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Friday, 28 January 2011 15:02 Wesley Monts
Fresh deals ... vendors sell produce at Central Market in downtown Phnom Penh.
Friday, 28 January 2011
Construction high times ahead
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Friday, 28 January 2011 15:02 Sovan Philong
A man works on top of a piledriver at a construction site yesterday in Russey village of Stung Meanchey commune in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district. Senior analysts earlier this week were bullish in their outlook for the capital’s construction industry in 2011 despite new state figures showing approved building projects plummeted nearly 58 percent last year.
Tablet talks a smashing success
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Cambodia demolishes claim to border area
Published: 27/01/2011
Growing border tensions have eased again now that Cambodia has demolished a stone tablet that claimed it owned a disputed area.
Lt GenTawatchai Samutsakhon(right), the 2nd Army commander, joins in the demolition of the tablet reading ‘‘Here! is Cambodia’’. The sign wassmashed into pieces after he negotiated with his Cambodian counterpart to destroy it yesterday.
"It has now ended," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told the press yesterday after he received a report from the army that the tablet had been destroyed.
The prime minister said Thailand had protested against the stone sign being erected in the disputed area and Cambodia had shown it was prepared to cooperate, which was a positive step.
Cambodia's decision to demolish the controversial tablet came after a tense Tuesday night at the border.
Both countries reinforced troops near the Preah Vihear temple and put them on full alert after Cambodia replaced the original tablet which accused Thai soldiers of trespassing with a new one. The new tablet carried an even stronger message, declaring that the disputed area in which it had been erected belonged to Cambodia.
The 2nd Army, responsible for the border area, moved in troops and heavy war weapons and conducted military training near the area.
The tablet was placed in front of Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara temple which is near the Preah Vihear temple. The stone was replaced on the weekend on the orders of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen but the new message was more aggressive, reading "Here! is Cambodia".
After receiving an order to "do anything" to get Cambodia to remove the new tablet, at around 11am yesterday, Lt Gen Tawatchai Samutsakhon, the 2nd Army commander, led about 20 armed soldiers to Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara temple to demand the Cambodian troops remove the new tablet.
Four companies of soldiers were deployed at the foot of the hill and were ordered to be ready to act.
The 2nd Army chief asked Cambodian commanders why they had erected the tablet as both sides had promised not to build anything to claim territory in the disputed area. The Cambodian authorities replied that their foreign ministry had told them to put the tablet there.
Lt Gen Tawatchai asked them to destroy it to ease the discomfort of the Thai soldiers and people.
"If you don't remove such a negative tablet, I will erect a "Here! is Thailand" tablet nearby as well," Lt Gen Tawatchai told his Cambodian counterparts.
After an hour of negotiations, the Cambodians agreed to destroy the tablet.
"I don't know why they agreed. At about 12.15pm, Cambodia had its soldiers destroy the new tablet. I watched them do it. I smashed it too. I wanted to participate," Lt Gen Tawatchai said.
"I spoke to them nicely and stuck to the reason of what could happen if the tablet remained.
"We are neighbours and should coexist peacefully. No one would like a war and then they agreed," said the 2nd Army chief who previously received a medal for bravery after taking part in a battle at the Chon Bok border pass in Ubon Ratchathani following a territorial dispute involving Thailand, Cambodia and Laos in 1987.
"Before ascending to the temple, I told them beforehand that I would be there and Gen Chea Dara, their deputy supreme commander, and Lt Gen Sai Deuk, the commander of their 4th regional army, were waiting for me," Lt Gen Tawatchai said.
He said the 2nd Army is now deploying five paramilitary rangers to stay with Cambodian soldiers at their 795 border patrol base behind Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara temple to coordinate with them.
Lt Gen Tawatchai did not send any Thai troops to stay overnight at Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara but Thai soldiers can still reach the temple which is in the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area.
Mr Abhisit yesterday said the traning of Thai soldiers near the border was a routine military mission.
As for Thai Patriots Network coordinator Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipattanapaiboon who have been accused of illegal entry into Cambodia and espionage, Mr Abhisit pledged that his government would continue to help them They are awaiting a court ruling on their case scheduled for Feb1.
P Penh must remove flag: PM
via CAAI
By THE NATION
Published on January 28, 2011
Abhisit talks tough after PAD raises issue during protest outside his office
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that Cambodia had no right to rise its national flag over the disputed border area adjacent to the Preah Vihear Temple.
"If there is such flag, it needs to be taken down," Abhisit told reporters, but noted that he did not know where exactly this flag has been raised.
Abhisit made the comment after the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) raised the issue while protesting outside the Prime Minister's Office.
Cambodia agreed earlier to removed two stone tablets at Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvara, which indicated that the area belonged to Cambodia and had been invaded by Thai troops in 2008
Abhisit said Cambodia did not have the right to declare sovereignty in the area, because Thailand was also claiming the land.
The two countries have been at loggerheads over areas adjacent to Preah Vihaer for long time, though the boundary in the temple's vicinity has not yet been demarcated.
Preah Vihear, as ruled by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962, is situated in a territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia, but Thailand is arguing that it owns the 4.6 square kilometres area surrounding the temple, and the land the stone ruins are standing on.
Cambodia, meanwhile, claims that the 1:200000-scale map made by France showed that the Preah Vihear and its vicinity were on the Cambodian side. The ICJ used this map for its ruling.
The PAD is mounting pressure on Abhisit's government, demanding that it scrap the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on land-boundary demarcation signed with Cambodia since 2000 and use force to evict the Cambodian community living in the area.
