Sophoeun and Meng Ly, said yesterday that the sentence was “acceptable” since his clients had confessed to the killing.

“They constantly blamed each other, both saying that they did not mastermind the killing,” he said yesterday.

“The sentence is lighter than what is in the penal code. It depends on my clients whether or not they would like me to appeal the conviction.”

During a hearing on December 6, An Sophoeun pled guilty to the charge of pre-meditated murder, prompting his lawyer to seek the minimum sentence. At a hearing a month earlier, he denied the charges.

An Sophoeun yesterday told the court he and the victim both lived in the same of area of Kampong Cham province’s Prey Chhor district and had both been involved in a logging business in the five months prior to her killing.

He testified that he decided to murder the woman after she allegedly failed to repay $10,000 that she borrowed from him in connection with their wood business.

“I called the victim to meet at a local restaurant at about 6 pm on March 14 at Prek Leap commune in the suburb of [Phnom Penh] to talk about the logging business, and I put about 10 sleeping pills in her ABC stout glass,” An Sophoeun said.

“We then left from the restaurant and drove for about four or five hours to Preah Vihear province. I was the driver of her mini Lexus car while Meng Ly sat in the back with the victim and beat her with a tyre lever,” he added.

An Sophoeun denied raping the victim, despite court officials saying that her underwear had been removed before her body was dumped in the forest.

“I didn’t rape her, I did nothing besides our plot of poisoning and beating her to death to steal her car to sell it to a Vietnamese man for $5000,” he said.

Over 300 land protestors charged this year

Photo by: Will Baxter
A policeman monitors villagers protesting outside Kampong Speu provincial court in March. The protest followed the arrest of two people detained in connection with a dispute with a sugar company in Thpong district.

via CAAI

Thursday, 30 December 2010 19:33 May Titthara

A TOTAL of 306 villagers have been charged this year in connection with land disputes in 18 provinces, according to figures released by rights group Adhoc yesterday.

Ouch Leng, Adhoc’s land programme officer, said that of those charged, 128 were released on bail after periods in detention, while 51 remain in prison. He said the remaining 127 had fled their homes to escape the charges.

He claimed that in many of the disputes – which have pitted thousands of villagers against “companies and powerful people” who are the beneficiaries of government-granted economic land concessions – the judiciary often sided with the more dominant party.

“The courts did not provide justice for villagers but arrested them when they received a complaint from a company,” he said.

“The courts have no willingness to provide justice to villagers – they are partial to the companies. The courts are a tool for companies to use to threaten villagers and force villagers to stop protesting.”

Ouch Leng said Adhoc had not collated statistics of how many companies or businessmen had been prosecuted following land disputes, but noted that the number was likely to be low.

“When villagers file a complaint to the court about a company or powerful people clearing their land, nobody takes action,” he said. Their powerless position had led some villagers to attempt to resolve the situation “in their own way”.

As a result, Ouch Leng said, villagers had been charged with criminal offences including destruction of property and violence against property owners.

He said police, military police and local authorities also often supported companies or powerful businessmen in land disputes against villagers.

The largest number of villagers charged in a land dispute case came from Takeo province, which saw 55 people charged, according to the Adhoc figures. There were eight people charged in Phnom Penh.

Ouch Leng said some 14,316 villagers involved in 62 different land dispute cases had participated in 168 separate protests over the course of the year.

Sam Prachea Manith, the Justice Ministry’s cabinet chief, dismissed claims that the judicial system favoured the rich and powerful or ignored the rights of villagers.

“The court takes action in all filed complaints,” he said. “They do not discriminate between poor or rich people.”

Chan Sarun, minister of Agriculture, said Wednesday that the government had granted private companies a total of 3.5 million hectares worth of land concessions this year.

Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, declined to comment on the Adhoc figures yesterday, saying he had not yet reviewed them.

According to figures cited in a report released by the rights group Licadho last week, nearly 300,000 Cambodians – roughly one out of every 50 citizens – have been victims of land-grabbing since 2004.

Yeng Virak, director of the Community Legal Education Center, said court monitoring projects had revealed that the judiciary was slow to respond to complaints from villagers and “always” moved more swiftly on behalf of rich or powerful complainants.

“I hope that the courts will improve their jobs and provide justice to villagers, otherwise villagers don’t know who they can depend on,” he said.

Disaster law set for passage in 2011

via CAAI

Thursday, 30 December 2010 20:24 Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

A draft disaster management law will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval in early 2011, National Committee for Disaster Management vice president Nhim Vanda said Thursday during a consultative meeting on the issue in Phnom Penh.

Nhim Vanda said he hoped the law would be adopted by the National Assembly and the Senate and signed by the King by the end of 2011.

A team of Cambodian disaster experts, with the participation of international NGOs and specialists from the United Nations, had been working on the law since 2007, he said.

Nhim Vanda said those involved in writing the law had collected input from local and national authorities and sought to make it “parallel” to laws in other countries, including ASEAN member states. He hopes to “establish an international standard” with the new law.

The draft would cover a wide range of events including the Diamond Island stampede, epidemics of disease and even climate change, he noted.

“We have difficulty doing our work in response to disasters happening in Cambodia because we have no law on disaster management,” said Hou Taing Eng, secretary of state at the Ministry of Planning, who said the draft law would help protect people’s lives.

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Kimsour Phirith said Cambodia now lacks the capacity to respond adequately to disasters, but even that was tainted.

Kimsour Phirith said he observed political discrimination in past disaster response efforts carried out by local arms of the Cambodian Red Cross, which is headed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s wife Bun Rany.

“They discriminate against those who are not the members of the ruling government, which is not a good way to help or rescue the people who are affected by disasters,” he said.

He also said the law must “clearly express in detail the financial management and expenditures” of disaster response efforts for the sake of transparency and fighting corruption, and promised to raise his concerns in parliamentary debate.