Solar future for Cambodia

Photo by: AFP
Experimental aircraft Solar Impulse, with pilot Andre Borschberg onboard, flies above Payerne’s Swiss airbase during the first around-the-clock sun-driven journey. The breakthrough solar-powered flight opens a new chapter in aviation history.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:03 Jeremy Mullins

CAMBODIA’S rural electrification fund is planning a bulk purchase of 12,000 solar panel systems next month to help spread green power to rural villagers who are not connected to the national grid, its executive director said.

The REF – a World Bank-supported public institution aiming to provide electricity to every Cambodian village by 2020 – plans to sell the solar panels to rural households on a monthly payment basis, executive director Loeung Keosela said.

Foreign and domestic vendors will be invited to submit bids next month to supply the REF with 12,000 sets of solar panels, batteries and wiring, he said, which will then be sold individually to rural Cambodian households.

“If we procure in bulk sizes, hopefully the cost of individual systems will come down,” he added.

To obtain the new solar equipment, Loeung Keosela said rural families would be required to make a down payment, as well as monthly payments of around US$3 or $4 depending on the size of the system.

Many rural households already spend a similar amount per month on batteries or diesel generators, he said.

The project is funded by the World Bank’s $67.92 million Rural Electrification and Transmission project loan, which is set to expire on January 31, 2012.

The REF previously experimented with grants directly subsidising the cost of solar panels for households, he said, but the plan had limited success. “Only about 90 systems were sold,” he said.

Photo by: Julie Leafe
Khmer Solar marketing sales manager Nob Makara stands behind some of his company’s panels at the office in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

Privately owned supplier Solar Energy of Cambodia director Mao Sangat said that private companies are increasingly selling solar power equipment in Cambodia, taking over from nonprofit organisations who began to provide renewable energy about a decade ago.

“Over the last decade, it seems demand for solar home systems are growing,” he said.

At the first Asian Solar Energy Forum held in Manila earlier this week, Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials said Asia’s developing nations were in a perfect position to harvest power from the sun, and added that assistance from development institutions was crucial to growing the industry.

Margaret Ryan, part-owner of the Kingdom’s oldest solar firm, Khmer Solar, said she welcomed nonprofit assistance from development bodies, provided it was well-structured. That firm has already extended $300,000 in credit from its Battambang office for households to purchase solar panels.

Minimum wage ruling set to spark garment protests

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:03 Mom Kunthear

LABOUR officials have voted to boost the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by US$11, a figure that falls far short of what some major unions were demanding – prompting fresh warnings that a large-scale strike will be held next week.

During a meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee on Thursday, a panel of officials, factory representatives and union leaders voted to increase the minimum wage by $5. They also endorsed a plan to meld the existing $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising the minimum wage from $50 per month to $61.

Labour Minister Vong Soth said the new wage would go into effect in October and remain in place until 2014.

“It was not approved only by the government, but agreed on by employees and unions,” he said.

Going into the meeting, some unionists had demanded wages ranging from $70 to $93. Last month, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened to stage a three-day strike starting July 13 if his demand of $70 was not met.

After the decision Thursday, Chea Mony said the strike plan remained in place.

“I cannot accept the $61 that the government approved,” he said. “My stance is the same. I will hold a protest strike on the same day to demand a minimum wage increase to $70.”

The prospect of other unions joining the strike was mixed. Ath Thun, head of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, called Thursday’s decision “unacceptable”, but said he needed to consult with his members before deciding whether to join the FTU strike.

Tep Kim Vannary, president of the Cambodian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, said her members wanted more than an $11 monthly pay rise, but added that she had approved the ruling – making her one of five voting union representatives who did so.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said employers would have preferred a smaller increase, noting that GMAC had asked for a bump of just $4. But he said he voted in favour of the government’s proposal in the interest of compromise, and urged unions to abide by it.

“We will ensure all our members comply with the increase, and we hope the workers will do similarly,” Loo said.

In explaining Thursday’s decision, Labour Minister Vong Soth suggested that boosting the minimum wage by too much could make Cambodia an unattractive destination for garment industry investors.

That sentiment was echoed by GMAC chairman Van Sou Ieng. “If we increase more than this, [employers] will stop investing in our country,” he said.

But labour advocates say employers enjoy comparatively comfortable profit margins. Research commissioned by the Community Legal Education Centre suggests garment industry profit margins trail only those seen in Bangladesh, said CLEC labour programme director Moeun Tola, who added that Thursday’s decision could provoke widespread anger among union members.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY IRWIN LOY

Kingdom verges on massive rice deal

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:03 Chun Sophal

THE Philippines aims to buy up to 300,000 tonnes of rice from Cambodia, an official said, as the Kingdom’s leading rice firm prepares for talks with agro-investment officers on Tuesday.

Baitang Kampuchea Plc (BKP), which works with 350 rice mills across the Kingdom, is set to meet Philippine officials next week to discuss the possibility of exporting rice to the country – reported to be the world’s biggest buyer of the grain.

Ny Lyheng, deputy general manager of BKP, said yesterday: “Under this meeting, we hope that the company will receive orders for a large amount of rice in the future.”

Pablito Villegas, agribusiness investment officer for the Philippines’ first trade mission to Cambodia, told Philippine news outlet GMA News TV yesterday that the nation wished to buy from 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes of Cambodian rice.

