SIEM REAP, Cambodia: The five-star hotels around the ancient temples of Angkor are oases of green - sleek new buildings ringed by tropical forests and sprawling lawns.
But the water used to keep them so is being sucked from groundwater under the nearby city of Siem Reap, threatening the stability of the centuries-old World Heritage-listed landmark.
The widespread, unregulated pumping of groundwater throughout Siem Reap has raised concerns that the temples, including the world's largest religious monument, Angkor Wat, could crack or crumble if too much water is drained away.
The temples and towers of the 400-square-kilometre Angkor site sit on a base of sand, kept firm by a constant supply of groundwater that rises and falls with the seasons, but which is now being used to supply a burgeoning city.
With the number of visitors approaching 2 million a year, increasing pressure is being put on the scarce water resource. Thousands of illegal private pumps have been sunk across the city, pulling millions of litres of water from the ground each day.
UNESCO, the cultural arm of the United Nations, says that no one knows just how much water is being drawn from the ground, or how much can be taken safely.
Water is a precious commodity in Siem Reap, particularly during the dry season, when tourist numbers are highest. And the population of the city, barely five kilometres from Angkor Wat, has doubled in a little more than a decade to about 200,000.
The government-run Siem Reap water supply authority has the capacity to pump nine megalitres of water a day from underground, its director general, Som Kunthea, said.
But Mr Som estimates the city, even at its current size, is already using more than 50 megalitres daily. Authorities believe there are more than 6000 private pumps and 1000 wells sunk across the city.
The deputy director of water management for the Cambodian government's Angkor conservation body, Peou Hang, said the pumping was unregulated and almost impossible to police.
The Cambodian government has commissioned the Japanese government development agency JICA to investigate future water options for Siem Reap.
Its report, now in draft stage and to be completed by the end of the year, is likely to recommend regulating the pumping of groundwater as well as bringing water from other sources, including Tonle Sap, a lake 20 kilometres south of Siem Reap, an option that Mr Som would ''cost a lot and make water more expensive''.
Mr Som said the government's water authority does not have the capacity to supply all of Siem Reap with drinking water.
''Right now, there is no sign of impact on the temples,'' he said. ''But if we don't move now … if we keep letting people pump water and the population continues to increase, it will have an impact.''
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Friday, October 01, 2010
City's thirst for groundwater threatens ancient temples
US Official Says Cambodia Must Repay a Debt Portion
Cambodia will have to pay at least some of its war-era debt before the US can consider forgiving the rest, a State Department official told Congress on Thursday.
Joseph Yun, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, told a House of Representatives subcommittee that the US administration does not have a policy to cancel debt, for fear that it sends the wrong message in debt management.
Cambodia owes the US some $300 million, plus fees, in debt incurred during the Lon Nol regime of the 1970s, but current officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, say they should not have to pay back money borrowed by the pre-Khmer Rouge government.
Cambodia and the Paris Club group of creditors agreed to restructure the debt in 1995, but Cambodia has yet to ratify the agreement, Yun told the Foreign Affairs Committee's Asia, Pacific and Global Environment Subcommittee.
“The administration has therefore urged the Cambodian government to sign the bilateral agreement and re-establish a track record of timely repayment under that agreement,” Yun said in official testimony.
“We have communicated to the Cambodian government that if it makes scheduled payments for at least one year, the US government would signal to the IMF that efforts are underway to resolve the country's official arrears,” he said. “Should Cambodia then obtain an IMF program and a future Paris Club debt treatment, the action could pave the way for generous rescheduling of the accumulated arrears owed to the United States.”
The total amount owed the government with fees climbed to $445 million in 2009, Yun said.
However, Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa and chairman of the subcommittee, said precedents exist for debt forgiveness, including with Iraq and Vietnam, whose debts were much greater.
In those countries, the debt was canceled and the funds diverted to education, he said.
"Greater engagement with Cambodia could help the United States achieve our foreign policy goal in the region and counter adverse influence requiring a payment of debt,” Faleomavaega said during the hearing. “Requiring a payment of a debt incurred by an illegitimate government more than 30 years ago, without consideration of Cambodia's historical drama, will run counter to the need for greater engagement.”
The US has sought to expand its influence in Southeast Asia, where China holds much sway and provides aid packages and infrastructure without some of the Western benchmarks for human rights and democracy.
Cambodia, which benefits greatly from both Chinese and Western aid, has insisted the debt be forgiven, saying it could better spend the money on education and health programs.
Hem Heng, Cambodia's ambassador to the US, said it was “not reasonable” to expect Cambodia to sign onto a debt repayment schedule only to review it a year later.
“Once we sign it, we must be obliged to pay a certain amount per year,” he said. “It is not possible that we implement this for one year and then review it.”
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Thursday, September 30, 2010
State Department says Cambodia has ability to pay off US debt
WASHINGTON - The State Department says that cancelling Cambodia's debt would set a bad example because the impoverished country has the ability to pay what it owes the United States.
Joseph Yun, a deputy assistant secretary of state, said Thursday at a congressional hearing that even as Cambodia has accumulated debt with the United States, it has paid off other creditors on time.
Yun says the debt stems from low-interest loans in the 1970s for U.S. agricultural commodities. He says it was about $445 million by the end of 2009.
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, chairman of the House of Representatives Asia subcommittee, says other countries have cancelled debt for Cambodia, while the United States insists on "squeezing this little, least developed country."
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US Subcommittee To Hold Hearing on Old Debt
Cambodian Prime minister Hun Sen right talked with US congressman Eri Faleomavaega ,left, during a meeting in Phnom Penh Jan. 7, 2010. Faleomavaega will oversee the hearing.
Cambodia has repeatedly sought the elimination of $300 million in debt from the Lon Nol era, without success. Prime Minister Hun Sen called it a “dirty” debt that should not be repaid.
The Foreign Affairs Committee's Asia, Pacific and Global Environment Subcommittee will discuss the debt Thursday, according to the committee's website.
According to a position paper to be given by Cambodia at the hearing, the government is seeking a wave of the debt due to a “multitude of challenges and constraints facing the country after the adverse impacts of the global economic and food crisis.”
“We seek the understanding and goodwill of the honorable members of the Congress, the US administration, and the people of the USA in granting a favorable consideration of our request for the cancellation of the related debts,” according to a copy of the paper.
Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa and chairman of the subcommittee, will oversee the hearing. Joseph Yun, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will be the witness.
Union Rep Hospitalized After Assault
Hundred of Cambodian garment workers Monday held a strike to demand their monthly salary raise to US 93 dollars from current $61.
Phao Sak, 26, was in serious condition in Calmette hospital in Phnom Penh following the assault.
Union representatives said Phao Sok had tried to bargain for worker bonuses at the Generation clothing factory in Samrong Thong district, Kampong Speu province, ahead of the Pchum Ben national holiday.
Phao Sak was driving on his motorcycle from school to the factory when two unidentified men attacked him near the factory, according to the union, which cited witnesses in a statement Thursday.
The two men hit him repeatedly over the head with boards, the statement said.
“This is not an accident,” Chea Mony, president of the union, said Thursday. “It is an attempted assassination of a Free Trade Union representative.”