The group first got angry when Phnom Penh managed to get a World Heritage Site inscription for the temple in 2008. The group, along with Abhisit as opposition leader, accused the then-government of Samak Sundaravej of supporting Cambodia's application for the status.
When Abhisit took office with PAD's blessings in late 2008, he maintained his position to oppose Cambodia over inscription. He stood strong against Preah Vihear's management plan proposed by Phnom Penh on grounds that the conflict over the temple's surrounding area had not yet been settled.
Abhisit told reporters yesterday that the ongoing conflict with Cambodia would be a good excuse for him to continue blocking the Preah Vihear management plan.
However, his plans to settle the boundary disputes are different from those of the PAD. He believes that the joint-boundary mechanism set up in accordance with the 2000 MoU could work to end the problem. The PAD said the MoU, which was signed under the Democrat-led government with Chuan Leekpai at the reins, would never work because it recognised the French map that indicated the area belonged to Cambodia.
Recently released market study: Cambodia Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q1 2011
http://www.prlog.org/
via CAAI
Fast Market Research recommends "Cambodia Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q1 2011" from Business Monitor International, now available
PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 27, 2011 – In our Q111 Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings (BER), Cambodia remains last of the 17 pharmaceutical markets surveyed in the Asia Pacific region. Globally, Cambodia ranks 80th among the 83 countries surveyed, and is considered a more attractive pharmaceutical investment prospect than only Nicaragua, Zimbabwe and Honduras. Given issues with corruption, counterfeit pharmaceuticals political situation and funding pressures within the country, Cambodia is unlikely to rise up the regional matrix in the short to medium term.
On a positive note, there have been some improvements with regard to the presence of counterfeit drugs in Cambodia. Around 65% of the illegal pharmacies operating in Cambodia have been closed as a result of a major anti-counterfeiting operation undertaken by the Cambodian government, according to recent reports by the US Pharmacopeia. Moreover, a new study, published in October 2010, revealed that approximately 3% of drugs sold in licensed outlets in Cambodia are counterfeit, a lower proportion than in previous years. However, despite this lower level of counterfeit drugs, a greater proportion failed quality assessment tests, indicating that efforts to control the issue must continue.
Cambodia's pharmaceutical market was calculated to be worth KHR711bn (US$172mn) in 2009. In 2010, we calculate that pharmaceutical expenditure will reach a value of KHR815bn (US$194mn). BMI forecasts drug consumption to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.9% in local currency terms, and 11.2% in US dollar terms over the next five years, to reach a value of KHR1,190bn (US$292mn) in 2014. Spending on drugs currently represents over a quarter of total health expenditure, with this proportion expected to continue rising in the coming years, driven by volume rather than value changes. Our long-term forecast is for the market to reach KHR1,925bn (US$481mn) in 2019, equivalent to a CAGR of 10.5% in local currency terms, and 10.8% in US dollar terms over the 10-year period. However, risks are on the downside, given the lack of political and social stability, especially in the face of widespread corruption and - more recently - violations of land rights by government officials.
We believe that the impressive rebound in Cambodian trade exports following the global financial crisis will fade going into 2011. Cambodia's heavy reliance on United States (US) and the European Union (EU) demand indicates a vulnerable trade structure that will be susceptible to a slowdown in external demand in 2011. This will also have an impact on the availability of public finances for the improvement of healthcare services, while international donations may be also stretched by the global slowdown. Forced evictions will, at the same time, increase the number of Cambodians living in poverty, creating political uncertainties in the coming months.
For more information or to purchase this report, go to:
Cambodia flies flag over disputed area
via CAAI
Published: 27/01/2011
Cambodia is reported to have raised a national flag over Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara, after earlier destroying a controversial sign - sparking a new controversy over the disputed border area.
The flag was reported to have been raised after the contentious stone tablet with a message that the area belongs to Cambodia was demolished on Wednesday to great fanfare.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, when asked about this matter, said: "If this is true, the flag must be removed."
He said it was agreed by both sides not to put up any sign showing ownership in a disputed area.
However, Mr Abhisit said he did not know whether and where the Cambodian flag had really been raised.
Asked whether what happended during the past few weeks can be raised at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee, the prime minister said:
"Of course, we will have to report problems to the World Heritage Committee to let it know that if it wants to proceed with the management of an area in dispute, tension and serious conflict would follow. This would contravene the objectives of having a world heritage site."
Preah Vihear temple has been declared a world heritage site uindr Camboldian management by Unesco. Thailand has opposed the decision arguing that there will be problems managing it as long as the dispute over the land immediately adjoining it remains unsettled.
Money for nothing
Photo by: Wesley Monts
A money changer holds up US dollars and Vietnamese dong at Central Market in Phnom Penh yesterday.
via CAAI
Thursday, 27 January 2011 21:51 James O’Toole and May Kunmakara
Several weeks ago, staff at ANZ Royal Bank noticed a peculiar customer at one of their ATMs in Phnom Penh.
With a male companion looking on behind her, the woman inserted a card issued by Vietnam’s Techcombank and withdrew the maximum allowable amount of cash, US$2,000.
Then, taking out a new Techcombank card for each transaction, she repeated the task 11 times in succession.
The woman is one of a growing number of Vietnamese nationals who bankers say have been cleaning out the Kingdom’s ATMs, taking advantage of the unusually large gap between Vietnam’s official and unofficial exchange rates to earn thousands of dollars in profits.
ANZ CEO Stephen Higgins said yesterday that Techcombank cardholders had withdrawn roughly $12 million in cash from his bank’s ATMs since mid-December, with the bulk coming in the past two weeks.