At about US$310 per tonne of 25 percent broken rice, this would amount to $93 million.

Ny Lyheng said that BKP would be able to supply the Philippines with more than the anticipated amount if it wanted ‘simple’ rice, which was not a specialised varity.

“We are unclear about what kind of rice the Philippines wants us to supply because the discussion has not been conducted yet,” Ny Lyheng said.

In April, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported that Cambodia had a 2.4 million-tonne rice surplus for export.

But the Commerce Ministry’s secretary of state, Mao Thaura, said yesterday that the country was able to supply only 500,000 tonnes of simple rice because the capacity of processing plants is still limited.

“It will be good if the Philippines is able to buy rice from Cambodia because the country is a big regional importer,” Mao Thaura added.

In June, an official at the Filipino National Food Authority told Bloomberg that the country planned to import 2.47 million tonnes of rice this year.

Outh Renne, secretary general of the Cambodian Small and Medium Industries Association, said yesterday that the Philippines had also signed an agreement to buy 250,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam this year.

A spokeswoman at the Philippines’ embassy in Phnom Penh declined to comment yesterday.

Woman held in murder plot

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Seng Chanda, the wife of businessman Khaou Chuly, leaves Phnom Penh Municipal Court with her lawyer after questioning late last month. On Wednesday, the court charged her with plotting the murder of the wife of a former minister.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:03 Chrann Chamroeun

THE wife of a prominent businessman has been charged with plotting the rape and murder of Suv Chanthol, the wife of a former government minister, a judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court said yesterday.

Te Sam Ang said he ordered the suspect, Seng Chanda, to serve pretrial detention yesterday morning, one day after he charged her with attempted premeditated murder under Article 3 of the Law on Aggravating Circumstances.

“I have issued a detention warrant to order Seng Chanda to serve pretrial detention behind bars pending investigations,” he said.

The charge stems from a June 16 complaint filed by Suv Chantha accusing two men and two women of attempting to rape and murder her and her daughter.

Sun Chantha is the wife of Suv Chanthol, vice chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia and a former minister of public works and transport.

In the complaint, she alleged that the foursome – Chan Sokha, 37, Neang Sinath, 25, Yan Sothearith, 25, and Sok Lat, 30 – approached the family’s house in Sen Sok district’s Toek Thla commune in the early morning hours of June 13 after drugging the family’s guard dogs. According to the complaint, they fled after Sun Chantha woke up.

The four suspects were charged in late June. Their lawyer, Dun Vibol, said at the time that three of the four had told police they were hired to carry out the crime by Seng Chanda, who is the wife of Onkha Khaou Chuly, the chairman and founder of Khaou Chuly MMK Co Ltd, a construction and engineering company.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court questioned Seng Chanda for nearly two hours on June 29 before releasing her.

Te Sam Ang said yesterday that she had been brought in for a second round of questioning on Wednesday, after which she was charged and placed in the custody of the Interior Ministry overnight. She was sent to Prey Sar prison yesterday.

Her defence lawyer, Kar Savuth, declined to comment on the case when reached by phone yesterday afternoon.

Dun Vibol said yesterday that the three suspects who originally said Seng Chanda had ordered them to kill Suv Chantha have since retracted their confessions, saying they were issued under duress. They now maintain that they had no involvement in any plot.

The other suspect, Yan Sothearith, has not issued a confession at any point after his arrest, and has said that he was receiving medical treatment at his home for a minor knee injury when the plot was allegedly attempted, Dun Vibol said.

Seng Chanda faces at least 15 years behind bars if she is found guilty, Te Sam Ang said yesterday. He added that no hearing date in the case had been set.

Govt warns UN rights head over criticisms

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Friday, 09 July 2010 15:03 Sam Rith and Sebastian Strangio

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the head of the United Nation’s human rights office of exceeding his mandate by criticising Monday’s deportation of two Thai Red Shirt activists, warning that further comments could prompt the government to reassess his presence in the country.

On Wednesday, Christophe Peschoux, the country representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the deportation was a “political decision” that lacked proper procedure.

In a letter dated yesterday, the ministry warned Peschoux that he had no right to criticise the move, which it described as the “monopoly right” of the government.

The letter added that “any such activities in the future will lead the Royal Government of Cambodia to make a decision on your presence in Cambodia”.

The letter follows a similar warning sent to UN Resident Coordinator Douglas Broderick in March, threatening to expel him from the country for criticising the passage of the Anticorruption Law.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday that the letter was sent to Peschoux to remind him to adhere to a January 2010 MoU signed with the Cambodian government.

“This does not mean [we] want to expel him. We just want to remind him,” he said.

Peschoux could not be reached yesterday, but Hang Chhaya, executive director of the Khmer Institute for Democracy, said such threats had been issued in the past to keep UN officials from becoming too vocal in their criticisms.

“Any false move and the government will pounce,” he said.

Records show 17 held for forestry crimes

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:03 Chrann Chamroeun and Jake Schoneker

A TOTAL of 17 people are being held in pretrial detention in Koh Kong provincial prison on forestry-related charges dating back to 2008, according to a document provided this week by a prison worker who expressed frustration with the release last month of four forestry officials charged with involvement in an illegal logging ring.

The document shows that an additional seven people in the province have been convicted of forestry crimes and are serving sentences at the prison.