Free Trade Union representatives are repeatedly beaten for confronting factories over conditions and incomes, he said.
No suspects have been arrested.
Samrong Thong District Police Chief Khuth Sophal denied the case was an attempted murder. “I think maybe it's because of a drunken altercation. However, police will investigate.”
The Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia was not among those who participated in a general strike last week, but it is among the most powerful unions in Cambodia's garment sector.
In 2004, the union's president, Chea Vichea, was shot and killed by unknown assailants. At least three other union leaders have been killed since then.
Tensions between factories and workers have run high for weeks, with employees demanding better incomes in the face of rising living costs and factories facing competition in a shrunken global marketplace.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Hun Sen Weighs In on Labor Disputes
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday made a public appeal for the courts to drop charges against workers participating in a general strike earlier this month, in a move that proved popular with labor leaders.
His appeal came after the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia ruled out a request from the Ministry of Labor that factories walk away from cases they filed against the leaders of the strikes, where thousands of workers demanded better incomes to offset the rising cost of living.
“I would like to request the court to drop charges against workers and the trade union leaders and to request all factories to take the workers back to work,” Hun Sen said, speaking at the graduation ceremony for the National Education Institute. “This is a win-win resolution.”
GMAC officials declined to comment on the statement Wednesday, but they have said in the past the factories have the right to file against the strikes, which they called illegal.
Hun Sen said Wednesday that if the court complaints went forward, the strikes would continue. He urged factories to find ways to better compensate their workers—who belong to Cambodia's top-earning industry—and he urged employees to “work hard for the gain of the companies.”
“This is a fair gesture by Prime Minister Hun Sen to take care of the workers,” said Ath Thun, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation and a leader of the strikes.
He said around 150 workers from 17 factories had not been allowed back to work, following four days of strikes that cost factories as much as $15 million.
A Kandal provincial court official said he would hold a “legal examination” of the cases in light of Hun Sen's remarks.
Meanwhile, both managers and labor leaders have been working on improving negotiations. Both have agreed to send five members each into a commission, and they have signed off on a nine-point agreement to improve negotiations.
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The Cancer is in Kabul's occupation and not anywhere else
The White House fulminations against Pakistan seem to display an increasing level of impotence and frustration stemming out of assured defeat in Afghanistan.
The White House’s defeatism is palpable from the threats and rhetoric emanating from the emissaries that make their rounds around the world.
A bankrupt policy, a misguided adventure, and misdirected anger at allies display a level of panic sen in the days before the end game in Vietnam.
It is pedagogical to read the threats from the White House against the non-combatant state of Cambodia
“President Richard M. Nixon, April 30, 1970
Good evening my fellow Americans:
Ten days ago, in my report to the Nation on Vietnam, I announced a decision to withdraw an additional 150,000 Americans from Vietnam over the next year. I said then that I was making that decision despite our concern over increased enemy activity in Laos, in Cambodia, and in South Vietnam.
At that time, I warned that if I concluded that increased enemy activity in any of these areas endangered the lives of Americans remaining in Vietnam, I would not hesitate to take strong and effective measures to deal with that situation.
Despite that warning, North Vietnam has increased its military aggression in all these areas, and particularly in Cambodia.
…For the past 5 years – as indicated on this map that you see here – North Vietnam has occupied military sanctuaries all along the Cambodian frontier with South Vietnam. Some of these extend up to 20 miles into Cambodia. The sanctuaries are in red and, as you note, they are on both sides of the border. They are used for hit and run attacks on American and South Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam.
These Communist occupied territories contain major base camps, training sites, logistics facilities, weapons and ammunition factories, airstrips, and prisoner-of-war compounds…
…Tonight, American and South Vietnamese units will attack the headquarters for the entire Communist military operation in South Vietnam. This key control center has been occupied by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong for 5 years in blatant violation of Cambodia’s neutrality.
This is not an invasion of Cambodia. The areas in which these attacks will be launched are completely occupied and controlled by North Vietnamese forces. Our purpose is not to occupy the areas. Once enemy forces are driven out of these sanctuaries and once their military supplies are destroyed, we will withdraw.”
The fulminations coming out the current White are very similar to the Nixon esclation which carried out massive bombing raids to destroy the alleged “Ho Chi Minh Trail”. Nixon lied when he said that he would target the so called “sancturies” a few kilometers inside the border. The US massively bombed almost all of Cambodia. A map of Cambodia which displays the bombing raids shows a map specled with pin pricks all over Cambodia. The rapid rise of the Khemer Rouge is analogous to the rise of violence in Pakistan.
Three major revelations can be discerned from Bob Woodward’s transcription of White House:
1) The US has resigned itself to failure in Afghanistan. Jackson Diehl in the Washington Post describes the impotence as follows: “As Woodward recounts it, by last spring — just six months after President Obama announced the dispatch of 30,000 additional U.S. troops, along with a modified counterinsurgency strategy — virtually every civilian official at the National Security Council and in the vice president’s office had concluded that the plan was doomed.”
Take retired Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the chief advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan on the NSC. Woodward quotes him as saying in a meeting that Obama’s plan to gradually transfer security from U.S. and NATO forces to the Afghan army is a “house of cards,” destined to collapse. Lute, like several others on the NSC, argues that there has been no “proof of concept;” military commanders in Afghanistan, they argue, have yet to transfer even one Afghan district or town to local forces — and may never be able to do so.”
2) There is almost total consensus in the US Administration that the Afghan Government is totally inept, corrupt and incapable. Karl Eikenberry describes Mr. Karzai as “an unreliable partner Karzai was.”
“He’s on his meds, he’s off his meds,”
3) The third issue is inane indictment of Pakistan. Hence the rhetoric of bombing 150 sites in Pakistan and blaming Pakistan for the “cancer” in Afghanistan. The front pages of the Washington Post are full of diatribes against Pakistan. Those who have any doubts about Bharat’s intentions and feelings towards Pakistan can find the worst of the allegations replicated with embellished venom in most of the Bharati papers. Sify news, and th Indian Express are the most vitriolic. The Deccan Herlad, Times of India and The Hindustan Times lead the middle pack. The Hindu despite its name is the most liberal and in many ways talks sanity. One thing is certain–all of them are Pakistanphobic and cannot dare to publish positive stories about Pakistan. Its not that the Pakistani establishment is obsessed with India, as the residents of the White House think–the Pakistani establishment wants to defend itself from the constant Bharati onslaught waged on international forums, Pakistani borders and the media.
The US is obsessed by “sanctuaries”. How could there be sanctuaries if 9% of Afghanistan is in the hands of the Afghan National Resistance (Haqqanis, Hikmatyars and Taliban etc).
Jackson Diehl quotes NATO’s chief civilian representative in Kabul, Mark Sedwill “points out that the campaign plan drawn up by former U.S. commander Stanley McChrystal didn’t anticipate that they would be wiped out. Contrary to Jones, McChrystal and other NATO commanders on the ground concluded that their goals in Afghanistan can be reached even if Taliban leaders still find refuge in Pakistan.”