They took roughly $5 million from ACLEDA Bank machines from the beginning of the month until yesterday, ACLEDA Executive Vice President So Phonnary said.
All told, Techcombank users have withdrawn “at least $20 million” in cash from Cambodian ATMs in the past few weeks in a scheme that has also stretched to Singapore and China, Higgins said.
“It’s very smart what they’re doing,” he said.
“It’s one of those things where one person figures out this is an easy way to make money, tells a few people who tell a few more people, and suddenly you get busloads of people coming across the border to try and do it.”
The Vietnamese government has pegged the country’s official exchange rate at roughly 19,500 dong to the dollar, though the black market rate – also used legally by money changers in Cambodia – is closer to 21,000 dong to the dollar, a difference of about 8 percent.
The Vietnamese who have been travelling to the Kingdom have taken advantage of this.
At Cambodian ATMs, they receive US dollars that have been converted from the dong in their home accounts at the official exchange rate.
They can then trade these dollars for dong from Cambodian money changers or money changers in Vietnam who use the black market rate, earning the difference with the official rate.
ATM transaction fees eat into these profits, but even accounting for such costs, Higgins said the Techcombank users were likely earning about $20,000 for every $1 million in cash withdrawn.
Techcombank, he added, is uniquely exposed to the scheme.
While most Vietnamese banks charge international transaction fees to make up for the difference between the dong’s official and unofficial rates, Techombank’s fees are unusually low.
As a consequence, it has likely lost “about $1.5 million” from transactions in Cambodia in recent weeks, Higgins said.
An executive at another large bank who asked to remain anonymous said his institution too had seen a marked increase in ATM transactions recently, particularly near the Vietnamese border.
Charles Vann, deputy general manager of Canadia Bank, said he, also, had noticed “a throng of Vietnamese” making withdrawals in recent weeks.
“I don’t think there is any problem for us, as long as they’re genuine and they’re not frauds,” he said.
Although Cambodian banks are not losing any money from the process, the Vietnamese cardholders are creating a nuisance for regular customers who are increasingly likely to find their ATMs out of cash, So Phonnary said. To combat the problem, ACLEDA appealed this week for intervention from international credit card firm Visa.
“We sent the information to Visa in order to get assistance,” So Phonnary said.
“They replied to us, they said there is not any fraud. [Those making the withdrawals] are really cardholders and the cards are actual cards, not counterfeit.”
Despite the lack of response from Visa, ACLEDA moved on Wednesday to block Techcombank cardholders from using its machines, she said.
Higgins said ANZ had conferred with Visa and had concluded that blocking the users unilaterally would violate the companies’ agreement. The bank decided simply to lower its maximum daily withdrawal from $2,000 to $500, and to instruct security guards at its ATMs to be on the lookout for users wielding multiple cards.
“We have taken steps to prevent Techcombank users from accessing our ATMs, and where any of them are found in possession of multiple cards not in their own name, we will be seeking police intervention,” he said.
Two men were arrested yesterday at an ANZ ATM in Dangkor district for holding the cards of other people, he added. “I think any time that someone is there with 12 different ATM cards, it’s not a legitimate transaction,” he said.
Officials at the Vietnamese Embassy could not be reached for comment, nor could those at the National Bank of Cambodia.
Khuoy Kry, head of the Bavet International Border Checkpoint in Svay Rieng province, said travellers were permitted to carry up to $10,000 cash across the border, and that ATM use was “out of our control”.
ANZ has counted more than 500 Techcombank users whose cards have been used in the practice, though the actual number of people performing the transactions is likely lower, Higgins said.
So Phonnary said she was unsure how many had performed the transactions with ACLEDA.
Jayant Menon, a currency specialist with the Asian Development Bank, said in an email that Vietnam had long grappled with the gap between the official and black market exchange rates.
“When exchange rate policy is used to substitute for monetary policy in trying to achieve objectives such as inflation control, the gap between official and unofficial rates can grow over time,” he said.
For those taking advantage at Cambodian ATMs in the meantime, however, it appears the music is about to stop; Higgins said Techcombank was working with Visa to institute new fees for international transactions by next month that would close off the arbitrage opportunity.
“While there’s that big gap between the official rate and the unofficial rate, it’s natural that people are going to try and exploit it,” he said. “I just think more and more people have cottoned on.”
Families face grave situation
via CAAI
Thursday, 27 January 2011 19:33 Mom Kunthear
Ghosts are frequent visitors in the dreams of Prak Vanna. Or at least they have been since she moved next to a graveyard about six years ago.
“From the first day that I moved in to my new house, I felt scared and dreamed about ghosts,” she said while chopping firewood.
“But I always tell myself, don’t be afraid.”
Hundreds live among and around decades-old tombs, only a 20-minute drive south of Phnom Penh, across the Monivong bridge in Meanchey district’s Doeum Sleng village.
At least one grave dates from the 1920s.
Houses crowd the area, leaving it hard to tell where the cemetary ends and the neighbourhood begins.
People can often be seen sleeping in hammocks between the tombs.
A few hundred Khmer, Vietnamese and Chinese graves lie amongst the dust, decorated with colourful tiles, chipped blue and faded yellow paint.
A coat of sky blue with red crosses and lettering remains bright on a pair of headstones from the 1980s.
About a dozen are scattered just off the doorstep of Prak Vanna’s home.
“I’m really afraid of the ghosts and those graves. I am sickened by them, but I don’t have a choice to move from here because I am poor,” the 46-year-old grandmother said.
“My children would be homeless if I didn’t live here.”
When her daughter was married, she said guests refused to come into her house, apprehensive of the graveyard.