The official, who asked not to be named, said that all the people on the list were “poor” Koh Kong residents who had been arrested for such crimes as “collecting wood” and “clearing farmland”.

“It doesn’t seem very fair,” the official said. “Poor people who depend on clearing forest for their livelihood are convicted for up to five years for forestry crimes, while forestry officials involved with illegal logging rings are released.”

Although their case remains under investigation, the four Koh Kong Forestry Administration Cantonment officials were released on June 24 after being arrested in a raid amid a crackdown on illegal logging called for by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

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The small fish is punished, but the medium and big fish never get punished.

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Chhin Long, the chief clerk for the prosecution at the provincial court, said Tuesday that he had seen a document signed by Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun and the prime minister requesting the officials’ release.

Chheng Kim Sun, director of the Forestry Administration, noted on Thursday that the officials were still being investigated and could be summoned back to court at any time. He defended the release of the prisoners, describing it as part of standard legal procedure.

“The court is independent, and the court’s decision-making process in this case would be the same for rich and poor people, powerful and powerless people. It is not biased to one side,” Chheng Kim Sun said.

But Un Than Aan, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said that although the releases might have been legal, the poor are bearing the brunt of the government’s logging crackdown.

“The release of the four officials can be done according to court procedure, because they are able to provide the court with a permanent job and address,” Un Than Aan said. “Poor people aren’t released because they have no permanent job or address, and they are often found guilty of forestry crimes because there’s enough evidence against them.”

Adhoc President Thun Saray said the pattern was consistent with past crackdowns.

“The small fish is punished, but the medium and big fish never get punished,” he said. “That’s been my observation for the last 15 years.”

Man held in smuggling attempt

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:02 Sen David

POLICE in Banteay Meanchey province have arrested a 24-year-old man accused of attempting to smuggle two men across the border into Thailand after promising to find them work, the provincial police chief said yesterday.

Hun Hean said the arrest had been carried out in Malai district after police stopped the car the three men were travelling in and found that the two would-be construction workers did not have passports.

“The suspect, An Sam Oeurn, told the two men that he would find them work in Thailand as construction workers that could earn a lot of money,” he said, and added that the suspect had ordered the two men to pay him 25,000 Thai baht (US$771).

He said that police had sent An Sam Oeurn to provincial court yesterday, and that the two men – 20-year-old Karus Bruma and 23-year-old Vy Parly – had been returned to their families.

So Vath, Banteay Meanchey provincial court prosecutor, declined to comment on the case, saying the court had only just received it.

Soum Chankea, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said such cases were not uncommon, though he did not have statistics handy. “Many of the residents in Banteay Meanchey are tricked into illegal work in Thailand due to poverty,” he said.

Court calls Svay Rieng villagers to testify

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Friday, 09 July 2010 15:02 Meas Sokchea

THE Court of Appeal yesterday summoned opposition leader Sam Rainsy and two jailed villagers from Svay Rieng province to a hearing scheduled for August 9, after a hearing in their case on Tuesday was postponed when defence lawyers walked out of the courtroom.

Lawyer Sam Sokong said he had elected not to participate in the hearing scheduled for Tuesday because his clients, Meas Srey and Prum Chea, who in January were found guilty of destroying public property in the uprooting of border markers along the border with Vietnam and sentenced to one year in prison, had not been permitted to make the trip to Phnom Penh.

He added that their case could not proceed fairly if they were denied the right to testify.

Appeals Court prosecutor Nget Sarath said yesterday that he had “summoned those villagers as the lawyers requested”.

He added that lawyers for opposition leader Sam Rainsy – who was convicted in absentia of the same crime as well as racial incitement, receiving a two-year sentence – had also been issued a summons.

Sam Rainsy is currently in self-imposed exile abroad.

His lawyer, Choung Choungy, said yesterday that he had received a summons to the August 9 hearing, and that he planned to attend on his client’s behalf.

Processing migrants in Thailand

Photo by: Christopher Shay
Cambodian migrant workers in Koh Kong province prepare to cross illegally into Thailand by boat last year. Illegal workers in Thailand have been the targets of a recent crackdown.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:02 Cameron Wells and Sen David

CAMBODIAN migrant workers in Thailand who signed up to participate in a controversial registration scheme implemented earlier this year are now able to complete their applications, and Cambodian officials based in Bangkok have been tasked with facilitating the process, according to a report from the International Organisation for Migration released this week.

The report states that workers who successfully complete the nationality-verification process, wherein workers were to submit documents to their home governments in order to apply for work permits, will be allowed to remain in Thailand for two more years.

Those who failed to meet the March 2 deadline to begin the process – as well as those who were ineligible because they entered Thailand illegally – have been targeted in a recent wave of mass arrests and deportations.

Rights groups have expressed alarm over the crackdown, which stemmed from a June 2 order signed by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that called for the establishment of a “special centre to suppress, arrest and prosecute alien workers who are working underground”.

According to statistics from Bangkok-based Human Rights and Development Foundation, 43,301 Cambodian migrant workers missed the deadline.

Claudia Natali, a labour migration programme manager at IOM, said yesterday that the last stage of the nationality-verification process involves the issuance of temporary passports (TPs), or identification cards.

She said it would be made easier with the relevant Cambodian officials in Thailand.