Bob Woodward’s revelation are orchestrated and planned. Bruce Riedel and Rahm Emanuel know exactly what they would get if they allowed Woodward into selected meetings what they could expect. They fed Woodward with the disinformation and propaganda that they wanted published. The purpose of this exercise is to forward their own agenda–which is not a hidden secret. Riedel made the right noises at the beginning of Obama Administration–however he quickly turned. He believes in India and wants a strong US-Indian alliance. Riedel wants Kashmir resolved with the LOC as the permanent border and he wants to “convince” the Pakistanis into supporting US misadventures in Afghanistan and in Central Asia. The “CIA Murder Army” is part of that “convincing”.
President Obama has misdiagnosed the problems in Afghanistan. It is not Cancer, it is treatable. The problems can be fixed if he can identify the malady in the right place–the problem resides in Washington and Kabul–not anywhere else
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
US Providing $51 Million in Health, Education and Other Aid
The US on Tuesday provided more than $35 million to Cambodian health and education, part of more than $51 million in funding expected this week.
The US will provide $33.55 million in grant funds to reduce HIV and AIDS and prevent major diseases like tuberculosis and other dangers such as maternal and child health, officials said. And it will provide another $1.55 million for Cambodia's “education objectives,” including improving basic education and access to education.
Cambodia's economic growth and future development rely on “an educated and healthy population,” US Ambassador Carol Rodley said in Phnom Penh at a signing ceremony Tuesday.
Long Visalo, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, accepted the funding Tuesday, calling health and education “the two highest priority sectors” for reducing poverty and increasing economic development.
The US is expected to provide another $16.44 million to Cambodia in a ceremony Wednesday, in a separate initiative to improve the country's business environment and enhance its agricultural capabilities.
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Cambodia's Kep: Sleepy seaside town begins to stir
By MIKE ECKEL
The Associated Press
KOH TONSAY, Cambodia — Ask for the crab. In black peppercorn sauce.
The proprietor of the thatched-roof and bamboo-walled island restaurant will acknowledge the order in sign language and broken English. She'll shuffle across the seaside grass over to the dock where the crab cages sit, steeping in the Gulf of Thailand's tepid waters.
She'll return with a bucket of crustaceans and fry them in an iron wok over a charcoal fire in her open-air kitchen, searing them in a sauce made largely from sweet, fiery Kampot peppercorns. She'll bring you a heap of steaming seafood, pepper sauce, paper napkins and beer to the shaded picnic tables. You'll eat the crab — soft-shells and all — sucking the sauce from your fingers, drinking the beer to blunt the fiery pepper and thank the stars that few people have discovered the culinary and aesthetic pleasures of this southern coastal region.
While Cambodia's Angkor Wat temples are its biggest tourist draw, beach-bound tourists — particularly those looking for more than the backpacker-on-a-shoestring itinerary — are waking up to the unexplored beauty that this muggy country has to offer. The low-key beach town of Kep and the riverside village of Kampot, a three-hour drive south of the capital Phnom Penh, offer rough edges but simple charms, along with nearby islands like Koh Tonsay, where the crab in peppercorn is served.
The Kep-area beaches also offer alternatives to better-known regional beach resorts like Thailand's Phuket and even Cambodia's own Sihanoukville. Sihanoukville was a favorite of jet-setters (Jackie Kennedy visited in the '60s) before the country was beset by the horrors of wars, coups and the Khmer Rouge. These days, Sihanoukville's luxury resorts have plenty of attitude, having been rediscovered by growing numbers of nouveau-riche Cambodians and others. Sleepy Kep, in contrast, seems to attract a clientele that spurns Sihanoukville's swagger.
The town of Kep consists of a collection of modest residences and hotels tucked into the foliage off crumbling pavement and dusty roads, along with rows of motley shacks and several grand villas, many of which still show the ravages inflicted by the Khmer Rouge who sneered at Kep's bourgeois trappings. Kep Beach is mostly a stretch of rocky sand directly under the main road, though that doesn't stop the locals from swimming along the stony promenade. Notable local landmarks include an unusual nude statue of a fisherman's wife and a monstrous statue of a crab. The 16-room Beach House hotel and its tiny swimming pool hides just above the beach in the tropical hillside foliage, offering sweeping views of the gulf.
Bending around the promontory to the west and north is Kep's main drag, the Crab Market: a line of bamboo and thatch shacks where you can find crab, fish, prawns and squid, not to mention laundry service, tourist trinkets, boat rides, motos (mopeds), cold beer, cheap drugs, Internet connections, massage services and just about anything else you can imagine. The circus mix of locals, backpackers and proper tourists is a prime spot for people-watching.
Farther up the coast are Kep's nicer accommodations. Inland and up in the hills, there's the Veranda, with a wooden restaurant and bar on a slope with a vista of stunning sunsets over the water. Waterside, Knai Bang Chatt has the swankiest lodgings in town with an emerald infinity swimming pool and stylish, modernist building. The hotel's Sailing Club next door has a dining room perched on piers over the water and a small sandy beach where you can sip vodka tonics while the waves lap your toes. Kep Malibu Estates, despite the unusual name, is also perched inland, its swimming pool and grassy yard up a dusty road past rundown shacks and the disconcerting sight of impoverished farm families tending ragged plantings and staring blankly at passing tourists.
For many, the islands just off of Kep are the real draw. Phu Quoc is the largest, but it belongs to Vietnam and it's some distance away. For that reason, Koh Tonsay — translated as "Rabbit Island" — is arguably the most popular. Like many things in Cambodia, getting there is not entirely for the faint-hearted. Most hotels have connections with boat operators, or you can arrange a boat ride at one of the Crab Market shacks. The skinny boats, built mainly for fishing, are powered by crate-sized outboard engines with propeller shafts the length of a small tree. Their narrow width means they pitch and yaw more than most people feel comfortable with. That said, they move fast, and the 30-minute ride to Koh Tonsay (about $10) takes you out into a bay past poetic scenes of fishermen tending lines and seine nets.
The island reportedly was used at one point as a prison colony by the country's long-ruling monarch, Norodom Sihanouk. Today, however, its dense interior foliage keeps most visitors limited to the crystalline waters that slosh the whitish sands on its north side, where simple wood platforms are dotted with hammocks and thatched roofs. Just inland are the open-air kitchens and shacks of the half-dozen families who cater to tourists. For overnight stays, many families rent bungalows that are nothing more than enclosed shacks with wooden sleeping platforms and mosquito nets.
For most visitors, lounging on the beach platforms, alternating between swimming in the bathwater sea and drowsy contemplation of swaying palms is the most activity one can muster. Occasionally, wiry, naked-to-the-waist Cambodian men shimmying high into tree canopies, hacking at bushel-sized bunches of coconuts with machetes and letting the green fruit thud to the ground, spooking unsuspecting tourists. For less than a dollar, they'll trim off the husks for you, lop a hole into the top and pop a straw in it for the freshest coconut milk you could possibly hope for.