When she first moved in, she became sick. It took her about a year to get over her fear of the ghosts, and she even went to a local church to pray for help.
She says the tombs don’t really bother her anymore.
Prak Vanna used to live along the Bassac river, but she said her house collapsed in 2005 after sand-dredging eroded the bank.
She then bought a house for about US$500 in Doeum Sleng, named after a local tree bearing orange fruit with poisonous seeds.
No rest for the dead
The dead may not like the arrangements any more than the living.
Children play near the graves and sometimes run on top of them.
In one of Prak Vanna’s dreams, an old man chased after her and told her to move away.
“None of you take care of my grave,” he said. “You piss and defecate on my grave. I am disgusted!”
Afterwards, Prak Vanna said she told her children not to make messes around the graves and has no longer received visits from the angry ghost.
On Chinese New Year and ahead of the Pchum Ben holiday, relatives of the dead leave gifts of food, including fruit, treats and sticky rice.
Prak Vanna said, however, that it is the living who accept and eat the offerings.
“We always receive the food and fruit that rests as a sacrificial offering to the dead every year,” she said.
Another resident, Chan Pov, came to Doeum Sleng in 1995 and set up a small business selling groceries from her home.
She said she never goes near the graveyard at night, though her children play there sometimes during the day. Once, she had to get to the commune chief’s office, only a 10 minute walk away. She chose to run.
“I took only about 2 or 3 minutes because there were so many graves built along the way,” she said, laughing.
Chan Pov said there were few families and about 200 graves in the neighbourhood when she arrived, but relatives have been moving several of them each year, seeking more peaceful burial places.
Uncertainty for the living
The local commune chief said the state plans to move residents away from the tombs.
“We will move them from this area in the future, but we don’t know the exact date yet,” Yin Vuth said.
“The state has the right to move them from this place in order to maintain good order.”
He does not give out land titles in the neighbourhood and no longer allows people to move in or build new homes.
“There will be more people coming to build houses there if I don’t prohibit them, because they don’t need to pay any money to buy land, they can just go and find a place to build a house,” he said.
Yin Vuth said people were actually stealing land that belonged to the state.
After the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, Huy Nareth moved to Doeum Sleng.
There were about 20 to 30 graves then. He estimated that close to 3,000 families now live in the neighbourhood.
The 72-year-old said the government should clear the area in the name of “development”.
“My idea is that the authority, the village chief, can order the owners of the graves to move them to another place, because we should develop the area to be better,” he said.
“Most people who live here cause problems in society, like drinking alcohol and fighting each other.”
Yin Vuth said, however, that there are no development projects planned for the area.
Prak Vanna said she would move if the government or NGOs offered her a new home.
But for the moment, she’s tried to make peace with her close proximity to the dead.
When her niece and nephew came to visit her home, they laughed at her for living in a graveyard.
“I told them, don’t be afraid, sooner or later you all will die and become ghosts as well.”
Opposition merger talks
via CAAI
Thursday, 27 January 2011 20:49 Meas Sokchea
Human Rights Party president Kem Sokha urged Sam Rainsy to restart talks about a merger of the two opposition parties, according to a letter obtained by The Post today.
Kem Sokha urged Sam Rainsy, president of the eponymous political party, to consider merging by July this year in a letter dated January 25.
“The HRP understands that if we want a real democratic movement merger that can save our nation, we have a lot of affairs to discuss in order to build a unified alliance that will be stronger and more successful,” Kem Sokha wrote.
Kem Sokha said that a merger that lacked internal democratic reforms and merely distributed power among party loyalists would fail against the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
“The HRP understands that if we want to correct them, we must correct ourselves first,” the letter said.
“If there is no risk, there is also no change.”
The letter gave a timeframe for merger negotiations.
“The HRP wants to see the merger between our parties be successful before July,” the letter stated.
Yim Sovann, SRP spokesman, declined to comment today, saying he had not yet seen the letter.
Phay Siphan, spokesman at the Council of Ministers, said the suggestion that a merger between the opposition groups would help “save the nation” was an insult.
“When we use this word, it is a word of attack, a word of insult,” Phay Siphan said.
“We are not scared of [their merger], we are only scared of poverty.”
Kem Sokha’s letter is the latest in a series of related opposition unity discussions.
In November, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly urged the two parties during a meeting to form a united platform.
Kem Sokha said at the time that he supported a merger.
“The decision to form a united opposition, it is up to the Sam Rainsy Party. For me, I have always wanted to unite,” he said.
Yim Sovann said following Clinton’s visit that a merger could endanger existing opposition seats in parliament.
A proposal for the SRP, HRP and Norodom Ranariddh Party to merge ahead of the 2008 national elections fell through.
Night out costs drink-driving inmate
via CAAI
Thursday, 27 January 2011 20:46 Mom Kunthear
Three victims injured in a car accident caused by former Ratanakkiri provincial police chief Yoeung Baloung, who was supposed to be in prison at the time, received US$3,500 in compensation, said a relative of two of the victims.
“My two nephews completely broke their legs, the doctors said they could be disabled for the rest of their lives and the other victim’s injuries are even worse,” said 36-year-old Sok Vuthy, adding that his nephews were now being treated at a hospital in Vietnam.
The compensation payments were made by Oeurn Odom, son-in-law of Yoeung Baloung, with Chheng Nguon, who was most severely injured, receiving $1,500, and the other two accident victims, Thang Pich, 21, and Som Keo, 19, each receiving $1,000.
Chin Penh, Ratanakkiri deputy traffic police chief, said today that the accident case had not yet been sent to the court.