“The last stage involves the presence of officials of the other countries to actually deliver the passport after the verification has taken place,” she said. “In the case of Burmese migrants, they have to go back to their country to collect the TP. For Cambodians, the issuance of identification cards happens in Thailand.”

According to the IOM report, released Tuesday, Cambodian officials began the final phase of the process on April 30, operating out of the Office of Foreign Workers Administration in Bangkok. They are set to relocate on Monday to a separate site in Bangkok.

The final deadline for the completion of the entire nationality-verification process is February 2012.

Since the June 2 Thai government order, at least 1,294 illegal Cambodian migrants have been detained and deported, according to reports from various Thai news agencies.

Natali said these workers would not be given a new chance to apply for the nationality-verification process.

“Migrants who get deported and want to come back to Thailand are supposed to go through the formal [memorandum of understanding] procedure,” she said.

Hem Bunny, director of the Cambodian Labour Ministry’s Employment and Manpower Department, said this procedure required workers to “apply to a company known to the Ministry of Labour, who will train the worker for three months before they are allowed to work abroad”.

“The company then sends documents about the worker to the Foreign Ministry, who then send the documents to the Cambodian embassy in Thailand,” he said.

He added that many migrant workers found such processes unappealing.

“Most residents would rather work illegally because they don’t have to take so much time applying,” he said. “However, it is dangerous, and the government urges them to apply legally because the law can protect them.”

Land Dispute: Farmers get permission to use land

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:02 May Titthara

Land Dispute

Farmers who on Sunday said they had been shot at by Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) soldiers for trying to cultivate 390 hectares of disputed land in Battambang province’s Samlot district were granted permission yesterday to plant on some parts of the land, villagers and a military official said.

Seak Nal, a village representative, said district officials had granted 53 of the 78 families involved in the dispute permission to plant crops on 5-hectare plots of the land in Kampong Lpov commune. Tuy Bun Ly, deputy commander of RCAF’s Military Region 5, which is involved in three land disputes in the area, denied that his soldiers had shot at the farmers, but confirmed that force had been used in the effort to stop them from cultivating the land.

He added that the soldiers were required to do everything in their power to recover the land, which officials say is protected, and that they were not trying to claim it for themselves.

“Now we allow them to plant on some part of land that they have cleared already to prevent them cutting down more trees for making their farms,” he said. District Governor Hen Sophan declined to comment.

Crashes fall, fatalities level out

Photo by: Pha Lina
Two motorbike drivers receive assistance after colliding on Russian Federation Boulevard late last month. New statistics from the Interior Ministry indicate that crashes have fallen this year, though fatalities have remained level.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:02 Chhay Channyda

ROAD collisions decreased nationwide in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year as a result of stricter traffic law enforcement, though fatalities stayed level and compliance with the helmet requirement was low, an official said yesterday.

Preap Chanvibol, director of the Land Transport Department at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said figures released this week from the Interior Ministry’s Department of Public Order – which collates road accident data from police reports – showed a 7 percent decrease in the number of collisions between January and June of this year and the same period last year, with totals dropping from 3,257 to 3,040.

But the number of fatalities fell by just three, from 934 to 931, he said.

He added that compliance with an amendment to the Land Traffic Law requiring motorbike drivers to wear helmets had not increased sufficiently, particularly in the provinces.

The amendment, implemented in January 2009, introduced a fine of 3,000 riels for helmetless motorbike drivers.

“In Phnom Penh, around 72 percent of people wear helmets, while in the provinces only 46 percent of people comply with the helmet rule,” he said.

“Traffic police have to strengthen law enforcement on this point to reach 100 percent implementation from 2010 on.”

Preap Chanvibol said officials would continue to emphasise the importance of nighttime traffic policing – which was increased early this year – in an attempt to bolster compliance with the helmet law.

“More people do not like to wear helmets at night when they know that traffic police are not working,” he said.

Sem Panhavuth, project manager for the Road Crash and Victim Information System (RCVIS), which collects data from traffic police and health facilities, said figures for the first six months of this year and last year were not available, but noted that RCVIS often records higher numbers of accidents and fatalities than those documented by the Interior Ministry.

“Sometimes the police are not involved, and traffic accident victims go straight to the hospital,” he said.

He noted, though, that RCVIS figures for the first three months of this year had also shown virtually no change in fatalities – 493 this year compared with 492 last year – despite a dramatic drop in the number of total crash casualties, which fell 32 percent from 6,732 to 4,662.

He said the number of traffic collision casualties had been in decline since the introduction of the Land Traffic Law in 2007, and that he expects to see the trend continue as enforcement of the law is strengthened.

“In 2009 the number of casualties had decreased since the previous year,” he said. “If traffic police continue to enforce the law, I think fatalities will decrease.”

He also reiterated long-standing calls from road traffic activists for the government to focus on increasing helmet use. According to RCVIS statistics released earlier this year, motorbike crashes accounted for around 70 percent of traffic fatalities last year, and 80 percent of the dead succumbed to head injuries.

Officials at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said last month that they had finalised a draft of amendments to the Land Traffic Law that includes a proposal to raise helmet fines to 21,000 riels (about $5).

On Thursday, however, Preap Chanvibol said the draft ammendments had not been sent to the Council of Ministers for approval, as the details were again being discussed.