But when hunger truly strikes, it's best to find crab. The size of golf balls, these crustaceans are caught by traditional hook and lines, and left in cages in the water until mealtime. For less than $5, the cook/hostess prepares a mound of the animals, cooked in oil and peppercorns of the Kampot — a once-famous Cambodian agriculture export — and beer for two. The instinct is to equate crab with lobster, use your teeth to dismantle the shell and suck the meat out. But the shells are so soft, you realize it takes less effort to just eat the crab, meat, shell and all. With pepper sauce tingling on your tongue and cold beer washing it down, gorge yourself on Kep's finest culinary offering — and enjoy a place while it remains untrampled by the crowds.
If You Go...
KEP AND KOH TONSAY, CAMBODIA: http://bit.ly/9WqOPt
TIMING: The best time to visit Cambodia is in the rainy reason (roughly late September through February), when the daytime temperatures aren't sweltering. The rains, while heavy, are brief in their duration and awe-inspiring in their intensity. This is considered high season for many hotels and other tourist services.
GETTING THERE: Fly to one of Southeast Asia's hubs — like Bangkok or Singapore — then take a budget carrier — Air Asia, Silk Air, Dragon Air, Jet Star, to name a few — to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Regular bus service between Phnom Penh and Kep is cheap (around $7; http://www.ppsoryatransport.com) but getting tickets and finding the right departure point in Phnom Penh's chaotic streets can be difficult, so best to ask your hotel or a travel agent for help. Renting a taxi to make the three-hour drive is also possible. Cost varies depending on whether you use a private car ($20-35 a day; http://www.lyna-carrental.com/) or a shared taxi or car ($40 and very subject to change with no notice)
ACCOMMODATIONS IN KEP:
—Knai Bang Chatt: http://www.knaibangchatt.com. Located waterside, about a minute by moto or tuk-tuk (motorized rickshaw) from the Crab Market. Rates $150-$350 high season, $110-$225 low season.
—Veranda Natural Resort: http://www.veranda-resort.com/index.php. Located inland, up a steep hill at end of dirt road, about three minutes by moto or tuk-tuk from Crab Market. Rooms and bungalows $40-$210, high season,; $35-$195, low season.
—Kep Malibu Estates: http://www.malibuestatesbungalows.com/. Located inland, up a short dirt road, about three minutes by moto or tuk-tuk from the Crab Market. Rooms or bungalows, $35-$120, high season, $30-$80, low season. Camping is also available.
The Beach House: http://www.thebeachhousekep.com/. Located on a steep hill overlooking Kep Beach, 3 minutes by moto or tuk-tuk from Crab Market. Rooms $40-$55.
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Workers, Factories Agree to Negotiation Commission
Trade unions and garment manufacturers have agreed to establish a government-brokered commission in order to break an impasse over increased income for workers, after thousands went on general strike earlier this month.
Union and factory representatives met with government officials on Monday, agreeing to establish the commission, with five members each from workers and manufacturers, in order to reach some kind of agreement over monthly income that workers say does not enable them to meet a decent standard of living.
Thousands of workers from one block of unions went on strike earlier this month to demand more negotiations, after manufacturers said they would not increase salaries beyond a $5 raise, for a monthly total of $61, in July.
The strikes cost factories millions of dollars, and some companies have brought lawsuits in its wake. Despite agreeing to the negotiation commission, companies said they would not be deterred from legal action against some strike leaders.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union, said Tuesday his unions had submitted the names of its five commission members to the Ministry of Labor in preparation for the meeting. That list includes himself and four other leaders of unions.
Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, said the group will send its names forward on Wednesday, after which a meeting date can be scheduled.
The general strike, which last four days, comes as Cambodia is looking to rebound from the global financial crisis. Garments remain the country's main earner, ahead of tourism.
The strike also prompted some major clothing distributors, including the Walt Disney Company and Levi Strauss, to issue a call for reconciliation.
“We urge all parties to respect the process and engage in good faith dialogue to find a solution, show commitment to constructive action for a long term solution and refrain from any inflammatory action or counterproductive rhetoric, and find a solution that is inclusive of all parties’ concerns and provides a long term stability for the industry,” they wrote in a letter to the government, unions and GMAC.
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Corruption battle has begun: govt
THE newly established National Anticorruption Commission has established a five-year plan to fight corruption in Cambodia, and has said that it is in the process of investigating 10 complaints against government officials.
NAC spokesman Keo Remy said the Anticorruption Unit, the NAC’s investigative arm, had made significant progress during its roughly three months in operation.
“We have started our work and we don’t want to give detailed information that exposes the investigative procedure, but right now, senior officials at the ACU have started examining all of the complaints,” Keo Remy said.
The five-year plan, Keo Remy said, included such previously announced measures as anticorruption education, forced public-asset disclosures by government officials and the establishment of a website to publicise the work of the ACU.
Om Yentieng, head of the ACU, said in July that as many as 100,000 officials could be required to declare their assets.
On Monday anti-corruption officials met representatives from civil society organisations to discuss the process of filing complaints with the ACU.
The Kingdom ranked 158 out of 180 in anti-graft group Transparency International’s world corruption index last year.
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Boy, 16, convicted of sleeping with a 14 year old
PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has sentenced a 16-year-old boy to four years in prison after finding him guilty of having sex with a 14-year-old girl twice at a guest house in Daun Penh district’s Psar Thmey commune in April.
Huot Ly Hour, 16, was arrested on April 27 from a local guest house after the girl’s parents lodged a complaint with police.
The complaint accused the boy of sleeping with their underage daughter the night before.
Presiding judge Din Sivuthy also ordered Huot Ly Hour to pay 16 million riels (US$3,809) in compensation to the victim.
Defence lawyer Ong Sileth said the decision was unjust, and that the court lacked the evidence to convict her client.
“There was no family document that specified the girl’s exact age,” she said. “She said at the police station that she was 16, but then told an investigating judge that she was 14.”
She said that her client would decide whether to lodge an appeal against the verdict.
During a September 10 hearing, the 16-year-old confessed to having sex with the girl, though he said that the pair were “sweethearts” who had been seeing each other for more than a month before his arrest.
“I had sex with her twice in separate guesthouses with mutual consent,” he said.
He told the court that the night before he was arrested, he drove the girl to the riverside to hang out and eat, before taking her to a guesthouse where he asked her to stay overnight.
“The girl was afraid to go home because she feared that her parents would be angry; that’s why she agreed to spend the night with me,” he said.
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Cambodia sets out plans to fight corruption
PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodia on Monday laid out plans to tackle graft in one of the world's most corrupt nations, in an attempt to reassure foreign investors.
The National Council for Anti-Corruption, a new body, said it had adopted a five-year plan that would include mandatory asset declarations for more than 100,000 state officials.
Council spokesman Keo Remy said the asset declarations would start early next year.
Cambodia was ranked 158th worst out of 180 countries on anti-graft organisation Transparency International's most recent corruption perception index.
It was also ranked the second most corrupt Southeast Asian nation after Indonesia in an annual poll by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy earlier this year.
Keo Remy told AFP that the council aims to improve "the national economy and the standard of living for the people, as well as to gain confidence for foreign investment."
Rampant corruption has harmed the country's image in the eyes of foreign investors and donors.
In an effort to change a culture of corruption that has permeated levels of society, the council said it wants to organise anti-graft lessons in schools and universities across the country.
It also plans to launch ways for the public to report corruption and extortion attempts by government officials, such as a hotline and a website.