“First we will settle the compensation to pay for the victims’ treatment,” he said today.
Yoeung Baloung was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006 for involvement in an illegal logging ring.
Liv Mauv, deputy director of the general department of prisons at the Ministry of Interior, said Yoeung Baloung had received permission to leave prison to attend an ethnic Kreung celebration.
Prison numbers creep up
Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng speaks during the annual meeting of the Department of Prisons in Phnom Penh today.
via CAAI
Thursday, 27 January 2011 20:18 May Titthara
Prison officials at the Ministry of Interior said today that the number of prisoners increased by 5.1 percent in 2010 compared with a year earlier, putting further pressure on the Kingdom’s overburdened correctional facilities.
Kuy Bunson, deputy director of the ministry’s Department of Prisons, said that as of December 15, 14,043 prisoners were interned in the Kingdom’s jails, 718 up on the previous year.
Of these, 6,836 were incarcerated during the course of 2010.
Speaking at the department’s annual meeting in Phnom Penh today, Kuy Bunson said that due to severe overcrowding in Phnom Penh’s prisons, 669 prisoners were transferred to provincial facilities during 2010.
Overcrowding has long been a problem in the country’s penal system, which has an official capacity of about 8,000.
Kuy Bunson said that in order to alleviate the problem, the government is pushing ahead with plans to expand the country’s overall prison capacity, with new prisons to be established in Pailin and Oddar Meanchey provinces.
They will supplement recently completed facilities in Banteay Meanchey and Prey Veng.
He said the department has also established Correctional Centre 4, its first agricultural detention centre, in Pursat province, constructing four provisional wooden detention buildings that can accommodate 280 detainees.
Officials hope that CC4, opened in January 2010, will eventually hold 2,500 inmates.
“In order to address the small space problem in detention, detainees have participated in industrial and agricultural programmes,” he added.
Nut Sa An, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, said the spike in the number of inmates posed major health concerns and made it difficult to control prisoners.
“Small space in detention results in many issues which impact the implementation of the detention reform strategy, such as [prisoners’] mental and physical health,” he said.
In July, local rights group Licadho reported that Cambodia’s prisons could be the most overcrowded in the world inside a decade without broad-based reform of the country’s criminal justice system.
The report stated that even substantial increases in capacity over the next few years will do little to stop the overcrowding plaguing the country’s penal system.
Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator for Licadho, said some prisons designed to hold 600 prisoners were housing as many as 1,500, contributing to the spread of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis.
“This problem impacts on the detainees’ mental health and blood vessels, which causes them to die from high blood pressure,” he said.
Last year’s increase of 5.1 percent is down on the 14 percent average annual growth in the prison population over the past five years.
But even assuming a five percent annual growth rate – something it described as conservative – Licadho’s report stated that the prison system will still be at 165 percent of capacity in 2019.
Am Sam Ath said the problem derived in part from the justice system, which remands large numbers of suspects in custody rather than granting them bail. Last year, the Department of Prisons reported that about a third of the prison population was made up by defendants awaiting trial.
“If the judges didn’t grant some criminal defendants bail … the building of four correctional centres in Pursat or Pailin provinces would still not be enough for those prisoners,” he said.
Yellow Shirts to the rescue
Photo by: AFP
Thai nationalist Yellow Shirts rally outside Government House in Bangkok on Tuesday.
via CAAI
Thursday, 27 January 2011 20:53 Cheang Sokha
A group of Thai Yellow Shirt activists will travel to Phnom Penh on Monday for talks with government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, a day ahead of the trial of a key Yellow Shirt figure.
Activist Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary, Ratree Taiputana Taiboon, are set to stand trial at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday in a high-profile case that has strained diplomatic ties.
“I’m not sure about the purpose of Mr Veera’s representatives requesting a meeting with me,” Khieu Kanharith said today.
“Maybe they want to understand the Cambodian government’s stance on the issue.”
The two were part of a group of seven Thais – including Panich Vikitsreth, a lawmaker from the country’s ruling Democrat Party – who were arrested by Cambodian soldiers in Banteay Meanchey’s O’Chrou district.
All seven were charged with illegal entry and unlawfully entering a military base.
On January 21, five of the Thais were convicted on the charges and released after their nine-month jail sentences were suspended, bringing the case one step closer to a conclusion.
Next week, Veera and his secretary will be tried on those charges, as well as an espionage charge which carries a punishment of up to 10 years in jail.
Also today, the Thailand Patriot Network, a nationalist splinter group, submitted a request to the Thai government requesting that it help extradite Veera from Cambodia.
The letter was submitted by Sunthorn Rakrong, a TPN coordinator, through Kiatfa Laohapornsawan, a vice minister attached to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Office, the Bangkok Post reported.
“Concerning the extradition of Mr Veera, we have to wait the court’s verdict,” Khieu Kanharith said.
“If the spying issue is involved the extradition will be more complicated.”
Koy Kuong, spokesman for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Bangkok has already pledged to respect the ruling of the Cambodian court, adding that Cambodia has not yet received any request from Thailand to extradite Veera.
“We work government to government, but the request for the extradition was made in Thailand so we don’t have a headache with them,” Koy Kuong said.
“We cannot make any comment on what has not happened.”
Yellow Shirt protesters have rallied in central Bangkok this week in a bid to push the Abhisit government to take a stronger stance in border disputes with Cambodia.
Ministry Accepts Many NGO Changes to Draft Law
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 27 January 2011
via CAAI
Phnom Penh Thursday, 27 January 2011
via CAAI
Photo: VOA Khmer
Many NGOs say they are worried the law needs corrections lest it be used to crackdown on organizations deemed anti-government.