Diarrhoea deaths: AWD kills another in Ratanakkiri

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Friday, 09 July 2010 15:01 Tep Nimol and Khuon Leakhana

Diarrhoea Deaths

A52-year-old Brov ethnic minority woman in Ratanakkiri province’s Ta Veng district died yesterday morning after suffering from acute diarrhoea and vomiting, bringing the total number of such deaths in the province since April to 33, officials said.

Aom Sokha, the superintendent of the district health centre, said the woman, who lived in Kekong Leu village, had been ill for about 12 hours before she died, and that it had been impossible to save her because her condition was “too serious” by the time she arrived at the health centre.

“Her blood vessels had become sticky and did not allow intravenous therapy to flow,” he said. “Her bladder stopped functioning, and she died about 10 minutes after being hospitalised.”

Tha Buntha, deputy director of the provincial health department, said there had been 1,365 acute diarrhoea cases since April. Meanwhile, one of five Preah Sihanouk provincial prison inmates hospitalised after an outbreak of diarrhoea was sent back to the prison yesterday, officials said.

Prison director Top Sophea said the two who have not returned are in “serious” condition.

Lawyers call for KRT probe

Photo by: AFP
Khmer Rouge tribunal investigating judge Marcel Lemonde, shown in February 2009, has stirred controversy by requesting that six senior government officials appear as witnesses at the court.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:01 Sebastian Strangio

DEFENCE lawyers for former Khmer Rouge Brother No 2 Nuon Chea have requested that the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal investigate alleged political interference, saying that government meddling threatens their client’s right to a fair trial.

In a filing dated Wednesday, the team accused the government of pursuing a “concerted policy” to prevent the questioning of government officials and derail investigations into additional regime figures.

The lawyers said this interference could have a “chilling effect” on Cambodians working at the court.

“Recent developments have confirmed longstanding suspicions that certain members of the Royal Government of Cambodia are interfering with the administration of justice at the ECCC,” the filing stated.

“Such executive meddling in the work of what should be an independent judiciary is contrary to the internationally accepted standards applicable to these proceedings and threatens to duly compromise Nuon Chea’s right to a fair trial.”

The filing pointed to recent statements by Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior officials that six senior government officials summoned to give evidence at the court were under no obligation to honour the court’s request.

It also implied that political pressure was behind a recent decision by Co-Investigating Judge You Bunleng to “unsign” a rogatory letter authorising investigations into an additional five unnamed suspects.

“The [government’s] interference with the work of the ECCC in general, and with the work of You Bunleng in particular, has already violated Nuon Chea’s right to a fair trial and will continue to do so in the future,” it stated, and called for the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) to order an “an independent investigation” into its allegations.

“As the [government’s] interference is arguably ongoing, Nuon Chea’s rights are further harmed each day the PTC fails to take action,” the filing said.

The filing echoes recent concerns from court monitors. In a report released this week, the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative warned that the tribunal risked falling victim to the “corrosive impact of political interference” by government officials.

“Troubling evidence exists that the Cambodian government is improperly attempting to limit what the court can and cannot do,” the report stated, citing examples similar to those raised by Nuon Chea’s defence team.

Victor Koppe, one of Nuon Chea’s lawyers, said yesterday that a failure to act on the allegations could damage the court’s credibility.

“If this remains uninvestigated – if it remains up in the air – the [court’s] legacy will be seriously endangered,” he said.

One observer, however, said that the court might not be able to launch a complete investigation, and noted that there are other options for addressing the trials’ political ripple effects.

“The problems that have appeared were foreseen in advance, and there are mechanisms set up to deal with them,” said Anne Heindel, a legal adviser at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.

Heindel said that in the case of officials who refuse to give testimony, investigating judges have the power to compel their appearance at the court.

But the significance of their absence – and the question of whether an investigation is appropriate – comes down to the quality of the evidence judges believe they can offer, she said.

“It’s really up to the judges to determine how essential the evidence coming from these individuals is and then take action,” she said.

Court spokesman Lars Olsen said yesterday that he was not aware the filing had been submitted, but that judges at the tribunal were bound by professional standards of impartiality.

“All judges have sworn an oath to act independently and to take instructions from no one and are also bound by a professional code of conduct which requires them to act independently,” he said.

Siem Reap reservoirs condemned

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:01 Khouth Sophakchakrya

ENVIRONMENTAL damage caused by manmade reservoirs around the Tonle Sap lake could be almost as extensive in Siem Reap province as in Kampong Thom, say officials who pledged yesterday to continue an ongoing campaign to destroy them.

Chan Youttha, secretary general of the Tonle Sap Authority, said officials had dismantled 20 illegally built reservoirs in Siem Reap, Battambang, Pursat and Kampong Thom provinces between June 25 and yesterday.

He said an aerial inspection completed this week with Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology Lim Kean Hor had allowed a closer look at damage caused by the reservoirs.

“Thousands of hectares of flooded forests were devastated in Siem Reap,” he said.

Chan Youttha estimated that 27 unauthorised reservoirs in Siem Reap would be destroyed as part of the campaign.

Nao Thuok, director of the Fisheries Administration, said he believed damage to flooded forest areas had been more acute in Siem Reap than in any of the other provinces that surround the Tonle Sap except for Kampong Thom.

But he added that he could provide no estimates of the number of hectares of flooded forest that had been affected by the reservoirs.