"Under our crackdown nobody will be forgiven for corruption," Keo Remy said.
In March, the government approved a long-awaited anti-corruption law that could see officials jailed for up to 15 years if convicted of accepting bribes.
The law allowed for the creation of the anti-corruption council and an anti-corruption unit to oversee investigations, but critics said it was unlikely either body would be effective because both would be controlled by the ruling party.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Anti-Corruption Unit Sworn In as Investigators
Fourteen members of Cambodia's nascent Anti-Corruption Unit were sworn in Tuesday, vowing to use their full legal rights to investigate the country's graft problem.
Members include senior government adviser Om Yientang, who is the head of the unit, and his three deputies, Seang Borath, Chay Svauth and Nuon Phal.
“We have full legal rights to make corruption investigations,” Om Yientang told reporters after the ceremony, which was held at the national Court of Appeals in Phnom Penh. “We can now start to investigate complaints, confidential information and cooperation from various informants.”
The Anti-Corruption Unit was formed under a new anti-graft law, which administration officials have touted as an attack on corruption, but which critics say lacks the teeth to tackle the widespread problem.
All 14 members of the unit swore to uphold their duties or “face miserable damage or destruction and death, separated in the next life from our beloved parents, brothers, sisters and children and facing extreme poverty.”
“We will implement our profession as judicial police with dignity, conscience, loyalty, honest, humanity, independence, with respect for the constitution and the laws of the Kingdom of Cambodia forever,” the unit pledged.
Uk Savuth, who presided over the ceremony as prosecutor-general of the Appeals Court, said the unit was now empowered to arrest lawbreakers. But he warned the unit to “greatly increase” its legal capabilities in order to maintain the laws recently passed by the National Assembly.
But he also said the unit should act with humanity, to deeply interpret a case and act morally, such as delaying the arrest of a serious ill or pregnant offender.
“When we see wrong, we speak of the wrong,” he said. “When we see right, we speak of the right. We do not make decisions with rancor, incitement or hate. We implement the laws to serve justice for all, because a victim needs justice, and an offender also needs justice.”
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Opposition Decries Premier's Response in Land Dispute
Opposition lawmakers and rights groups on Tuesday criticized as unfair a letter from Prime Minister Hun Sen defending a government land concession at the heart of an escalating dispute with villagers.
Hun Sen said in a written response to lawmakers the 9,000-hectare concession in Kampong Speu province had been legally given to the Phnom Penh Sugar Industry, Co.
“The land concession to the company was legally issued by the Ministry of Agriculture,” Hun Sen wrote in July, responding to a March request for information from seven National Assembly lawmakers from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.
Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said the letter was not acceptable. It was not the result of a proper investigation and had been based on a report made by the company itself, he said.
Chheang Kim Sun, a representative for Phnom Penh Sugar, which is owned by Cambodian People's Party lawmaker Ly Yong Phat, said Tuesday she supported Hun Sen's letter, claiming the company had followed the Ministry of Agriculture's land concession and not encroached on the land of the people.
However, villagers at the Kampong Speu concession say they are being pushed off 2,000 hectares of land as the company expands. Villagers have been protesting the concession since March, in demonstrations that have seen company equipment and buildings torched, several protesters jailed, and the blockade of a national road.
About 400 families across nine villages say they are being pushed off the land, and representatives are now saying they want compensation in order to move.
Chan Soveth, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said he did not agree with the premier's response.
“This response letter will encourage all land concessions in Cambodia to undertake more abuses of the land of the people,” he said.
Hun Sen in his letter also criticized the opposition and rights groups for encouraging villagers to protest.
Village representative Yu Tho, who was jailed for briefly earlier this year following a protest in Kampong Speu, said no one from the opposition party or local NGOs had incited the demonstrations.
“This is a real abuse of the people's land,” he said. “If the prime minister wants to see clearly, he should come directly to my area to see how this is affecting the land of the people.”
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Cambodian woman admits drowning 6-year-old girl for gold earrings
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian woman has been charged with intentional killing after she admitted drowning a 6-year-old girl to steal her gold earrings worth 45 dollars, national media reported Wednesday.
Police in the central province of Kampong Thom said 19-year-old Rok Rorn was arrested Monday and confessed to the murder.
She later took police to a rice field where she had hidden the girl's body, around a kilometre from where she claimed to have killed her.
'When it was quiet and a good moment, she lured the victim to take her earrings and then pushed her head into the river where she died,' the district's deputy police chief, Ke Kanchana, told the Cambodia Daily newspaper.
He added that Rok Rorn, who faces up to 20 years jail, had shown no remorse when confessing.
'Her face is not sad, and she doesn't feel sorry for the victim,' he said.
A human rights worker at local rights group Licadho said such crimes were not uncommon.
'These crimes happen to young children aged 3-5 every year,' said Am Sam Ath.
He advised parents to ensure they knew where their children were.
'They should not allow their young children to walk alone when they wear jewellery,' he said. 'They are a vulnerable group.'
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Cambodian-Americans protest deportation
Cambodian-American's in Philadelphia are upset with the scheduled deportation of Hov Ly Kol.
When Hov Ly Kol was 19, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in two armed robberies. One ended in murder.
Now, more than two years after being released, Kol is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and is scheduled to be deported to Cambodia.
ICE spokesman Harold Ort says it's not uncommon for there to be a long lag-time between a prisoner's release and deportation.
Mia-lia Kiernan is a long-time member of the city's Cambodian-American community. She says Kol, and several others, are facing deportation now because ICE is enforcing an old policy change that made deportation for certain crimes mandatory instead of discretionary.
Kiernan says it's wrong to deport people back to a country they have little connection to.
"All they remember of Cambodia is fleeing the country when they were child refugees. In fact, most of them were born in Thai refugee camps and never even set foot in Cambodian soil."
Kiernan says there are 50 Cambodian-Americans across the country that are facing deportation in similar circumstances.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010
State President wraps up visit to Cambodia
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Doan Viet Trung said the visit was motivation to develop the time-honoured Vietnam-Cambodia relationship.
The visit laid a foundation to bring the relationship to a new height, said Trung.
In a party for the President, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni said Cambodia people are very happy to have such good friends as the Vietnamese, who have helped them in their struggle against colonialism and imperialism.
In agreement with the king, Cambodian senior officials expressed their great gratitude to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers for their assistance in fighting the regime of genocide.Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and Great Supreme Patriarch Bou Kry said Vietnam not only helped Cambodia in its struggle but also in its re-construction and the development of Cambodian Buddhism.
Cambodia is now a developing country with industrial parks emerging from the “killing fields.”
In 2010, Cambodia’s economic growth could reach 5 percent and annual per capita income is expected to hit US$1,900. Economic co-operation between the two countries has also increased strongly in recent years. Vietnam has 63 projects in Cambodia with combined investment capital of more than US$900 million. Two-way trade turnover is estimated to be more than US$2 billion and high-quality Vietnamese products are securing a firm foothold in the Cambodian market.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen affirmed that his country’s economic development can be attributed to Vietnam’s contributions through investment and trade exchange. During the visit, President Nguyen Minh Triet and PM Hun Sen agreed to expand co-operation in mining, telecommunications, finance, banking, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, transport, culture and information. The two sides also agreed to complete land border demarcation by 2012 to create borders with peace and stability.Investment between the two countries has been blooming in recent years, said Mr. Trung. Vietnam is one of the leading investors in Cambodia. At its current pace, Vietnam’s investment in Cambodia will reach a minimum of US$6 billion in the next five years, mainly in energy, hydroelectricity, aviation, banking, finance, oil and gas.