“If the current draft law is not changed, it’s worrisome to NGOs.”
The Ministry of Interior has accepted most of the recommendations from the non-governmental sector as it moves forward with a draft law on governing NGOs, although some concerning provisions remain, officials said Thursday.
Organizations had said they worried the new law, which seeks tighter regulations of the sector, would inhibit the growth and develop of the country by making it difficult for NGOs to both form and operate.
In a meeting between the government and NGO sectors earlier this month, organizations said they wanted to see changes to 21 articles of the law to prevent bureaucratic logjams that could diminish their effectiveness. Many of their recommendations were accepted, officials said.
“The Ministry of Interior agreed to exclude community-based organizations or associations in rural areas in the draft law,” said Sin Somony, executive director of Medicam, an umbrella group of medical NGOs.
Small, rural groups would have had a hard time forming under the previous version of the law, a potential danger to grassroots organizations in many communities.
The ministry agreed to lower the number of national founders to any group, from 21 to 11, Sin Somony said. The ministry also agreed to strike a provision in the law that called for reporting of changes or dismissals of any staff members, though changes in organizational leadership will still be required.
For all the positive changes, areas of concern remain, he said.
For example, the law still prohibits an alliance between Cambodian and international NGOs, which will be detrimental to the capacity development of local organizations, he said.
Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum, a large association of organizations, said the law must provide for such alliances.
“If the current draft law is not changed, it’s worrisome to NGOs,” he said. “So we demand they provide a clear definition of alliances between local and international NGOs to make possible their continuous work to help develop Cambodia.”
The ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs will need further discussion on that question, said Nouth Saan, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, he confirmed that many of the changes had been accepted.
Regardless, Sin Somony said NGOs appreciated a chance to discuss the law with the government before it moves to the Council of Ministers for approval and the National Assembly for passage.
“It is a good step forward, because the government accepted the NGO recommendations and showed good will,” he said. “So we hope the second draft law on non-governmental organizations will reflect what NGO and government representatives talked about.”
Elections Not Far, But Sam Rainsy Participation a Question
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington DC Wednesday, 26 January 2011
via CAAI
Washington DC Wednesday, 26 January 2011
via CAAI
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Opposition party leader Sam Raisy, right, claps in front of the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A Cambodian court has sentenced Rainsy in absentia Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, to two years imprisonment for uprooting border markers on the frontier with Vietnam.
“We believe that Cambodian politics will benefit from his continued involvement in the future,” Rafael Dochao Moreno, charge d’affaires for the EU in Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer by e-mail. “All politicians who comply with the legal requirements for being a candidate in elections should of course be allowed to participate.”
The Sam Rainsy Party is preparing for the next elections, but whether or not its leader will join them remains an open question.
An EU official in Cambodia says the participation of Sam Rainsy at the head of his opposition party would be a benefit to the country’s political field.
“We believe that Cambodian politics will benefit from his continued involvement in the future,” Rafael Dochao Moreno, charge d’affaires for the EU in Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer by e-mail. “All politicians who comply with the legal requirements for being a candidate in elections should of course be allowed to participate.”
Sam Rainsy has been in exile for more than a year and faces up to 12 years imprisonment on criminal charges he has discounted as politically motivated. However, the convictions against him make him ineligible to participate in upcoming elections.
His party has remained a political force since the first elections in 2003, but it is unclear whether he will return for the next round of elections—for either the 2012 commune council elections or the 2013 general elections— and Prime Minister Hun Sen has said a political solution is not possible.
Some political observers have said that elections cannot be considered legitimate if Sam Rainsy cannot participate.
Chea Vannath, an independent analyst, told VOA Khmer that the Sam Rainsy Part would be at a disadvantage without its president.
“If in an electoral campaign a party takes a competitive advantage over another one, then the results can be different,” she said. “Such an electoral campaign is imbalanced.”
Opposition lawmakers say they are already at a disadvantage, with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party with wide control of state TV and radio. The Sam Rainsy Party won 26 seats in the 2008 parliamentary elections, far behind the CPP’s 90-seat victory.
Chhaya Hang, executive director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy, said political partners should be discussing means to ensure proper elections, which are coming soon.
“We want full, mutual discussions, and if an opposition leader that people also love, that people voted for, is abroad, how can he do it?” he said.
Cooperation between the political leaders will demonstrate that Cambodia “has no more conflict, has leadership politics, and will be stable toward elections in days upcoming shortly, meaning that all the parties are working together for the nation and the fate of the nation,” he said.
The EU’s Moreno said he believes Cambodian democracy is stable enough to deal with political differences of opinion, but said the EU’s role is not to mediate in politics or the courts.
“We have, however, on numerous occasions conveyed to all political parties in Cambodia our strong conviction that an open and constructive dialogue is central to the political debate in any country,” he said.
Thai Protester Demands ‘Impossible’: Government
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 26 January 2011
via CAAI
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 26 January 2011
via CAAI
Photo: Reuters
Yellow-shirted protesters wave national flags during a rally in Bangkok.
Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the demands unacceptable. The 2000 agreement is aimed at benefitting both countries, and it is “impossible” to remove Cambodians from areas where they “are living on their own territory,” he said.
The Cambodian government on Wednesday issued a strong rebuke of the Thai “yellow shirt” protest movement, which has called for the annulment of border agreements and the ejection of Cambodians from land along the border.
Thai supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy have been up in arms since the arrest of seven Thais in December, five of whom were found guilty of illegally entering the country on Friday and two of whom still face more serious espionage charges.