Though they are important to farmers who depend on them for irrigation during the dry season, the reservoirs could potentially devastate natural ecosystems and traditional spawning areas for fish within two to three years if they are left unchecked, Chan Youttha said.

“If we do not begin to demolish the illegal reservoirs from now on, we will lose the flooded forests,” he said.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered officials in six provinces to destroy or modify all illegal reservoirs lying within two designated zones around the Tonle Sap.

Lottery for relocation to include all vendors

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:01 Rann Reuy

Siem Reap province

THE Apsara Authority yesterday agreed to make 55 more Angkor Thom vendors eligible for a relocation lottery, and assured all affected vendors that they would receive a steady flow of tourists at their new site.

Chrun Sophal, director of the authority’s communications department, said earlier this week that 52 vendors stationed on the southern side of Bayon temple, near the Angkor Thom gateway and near Phimeanakas temple would need to move because they were causing damage by “throwing dirty water onto the ground”. But the other vendors, he said, were not eligible because they did not own their stalls.

Yesterday, however, Prim Virak, director of the authority’s public order and cooperation department, said all 107 vendors would be allowed to participate.

Officials are set to begin measuring plots of land at a temporary site, located 500 metres away, on Monday. Prum Virak said it would take a “long time” to identify a suitable permanent site.

Though vendors have expressed concern that they will be cut off from tourists at the temporary site, Mey Marady, the authority’s deputy director for tourism, said officials would help drive tourists their way.

“We will post signs for tourists to walk through that place,” he said.

Cheap labour pays dividends

Workers assemble garments at the Korean-owned Injae garment factory in Russey Keo district in Phnom Penh. TRACEY SHELTON

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Friday, 09 July 2010 15:01 May Kunmakara

SOUTH Korean garment factory owners with facilities in China are considering moving to the Kingdom to take advantage of low labour costs, according to South Korean Chamber of Commerce President Nam-Shik Kang.

“I recently met with some new investors from Korea who want to move their production base to Cambodia from China,” Nam-Shik Kang told the Post yesterday, citing China’s rising wages as the impetus for the potential move.

Nam-Shik Kang said that China’s wages were increasing quickly as workers moved to the fast-growing IT and automobile industries, where they can demand better pay.

The Chinese government was responding to wage increase demands in order to keep workers in the garment factories, he said.

“No garment factory can thrive in China with these high wages, so now [factory owners] are seeking production bases in other countries, like Cambodia.”

Cambodia’s garment industry is one of its biggest exporters.

The sector was hit hard in 2009, as exports dropped an annualised 15.83 percent to $2.658 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Nam-Shik Kang’s comments coincide with a government move yesterday to raise the minimum wage for garment factory workers in Cambodia from $50 to $61 per month. However, the decision is effectively a $5 raise, given that the $6 living allowance that was previously paid on top of the minimum wage is now being included in the regular wages for Cambodia’s estimated 280,000 workers.

Some union officials, dissatisfied with the modest increase, have threatened to strike next week.

But Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training Secretary of State Oum Mean said it was important for Cambodia to take advantage of the new interest sparked by relatively low labour costs; otherwise, investors could “run away from us”, causing workers to suffer.

“We have many laws and regulations comparable to other countries to reassure and give confidence to these investors, especially given we have enough manpower [to support them] with low labour cost,” he said.

Currently, around 35 South Korean garment factories operate in the Kingdom, according to Nam-Shik Kang, as the garment sector enters a period of modest growth after a decline in US retail demand hit exports in 2009.

In the first five months of 2010, Cambodia’s garment exports rose more than 11 percent compared with the first five months of 2009, official statistics show.

However, Nam-Shik Kang said, Cambodia is not without its barriers to business as well.

High electricity costs, high expenses and other documentation costs and a complicated union structure were all potential challenges for investors, he said.

“The Cambodian government should manage this well because of the opportunity to bring new investors to this country,” he added.

But Cambodia Institute for Development Study economist and President Kang Chandararot disagreed.

“I believe these things are not great obstacles – we see new investors coming, so obviously they think they still can get profit,” he said.

MFIs' outstanding loans grow in second quarter

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:01 Nguon Sovan

CAMBODIA’S biggest micro-finance institutions (MFIs) reported more outstanding loans in the latest quarter over the first three months of the year, though many said profits were shrinking due to operational expansions and declining interest rates.

Prasac, the largest domestic microfinance institution, recorded 12 percent growth in outstanding loans to US$72.9 million at the end of the second quarter, up from $65.2 million for the first quarter of 2010.

Prasac General Manager Sim Senacheert said economic recovery was translating to growth, particularly in the agricultural sector, which constituted 30 to 40 percent of the company’s portfolio.

“With economic recovery, we have fewer non-performing loans, so we can concentrate on growing our portfolio instead of solving delinquent loans,” he said. Prasac reported a non-performing loan rate of 1.44 percent at the end of the second quarter, a decline from 1.63 percent outstanding at the end of March.

However, the firm saw a 27 percent decline in before-tax profits to $457,055 for the latest quarter, down from $627,046.

“We’ve increased our staff by 15 percent, lowering our second-quarter profits to expand our business,” he said.

Cambodia’s third-largest micro-lender, Sathapana Limited, saw outstanding loans grow 4 percent to $44.28 million in the second quarter, up from $42.6 million in the first.