Over the ups and downs of history, close ties of solidarity and friendship between the two countries have been forged and developed. Mr. Triet, the Cambodian King and other leaders reaffirmed that those traditional ties are an invaluable asset which should last forever.
Mr. Triet said the two nations have lived together for a long time and they always stand side by side in hard times. Cambodia expressed its deep gratitude for Vietnam’s support, particularly for saving it from genocide, while Vietnam thanks Cambodia for its support during the resistance struggles. History has seen fine relations between the two countries so the current generation has the responsibility to develop the relationship and sustain it in the future.
During his visit to Cambodia, Mr. Triet also cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) bureau in Phnom Penh.
Cambodian girl arrives in TW for operation
A two-year-old Cambodian girl suffering from massive swelling in her right arm arrived in central Taiwan Saturday for an operation.
Reachny Mich is being treated at Taichung Veterans General Hospital for a condition described as an "elephant arm". Doctors from Taiwan said the girl's condition could have a large impact on her mental and physical development if not treated.
The girl's ailment was discovered by a Taiwan medical team when it was in Cambodia in April to provide local residents free medical services. The team assessed that local hospitals didn't have the resources to help the little girl and applied to have her brought to Taiwan for treatment.
The little girl's mother said she was very nervous about the surgery, but she also expressed her deep gratitude to Taiwan for the help.
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Saturday, August 28, 2010
President Triet meets Cambodia’s King Norodom in Phnom Penh
VietNamNet Bridge - President Nguyen Minh Triet and Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni yesterday agreed that the two countries should continue holding high-ranking meetings to further foster the expansion of multi-faceted co-operation.
They also applauded efforts by the two Governments to effectively implement previously signed agreements.
The two leaders met in Phnom Penh during Triet’s official visit to Cambodia which began on Thursday and ends today.
Welcoming Triet and his wife to Cambodia, King Norodom Sihamoni said the visit was an important event that would create strong motivation to bolster traditional ties and comprehensive co-operation between Viet Nam and Cambodia in the coming time.
He expressed his gratitude for the support given by Viet Nam’s leaders and people to Cambodia in the past as well as to the country’s current recovery and development.
The King said he was impressed with Viet Nam’s achievements in building and developing the country and highly valued Viet Nam’s position in the region and in the world.
While affirming that Cambodia would always be a good neighbour to Viet Nam, he asserted his determination to cultivate the fine traditional and comprehensive relations between the two countries.
He also wished that Viet Nam, under the leadership of the Communist Party and State, would continue to gain more achievements in its national construction and development.
President Nguyen Minh Triet thanked the King for his warm welcome, saying that he highly valued the achievements gained by Cambodia under the King’s rule and the leadership of the Royal Government. Triet applauded Cambodia’s increasingly higher position in the region and in the world.
He also expressed his deep gratitude to Cambodia for its support to Viet Nam during the country’s struggle for liberation and unification in the past and construction and defence at present, and for the support the government gives to Vietnamese people who are living in Cambodia.
Triet affirmed Viet Nam’s policy to prioritise building and developing relations with Cambodia and conveyed his greetings to former King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Mother Norodom Moninieth Sihanouk.
Triet donated VND8 billion (US$410,000) and 50 computers to King Norodom Sihamoni for the Cambodian Royal Fund.
Building achievements
Also on the same day, Triet met separately with Samdech Sisowath Chivanmoniral, first vice president of the senate of Cambodia; Ngoun Nhel, acting president of the Cambodian National Assembly; and Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia.
At the meetings, Triet said Viet Nam was always willing to share its experience and co-operate with Cambodia for mutual interest and benefit. Viet Nam would do its best to ensure the fine co-operation between the two countries could contribute to ASEAN unity.
In the coming period, he said, the two countries needed to strengthen co-operation mechanisms between policy-making and executive bodies, organisations and especially bordering provinces.
Triet suggested the two sides foster ties in specific industries, including national security and defence, trade and commerce, agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, transport, mineral exploitation, oil and gas, education, healthcare, and tourism.
He also said the Royal Government should instruct relevant bodies to foster land border demarcation works to be completed by the end of 2010 as agreed.
Leaders of Cambodian Senate, NA and Royal Government expressed their deep gratitude for Viet Nam’s support, particularly in saving Cambodia from genocide.
Triet also visited Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong at Wat Ounalom and Great Supreme Patriarch Bou Kry at Wat Botum.
Source: VNS
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Cambodian girl with swollen arm arrives in Taiwan for operation
Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) A two-year-old Cambodian girl suffering from massive swelling in her right arm arrived at Taichung Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) in central Taiwan Saturday for treatment.
Reachny Mich, whose condition has been described as having an "elephant arm, " was discovered by a Taiwanese medical team when it was in Cambodia in April to provide local residents free medical services.
She then obtained the promise of Taiwan government's to treat her after Yu Tsi-hsun, a volunteer on the medical team, made repeated appeals on her behalf.
Following the hospital's initial examination of the girl Saturday, pediatric hematologist Chang Teh-kao said Mich's blood pressure, heartbeat and body temperature all appeared normal, but he feared that her disorder was far more "complicated" than originally thought.
Chang said Mich's right arm appears to be four to five times bigger than her left arm, possibly caused by the abnormal growth of blood vessels or bones.
"It is rare to see such a deformation of blood vessels, " he said.
Earlier in the day after the girl, her mother and Yu arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Yu said Mich's mother was worried about the operation facing her daughter but also trusted Taiwan's doctors and felt grateful for their help.
A special team of pediatricians from different departments convened by Lee San-kang, deputy superintendent of the hospital, has been assembled to perform the surgery. (By Lee Chun-chin, Hau Hsue-chin and Elizabeth Hsu) enditem/ls
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Group including former refugees take part in mission trip to Cambodia
From left, Mary Hensley, Pastor Sam Duong with his son, Calvin, Vanny S. Sap and Docnga Sap talk about their trip to Cambodia.
kim.kimzey@shj.com
Docnga Sap of Wellford fled Cambodia’s “killing fields” more than 30 years ago.
For five months, he sought refuge at a camp in Thailand. Sap noticed that hundreds of children in the camp received meals each morning.
“I ask somebody, ‘Who is the rich man to feed the children every day?’ ”
The person responded “Jesus.”
Sap noticed how some people treated the refugees with kindness. He questioned why they were kind. Someone told him “Jesus.”
Sap converted to Christianity in that refugee camp. He also lived at a camp in the Philippines before he and his wife, Vanny, arrived in the United States in 1980. They lived in California for 16 years before moving here.
Sap had not walked on Cambodian soil in 31 years. And it had been 40 years since he last saw his home village of Pong Tuk. Sap longed to return there, help the villagers and share the gospel.