Protesters are demanding the Thai government revoke a 2000 agreement on the resolution of border issues and remove Cambodians living on disputed territory, the Bangkok Post reported.
Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the demands unacceptable. The 2000 agreement is aimed at benefitting both countries, and it is “impossible” to remove Cambodians from areas where they “are living on their own territory,” he said.
Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said sustained political turmoil in Thailand will make implementation of the border agreement difficult.
“But Cambodia’s obligation to keeping its sovereignty and territory has been fulfilled,” he said.
Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, said the demands of the “yellow shirts” were aimed at toppling the administration of Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva and that increased tension was a reason for concern.
Abhisit knows the agreement is “an important basis for continuous cooperation and negotiation on the border issue,” he said.
Government Warns Human Rights Watch Over Report
The Cambodian government denied the findings of an annual Human Rights Watch report.
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 26 January 2011
via CAAI
Photo: AP
Cambodians protested at Freedom Park, demanding compensation for removing their houses.
“The Cambodian government tightened restrictions on fundamental freedoms in 2010, making it increasingly difficult and risky for human rights defenders, land rights activists, and trade unionists to operate,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday, citing its annual “World Report.”
The Cambodian government denied the findings of an annual Human Rights Watch report on Wednesday, claiming that unfounded criticism was now under the purview of the law.
“The Cambodian government tightened restrictions on fundamental freedoms in 2010, making it increasingly difficult and risky for human rights defenders, land rights activists, and trade unionists to operate,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday, citing its annual “World Report.”
In 2010, the group said, “the Cambodian government increasingly ignored or dismissed human rights concerns of United Nations agencies and international donors that have made significant contributions to the country's budget for years. Instead, Prime Minister Hun Sen rebuked UN officials, threatening to expel the UN resident coordinator and the UN human rights office director in Phnom Penh.”
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Wednesday the Human Rights Watch findings were “untrue.”
Cambodia has a new penal code that allows for prosecution of groups like Human Rights Watch that criticize the government without evidence, he said.
“In the past, you would eat noodles for free, but now we charge you,” he said.
In its statement, Human Rights Watch said Cambodia’s new penal code “contains draconian and vaguely defined provisions that permit criminal prosecution for peaceful expression.”
Thai FM Turns Down Protesters' Demands On Border Issues
via CAAI
BANGKOK, Jan 27 (Bernama) -- Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya insisted on Thursday that the Thai government will not handle Thai-Cambodian border issues in response to demands lodged by the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and other civic groups, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.
Kasit said that the Thai government will, instead, base its solutions to problems with Cambodia on mutual development, and that he will discuss pending border issues with Cambodian authorities early next month at a meeting of a joint Thai-Cambodian commission on bilateral cooperation, set to be held in the Cambodian Siem Reap Province.
Meanwhile, Thai soldiers of the Suranaree Task Force and paramilitary rangers from the 23rd Paramilitary Task Force have stationed along the Thai-Cambodian border in Phumsarol Village of Kantharalak District of Thailand's northeastern Si Sa Ket Province, particularly in front of the office of the Preah Vihear National Park, and have prohibited people from approaching the border as a precaution -- following reports that some Cambodian soldiers and people were upset with the removal of a previous stone tablet accusing the Thai military put in front of Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara Temple.
However, order has remained along the border and Cambodian soldiers have not erected any other negative sign against Thailand -- although a Thai market close to the Chong Jom border checkpoint in nearby Surin Province was quiet Thursday.
Suthee Panich, the customs chief at the Chong Jom border checkpoint, said that the inactive border trade had resulted from economic problems in Cambodia and had nothing to do with Cambodia's previous tablet (a small piece of stone engraved with words) accusing Thai troops of intruding into the Cambodian territory.
Chamlong: PAD won't soften its demands
via CAAI
Published: 27/01/2011
Any negotiations between the government and the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) would likely be unproductive, PAD core member Chamlong Srimuang said on Thursday.
"The door to negotiation is not closed, but I don't think it would be fruitful since the government has yet to give a clear response about protecting Thailand's sovereignty," Maj Gen Chamlong said.
He said the government had shown itself to be ineffective in dealing with border issues such as the seven arrested Thais and the controversial stone sign near Preah Vihear temple.
The government should demonstrate military power while engaging in diplomatic negotiations for a new memorandum of understanding with Cambodia on the surveying and demarcation of the land boundary, replacing the current MoU signed in 2000.
"The yellow-shirts are not involved in the coup rumours. Our rally is aimed protecting the land of our country," Maj Gen Chamlong added.
The PAD started their peaceful rally outside Government House on Jan 25. The group demands the government withdraw from the Unesco World Heritage Committee, revoke the 2000 MoU, and expel Cambodian people from disputed border areas.
The Thai Patriots Network (TPN) submitted a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva asking the government to seek the extradition of yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid under the terms of the extradition treaty with Cambodia.
The letter was submitted by TPN coordinator Sunthorn Rakrong, through Kiatfa Laohapornsawan, a vice minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office.
The TPN - a yellow-shirt splinter group, wants the government to ask Cambodia to extradite Mr Veera, who faces charges in Thailand in connection with the PAD's seizure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in late 2008.
Mr Sunthorn said if the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Mr Veera guilty of espionage and sentenced him to imprisonment, he feared this could lead to violence.
He claimed to have obtained information that if Mr Veera was given a jail term then people who were dissatisfied with the verdict, and a third-hand group, would instigate unrest and try to stir up war between the two countries by burning the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok.
Mr Veera, a TPN coordinator, and his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, have been charged with espionage in Cambodia, in addition to illegal entry. The court has set Feb 1 for a verdict.