“The economic situation is getting better. We should distribute even more loans, but it’s only a slight growth on the first quarter because many people are on holiday,” chairman Bun Mony said yesterday.

Profits stood at 20 percent below expectations, he said, and blamed the figure on lower interests rates left over from last year adversely affecting the company portfolio.

Hout Ieng Tong, general manager of Hattha Kaksekar Limited, said its outstanding loan rate increased by 4 percent in the second quarter over the first because of growing demand from clients.

“The day-to-day business of most clients is getting better in all sectors,” he said.

Canadia Bank agrees to manage pensions

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:01 Soeun Say

THE National Social Security Fund for Civil Servants agreed yesterday to cooperate with Canadia Bank in offering a pension and social security fund to civil servants.

The agreement was signed in Phnom Penh.

The new NSSFCS fund aims to manage and insure a social security fund for when a civil servant retires or becomes handicapped, pregnant, or is involved in an accident at work resulting in disability or death, according to Chou Ratanak, the director for the Fund, speaking at Canadia Tower.

“We will be offering the social security fund to them in order to reduce their difficulties while living with certain conditions,” he said.

The fund is to be tested initially in Phnom Penh, and will be available through the bank as a standalone bank account with its own ATM card, he said, and added that having the account accessible through the bank would allow the correct funds to get to the end-user in a timely manner.

“Moreover, they can save their money through the fund, which will also have an interest rate with Canadia Bank,” Chou Ratanak said.

The NSSFCS is also looking for a way to make it easier to provide health insurance, possibly in conjunction with a bank, in a partnership similar to the agreement signed with Canadia.

“NSSFCS is looking at issuing a sub-decree on health insurance social security for civil servants,” he said.

South Korean trade with Cambodia rose by 35pc

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:00 May Kunmakara

BILATERAL trade between the South Korea and Cambodia rose 35 percent to US$141.18 million in the first five months of this year, compared with the same period in 2009, according to data from the Korean Trade and Investment Promotion Agency released yesterday. Korea’s imports from Cambodia increased 275 percent to $16.92 million from $4.51 million, while Korea’s exports rose 23.8 percent to $124.27 million.

Zipping around on Zulu Time

The fly boys, all kitted up at Siem Reap’s Hotel de la Paix.

The high fliers are equipped with these magnificent machines:
* A CL-600-2B16 Challenger 605, which costs a mere $24 million.
* A 2008 Socata TBM 700, more attractively priced at only $2 million.
* A Piper Malibu Mirage (piston-single), which costs on average $700,000 for a second-hand model.
* A 1993 Cessna 560 C/N 560-0225, a steal at only $500,000.

via Khme NZ

Friday, 09 July 2010 15:00 Nicky Hosford

A group of tourists passing through Siem Reap last weekend raised the stakes entirely when it comes to defining high-class travel.

The owner-pilots of four private jets flew into Siem Reap on Saturday on Zulu Time* to see Angkor Wat, while staying at the Hotel de la Paix on a trip that combines exclusive luxury, adventure and culture in ways that the rest of us have probably never even imagined.

These high flyers, travelling from Quebec and back to Seattle the long way over a 10-week period, have been winging their way to destinations as diverse as Inverness, Ibiza, Calcutta, Krabi, Sharm el Sheik and Siem Reap. Blazing through 39 destinations in 26 countries across all five continents, they’ll cover roughly 25,000 nautical miles.

The trip is the brainchild of French pilot Thierry Pouillé and his company Air Voyage, and this is only the second time it has ever been done. Siem Reap is making its debut appearance on the itinerary this time around, and for Pouillé, the choice to add it was easy.

“This is a journey about culture, but also about fun. Siem Reap and Angkor Wat were an obvious choice,” he said.

Pouillé, 54, earned his pilot’s licence when he was 16 (he still had to cycle to the airport as he was too young to drive) and has been running Air Voyage since he founded it in 1998. From its base in Florida, the company arranges trips for one of the most exclusive customers in the world – private jet owners.

At the moment there are four in the travelling group, but others have joined for different phases of the trip. The pilots receive a briefing before each departure on specially issued iPads, and their hotel keys are handed to them when they land. Everything, absolutely everything, is taken care of, even special landing permission to touch down at the military base beside the Taj Mahal, bypassing Indian bureaucracy and transport systems.

This kind of care does not come cheap of course. For a 75-day trip, the average cost is about $1000 per day, per person. On top of that, there are the costs of running and fuelling the planes, which, for the whole trip, can range from $70,000 to $100,000. It seems that when you own a multi-million-dollar plane, the sky really is the limit.

“Everything is a highlight on a trip like this. You choose the place you want to go, make it a destination, and have fun,” says a very content Pouillé, showing photo after stunning photo as his cheerful guests pass through on their way to the briefing for Hong Kong before dinner at Meric restaurant.

Speaking of Siem Reap, Pouillé adds, “When we came here, we had no idea what to expect. As it turns out, talking to the people, that was one of the big highlights of the journey. We had no idea how beautiful it was, how friendly the people are, how easy it was to get in and out. The guys all loved it.”

Almost all of the members of this group have signed up for the next trip, too. Let’s hope they might consider taking stowaways.

* Zulu Time is GMT, the international standard flight time used to avoid confusion over time zones.

On the money in Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

9 Jul 10
by John Simpson

Teri Wilson is helping Cambodian children.