Sap was able to realize his vision last month. He and Vanny journeyed to Cambodia with a small mission team organized by the Rev. Sam Duong, pastor of the Cambodian Ministry in Spartanburg.
Duong also survived the Khmer Rough regime. He fled Cambodia to Vietnam. He returned to Cambodia, but later left for Thailand and eventually the Philippines. Like Sap, Duong converted to Christianity in a Thai refugee camp.
Duong now lives in Charlotte, N.C., and is pastor of two churches, including a church in Greensboro, N.C., and the Cambodian Ministry sponsored by United Baptist Church in Spartanburg. The Cambodian Ministry is the only Cambodian-language Southern Baptist church in South Carolina.
Both churches collected money and assisted the mission team in their trek to Cambodia.
The team consisted of Duong, Docnga and Vanny Sap, Chenda Mroek, a member of the church in Greensboro, and Mary Hensley of Spartanburg.
They left for Cambodia on July 8 and flew into Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. They spent 14 days in Cambodia, visiting congregations (including a church outside Phnom Penh that Duong helped establish several years ago), and leading worship services, baptizing believers and helping poor villagers.
It took six hours for the mission team to travel from Phnom Penh to Siemreab and another three hours on bumpy, dusty roads from Siemreab to Sap’s home village.
They were overwhelmed by the reception they received. More than 100 villagers gathered to welcome them. Sap was moved to tears and unable to speak.
“The whole town welcomed us,” Sap recalled. “But one lady ask me, ‘What do you bring with you?’ ” He replied, “I bring the good news from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Weeks before the trip, Sap learned his son Putheavy, who lives in Cambodia, had converted to Christianity. Sap considers this a miracle.
Putheavy and six others were baptized during one service while the mission team was in Cambodia. More than 100 people also were baptized at a mass baptism. Because of limited transportation, Duong had to limit the number of baptisms. The converted crowded into beds and atop roofs of pickup trucks before setting out for a lake to be baptized. Hensley counted 27 people on a van for 15 passengers. Duong, with assistance from several other pastors, performed baptisms.
Duong said it was very hard to be separated from his wife and three young children. It brought a greater realization to the sacrifices made by missionaries like those who introduced him to his faith in a Thai refugee camp all those years ago.
The mission team’s days were long. Members were so busy making plans and working that they often fell asleep after midnight and arose at 6 a.m.
Money raised by the team’s churches was used to dig a pond to provide water to villagers in Pong Tuk. Property was donated for a church site, and 15 Bibles and five hymnals were purchased. Pigs and chickens were bought for the village. One Cambodian church received rice to feed hungry families. Gate City Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., also bought a farm tractor for a Cambodian church.
United Baptist Church members collected vitamins and over-the-counter medications, such as pain relievers, distributed to Cambodians on the mission trip.
Mary Hensley coordinates the Cambodian Ministry at United Baptist Church. She has been involved with the ministry since it began 15 years ago.
“We started by having fellowships once a year where we would invite the people to come,” Hensley said.
In 1999, a lay pastor from Atlanta began coming twice a month to lead the Cambodian congregation in worship. Hensley said they had about 11 members when that pastor left in 2005. Duong became pastor in October 2007. The Cambodian Ministry has grown since Duong’s arrival. Duong baptized about 70 people in less than a year and more are awaiting baptism, Hensley said.
Hensley said the Spartanburg church has more than 70 members. Average attendance was 35 to 40 but declined during their absence on the mission trip.
Members of the mission team hope to return to Cambodia in November 2011.
Vietnam to release more than 17,000 prisoners
HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's president has ordered more than 17,000 prisoners freed as part of the country's annual National Day amnesty, officials said Saturday.
Twenty of those to be released have been charged with national security crimes, but no high-profile pro-democracy dissidents were included. Several were ethnic minorities from the restive Central Highlands bordering Cambodia.
Vietnam has been criticized by the United States and European Union for jailing political and religious dissidents. The Communist county does not tolerate any form of protest and often uses national security laws to convict those deemed a threat.
Of the 17,210 inmates being freed, 37 are foreigners from a number of countries, including France, the United States and Canada. The release will begin Sunday to commemorate National Day on Sept. 2.
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Friday, August 27, 2010
Cambodian King receives President Triet in Phnom Penh
King Norodom Sihamoni has described President Nguyen Minh Triet’s current visit to Cambodia as an historical event, which he said will help bring fresh impetus to the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
He also thanked them for warmly receiving Father King Norodom Sihanouk and his wife Norodom Moninieth Sihanouk during their visit to Vietnam in June 2010.
The King expressed his admiration for Vietnam’s tremendous achievements in its Renewal process and its rising profile in the region and the world.
Vietnamese people are reliable friends of Cambodian people, said King Sihamoni.
He affirmed that Cambodia will continue to build up the long-lasting and neighbourly friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam.
President Triet praised Cambodia’s position in the world and expressed his belief that under the reign of King Sihamoni and the leadership from the Royal Government, Cambodia will obtain greater achievements in national construction for the sake of peace, development and prosperity.
He valued Cambodia’s support to Vietnam in the past struggle for national liberation and the current process of Renewal. He thanked the King, the government and people of Cambodia for creating conditions for the Vietnamese community to live and study in the country, contributing to its development and to cementing the friendship between the two nations.
Vietnam attaches great importance to and will do its utmost to strengthen the traditional friendship and all-round cooperation with Cambodia, said Mr Triet.
Both host and guest agreed that Vietnam and Cambodia should maintain high-level visit exchanges to facilitate the expansion of their multifaceted cooperation. They also acknowledged their governments’ effort in implementing signed agreements effectively.
Grant from UN-run fund enables Cambodian village to reap ecotourism benefits
Funds from a global environment grants scheme implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will enable an indigenous community in one of Cambodia's poorest provinces to build an ecotourism project at a lake recently returned to them from private ownership.
By UN NEWS
Funds from a global environment grants scheme implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will enable an indigenous community in one of Cambodia's poorest provinces to build an ecotourism project at a lake recently returned to them from private ownership.
The mostly indigenous ethnic Kuoy residents of Romchek village in northeast Preah Vihear province are to receive a share of almost $20,000 in grant money from the Global Environment Facility"s (GEF) Small Grants Programme, according to a press release issued today by UNDP.
They will invest the money in environmentally sensitive visitor sites in the pristine forestland around the Choam Prei lake.
The lake, used by the Kuoy as a cattle-grazing site and as a water and food source, was returned to the 213 families of Romchek from private ownership this year after a process that involved the local, provincial and central Government.
A plan to develop the 70-acre lake into a site for hosting tourists was approved in June by GEF"s Small Grants Programme.
"The site has a lot of potential for the entire village," said Ly Setha, a project officer for a provincial civil society organization, Ponlok Khmer, that will channel funds from the small grant into eco-tourism projects for the area.
"Villagers hope there will be a spill-over from the tourists coming every year that will allow them to earn income by selling local products, and that will help them improve their livelihoods," said Mr. Setha.
The two-year project aims to accommodate tourists to carry out conservation-related research, or to experience the wild animals and plant life around the lake. Activities include production of publicity material, building campsites, and training community members to become tour guides.