They were among the seven Thais who were arrested by Cambodian soldiers on Dec 29 for illegal crossing and intrusion into a military zone without permission.
The five others were released and returned hom after nine-month jail terms handed down by the court were suspended.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya warned today that protesters should not link foreign affairs with domestic politics.
"My job is to strengthen foreign relations, not to make war," Mr Kasit said.
The minister said he rejected the PAD's three demands.
Mr Kasit called on PAD leaders to end their protest outside Government House.
"I give you a 100 per cent assurance that we will not lose any land as long as negotiations are continuing.
"We should not let our emotions drive our actions, as Thai businesses have been affected. The sale of Thai products in Cambodia is down to 60 or 70 per cent," Mr Kasit said.
He planned to visit Cambodia on Feb 3-4 to attend the 7th Thai-Cambodian Joint Border Commission meeting in Siem Reap. He would also visit Mr Veera and Mrs Ratree, who are being held in Prey Sar prison.
Metropolitan Police spokesman Piya Uthayo warned that PAD protesters will be arrested if they intrude on Government House.
Pol Maj-Gen Piya said police would arrest any protesters who force their way into Government House or any other government installation.
Any intrusion would be recorded on video and used as evidence in court, he said.
The announcement follows a comment by Maj-Gen Chamlong that the PAD would step up its activities if its demands were not met.
Pol Maj-Gen Piya said many people had telephoned to complain about traffic problems caused by a section of Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue being closed by the protesters.
About 150 traffic policemen had been deployed to help traffic flow around the protest site. Negotiations with the protesters to keep the road at least partly open had not been successful so far, he said.
Pol Maj-Gen Kreerin Inkaew, deputy metropolitan police chief, said although obstructing traffic is a legal offence the police had not taken any action for fear it could worsen the situation. Police would mainly rely on negotiation.
So far, the protesters had not announced an intention to move their rally elsewhere, he said.
Myanmar MAI airline to link Yangon with Siem Reap
via CAAI
January 27, 2011
The Myanmar Airways International ( MAI) will link Myanmar's former capital city of Yangon with Cambodia's ancient city of Siem Reap as part of its flight expansion in the region, all local media reported Thursday.
The MAI will have two flights once a week on Wednesday and Saturday starting Feb. 23.
The direct air link between Myanmar and Cambodia is prompted by the 4th Ayeyawady Chaophraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) summit and 5th CLMV Summit in November last year which was aimed at developing tourism industry in the subregion.
Meanwhile, the MAI will also link Yangon with China's southern city of Guangzhou in March
At present, MAI is having direct flight service linking Yangon with Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Gaya.
The private-run MAI was once a joint venture set up by the state-run Myanmar Airways and a Singapore-based company in 1993.
In 2007, the Region Air of Hong Kong took over the stake from the Singapore's with 49 percent held by it, while the remainder 51 percent possessed by the state-run Myanmar Airways.
In May last year, a giant Myanmar private company group, Kanbawza, took over the MAI for continuous operation under the government's privatization plan, buying up 80 percent stake of the airline with the remainder continued to be held by the government.
There are 13 foreign airlines flying Yangon which comprise Air China, China Southern Airline, Thai Airways International, Indian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Silk Air, Malaysian Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Mandarin, Jetstar Asia, Phuket Airline, Thai Air Asia and Vietnam Airlines.
Source:Xinhua
ADB provides Cambodia 44 mln USD for development projects
Thursday, January 27, 2011
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 27, 2011 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday provided Cambodia 44 million U.S. dollars in grant and loan for three development projects. The grant and loan agreement was signed by Keat Chhon, Cambodia' s deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, and ADB.
The agreements cover the Financial Sector Program (Cluster 2, Subprogram 4), the Second Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Communicable Disease Control Project, and the GMS Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Project.
ADB is providing loans of 10 million U.S. dollars and grants of 5 million U.S. dollars under the Financial Sector Program (Cluster 2, Subprogram 4), which supports development of a sound, market- based financial sector.
The program, which began in 2007, has led to increased bank lending of 1.52 billion US dollars, the creation of over 12,000 jobs, and the opening of over 980 new branches of banks and microfinance institutions throughout Cambodia.
To support the government's drive to minimize economic impact of public health threats, ADB is providing 10 million U.S. dollars in grants to expand surveillance response systems to control dengue outbreaks, and prevent the spread of communicable diseases in the GMS countries such as cholera, typhoid, and HIV/AIDS, as well as tropical illnesses such as Japanese encephalitis and schistosomiasis.
The community-based communicable disease control systems funded by the project cover around 1.7 million people living in 116 border districts in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. About one-third of the population in the target areas belong to ethnic minority groups.
The 19 million U.S. dollars grant for the Cambodia part of the GMS Biodiversity Project is part of the 69 million U.S. dollars GMS Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Project, which aims to conserve more than 1.9 million hectares of threatened forest, home to over 170,000 mostly poor, ethnic minority groups in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The project will include planting indigenous trees to restore habitats in over 19,000 hectares of degraded forest land.
"These GMS projects will support sustainable economic growth by preventing public health threats, reducing negative impacts on economic productivity, trade and tourism, and conserving threatened forest land. They will contribute to poverty reduction and income generation for poor and disadvantaged communities, including ethnic minorities," said Putu Kamayana, ADB Country Director for Cambodia.
With the signing today, ADB has approved a total of 160.8 million U.S. dollars in Asian Development Fund grants and loans for Cambodia in 2010, plus an additional 36.8 million U.S. dollars mobilized from co-financing partners such as the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund, the OPEC Fund for International Development and the Nordic Development Fund.
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