MORNINGSIDE banker Teri Wilson will pedal 340km across Cambodia to help children become more money-wise.

Ms Wilson, 26, will jet out on July 19 ahead of the four- day cycling trip from Siem Reap to Battambang in the country’s north as part of the Credit Union Foundation Australia’s Cambodian Leadership Challenge.

The route will take the Credit Union Australia employee and a team of nine other cyclists from different credit unions nationwide, through some of Cambodia’s most isolated and disadvantaged villages.

Ms Wilson, who cycled 500km through Cambodia last year, said each team member aimed to raise $5000 for financial programs for four to nine-year-olds.

“A lot of the children, because their families are so poor, can’t go to school, so this is one of the few opportunities they have to get some sort of education,” she said.

“They’re taught what money is, how you get it, where it comes from and how you save it.”

To donate, visit your nearest CUA branch or log on to

www.cufa.com.au/service/information.php . 

Prime Minister meets Cambodian new ambassador

via Khmer NZ

07/09/2010

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received Cambodia’s newly-accredited Ambassador Hunn Phany in Hanoi on July 8.

PM Dung praised Cambodia’s achievements over the recent past, which have helped raise the country’s position in the international arena, and boost relations between the two countries.

He asked the ambassador to contribute to boosting comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, especially in trade and investment. He mentioned Vietnam’s investment projects in aviation, telecom, mining and rubber in Cambodia, which bring practical benefits to both sides.

The PM also asked for the completion of border demarcation between the two countries in 2012 as agreed by the two countries’ leaders and make good preparations for conferences of Vietnamese and Cambodian provinces sharing common borders to be held in Cambodia.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese Government, ministries and agencies will create favourable conditions for the ambassador to fulfil his term of office.

The Cambodian Ambassador expressed thanks to Vietnam for its valuable assistance over the past years and affirmed that he will try his best to contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries. VOVNews/VNA

Cambodia to promote solar energy using

via Khmer NZ

English.news.cn

2010-07-09

PHNOM PENH, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's rural electrification fund is planning of 12,000 solar panel systems next month to help spread green power to rural villagers who are not connected to the national grid, local media reported on Friday.

The REF - a World Bank-supported public institution aiming to provide electricity to every Cambodian village by 2020 - plans to sell the solar panels to rural households on a monthly payment basis, executive director Loeung Keosela was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

Foreign and domestic vendors will be invited to submit bids next month to supply the REF with 12,000 sets of solar panels, batteries and wiring, he said, which will then be sold individually to rural Cambodian households.

"If we procure in bulk sizes, hopefully the cost of individual systems will come down," he added.

The project is funded by the World Bank's 67.92 million U.S. dollars Rural Electrification and Transmission project loan, which is set to expire on January 31, 2012.

The REF previously experimented with grants directly subsidising the cost of solar panels for households, he said, but the plan had limited success. "Only about 90 systems were sold."

"Over the last decade, it seems demand for solar home systems are growing," Mao Sangat, director of privately owned supplier Solar Energy of Cambodia said.

At the first Asian Solar Energy Forum held in Manila earlier this week, Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials said Asia's developing nations were in a perfect position to harvest power from the sun, and added that assistance from development institutions was crucial to growing the industry, the post reported.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Cambodia: Decline of Monk Morality?

Written by
Sopheap Chak

Posted 9 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Since Buddhism is a state religion guaranteed by the Constitution and the fact that nearly all Cambodians are Buddhists, the recent reported decline of monk morality in the country is a cause of concern.

On several occasions, monks have been found of engaging in violent behavior or misconduct including having sex or watching pornography. There was a case where a provincial chief monk reportedly got drunk and beat a clergymen who didn't file a complaint for security reason since the bully monk is recognized as the king monk in the province. Recently, a monk was caught making a video of naked ladies who went to his monastery for religious watering, a belief that the water provided by the monk will release all bad incidents or bring luck to people. The investigation which led to an arrest was followed by an enormous sharing of that nude video via bluetooth from phone to phone. This apparently raised a question over the emerging development of technology infrastructure in Cambodia where people can widely access porn materials more easily. However, as suggested by Chan Nim, the issue is left to the conscience of the people on the proper use of technologies.

On the other hand, there are many well-behaved monks who understand the role of technology in promoting religious teachings. While it is now common to see many blogs initiated by young people who discuss social, technological or personal issues, there are now Buddhism-themed blogs such as Bodhikaram, Saloeurm, Khmerbuddhism. An extensive teaching of Buddhist philosophy is now accessible online in the form of short commentaries, dictionaries, podcasts, or textbooks in both English and Khmer. Moreover, there are a number of monks who are effectively maximizing the internet in order to reach a wider audience. Venerable Saloeurm Savath, for example, has been rigorously sharing many Buddhist teachings via face-book which acts as a natural linkage with his laypeople who can easily reach him for more explanation on certain Buddhist Principle or issues.

Pagodas and monks are part of Cambodia's cultural and educational heritage. They continue to contribute a lot in society. It is hoped that monk morality can be strengthened to encourage the people to affirm their trust and faith in Buddhism which has hugely contributed to national reconciliation and psychological peace, such as the case of survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime that kept applying Buddhist teachings to transform their revenge and anger to hope and peace of mind.

Photo from the flickr page of Adam Jones, Ph.D.By Sopheap Chak · Posted 9 July 2010