Ponlok Khmer was already running a programme that employed villagers to repair the lake"s drainage and water level and to improve it as a fish spawning ground.
Before January, the lake had been part of a fish-farming enterprise run by the family of a local entrepreneur, who was given permission by a village chief in 1998 to use the area for private business.
Villagers accused him of blocking public access to Choam Prei. They collected 86 thumbprints to file a petition through their local government office.
The head of Romney commune took up the case in 2008 and raised its profile through a nationwide local government-association. The association, the National League of Commune/Sangkat, receives technical and financial support from UNDP as part of a project for democratic reforms at the local level.
Source: UN News
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A Runners Quest Comes Full Circle With 10K Raised for Cambodia Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Journeys Within
CONTACT: Andrea Ross
TEL: 877 454 3672
E-MAIL: andrea@journeys-within.com
WEB: http://www.journeys-within.com/
Click Here for Media Kit
SIEM REAP, Cambodia--Jane Price first traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia in 2007 and participated in the Angkor Wat half marathon. On September 5th 2010 Price will run an ultra marathon and has raised over $10,000 for Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), the organization in Cambodia that she visited back in 2007.
Jane's history with Cambodia started in 2007 when she stayed at Journeys Within B&B and was introduced to Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), a non-profit organization founded by Journeys Within tour company owners Brandon and Andrea Ross. To help support the organization she sponsored a JWOC Scholarship Student. This JWOC program gives in-need and deserving students a four year university education in Cambodia. The students in return volunteer 5 to 10 hours a week on various JWOC projects, allowing the projects to run and giving the students valuable experience. After corresponding with her student for three years, Jane returned to Cambodia in 2010 and volunteered for a month at JWOC. Upon returning home she signed up for her first ultra marathon which was a 50k run through the Sierra Nevada foothills. As if this goal wasn't big enough, Price decided to fundraise for JWOC and the Scholarship program.
"I strongly believe in the role of education in making a long term impact to improve the lives of students and their communities. From a personal standpoint I know firsthand the impact a scholarship can have on one's life as I was the beneficiary of scholarships and grants when I was a university student. These generous gifts allowed me to further my education and improve my life in profound ways," said Jane.
Jane sent emails to friends and family and told of her experiences with JWOC. She posted her story and her quest on the JWOC website so others could be inspired by her goal. With the race a week away, Price has reached her goal of raising $10,000 to donate to JWOC, and she can now proudly say that five new students will be able to start attending university in the fall thanks to her efforts.
"We really depend on travelers and guests being inspired by what we're doing. Our hope is that they go home and inspire others,” said Andrea Ross, Journeys Within Tour Company and JWOC founder. "I love that Jane just came to Cambodia for the weekend the first time, to run a marathon no less, and now she's combined her amazing love and ability to run with her passion and enthusiasm for what we're doing in Cambodia. It truly is supporters like this that make our projects possible. The best part is that five students now have a completely different future because of Jane's commitment!"
With the fundraising behind her, Price now has the hurdle of that ultra marathon to get through. The race, Run on the Sly, will be 50 kilometers, and will take place on September 5th in the Sierra Nevada mountain range at an altitude of 3,800 feet, featuring a hilly course covering mountain trails and fire roads.
"I love running for so many reasons: being in nature, setting and achieving goals, stress reduction, and being able to eat pretty much whatever I want and now it also provides me a platform to help others," said Price.
About Journeys Within Our Community
JWOC was founded by Brandon and Andrea Ross, owners of Journeys Within Tour Company in response to guests and travelers desire to give back and make a difference. JWOC believes in its slogan, “See a Problem, Solve a Problem” and has been doing that for the last five years. More information can be found and donations can be made at www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org or you can contact Andrea at andrea@journeyswithinourcommunity.org.
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Diversity spotlight: Thida Kol’s had a real impact on the Cambodian community
But she became the go-to person, the community’s rock who can be counted on in a moment’s notice, in all situations.
“She has a huge heart,” says Anthony Layton, associate director of SEDC. “She is an inspiration to all of us.”
As a Cambodian caseworker, Thida helps elderly clients find housing. In cases where an elderly person is alone, she tries to find another person in similar circumstances so they can share an apartment.
“I find them a place and then find household goods they need,” she says.
“I try to do the best I can to help people in the community who need services.”
Immigrants and refugees need to apply for green cards and talk to immigration lawyers. Thida accompanies them, serves as translator and helps fill out forms.
She takes clients to medical appointments and is the link between doctor and patient.
“SEDC is the only place they trust,” she says, “especially clients who are here alone.”
Thirty years ago, Thida, her husband and three small stepchildren fled Cambodia and the terror of the Khmer Rouge regime.
“They killed my father. My mom died of starvation.”
The family lived for several months in Khao I Dang, a refugee camp along the Cambodian-Thai border, before leaving for Rhode Island where they settled with help from the International Institute of Rhode Island.
Thida enrolled in a program at the Community College of Rhode Island and eventually worked as a licensed practical nurse at St. Joseph Hospital. But when she heard from a friend that SEDC was looking for a Cambodian worker, she applied for the job.
One of the few Cambodian community members who had been educated in Khmer, Thida is often asked to do written translations. “I’m the oldest in this office and they ask me first,” she says. “I went to school and know the Khmer language. Some others who are younger did not have the chance to learn because the Khmer Rouge closed the schools.”
“People who came 20 years ago and still don’t speak English rely on SEDC.” She says some don’t even trust their own children to translate official letters, fearing that they will make a mistake that could result in problems.”
There are Meals on Wheels lunches three times a week at SEDC. Thida says that before the meal clients stop by her office with letters to translate, or to ask her to make phone calls.
“Most of my clients know my cell phone number. They can call me anytime.”
And they do call. It could be an emergency situation or just a lonely person who needs to talk.
“If I’m helping people, I feel good. They treat me like I’m their family. They are like my family.”
Thursday, August 26, 2010
As Iran sanctions threaten, Iran sees new friend in Cambodia
Leaders from Iran and Cambodia met this month in their most senior exchange to date. Some say it is a sign that Iran sanctions are pushing Tehran to develop new trade partners.
By Stephen Kurczy, Staff writer
Iran seems to have found a new friend in the unlikeliest of places: Cambodia. Tehran hosted a high-level delegation from the Southeast Asian nation earlier this month to discuss bilateral trade and mutual dislike of American "interference."
It's the latest sign that the Islamic republic is seeking out new partners – no matter how small – in the face of increased sanctions.
"There is no doubt that Iran’s growing isolation, resulting from the force of UN sanctions, is behind Iran’s push to improve relations with Cambodia and other willing states," says Alon Ben-Meir of the Center for Global Affairs at New York University. "The sanctions against Iran are having a serious effect. For this reason, Iran at this juncture will trade with any country it may find. Cambodia happened to be an easy target because of its energy vulnerability."
In June, the United Nations, European Union, and United States all passed sanctions in an effort to target Iran's uranium-enrichment program.
"To impose sanctions against Iran is not a solution," Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters Aug. 16 in Phnom Penh, days after his meeting in Tehran with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Hor advised "negotiations and engagement" instead.
Iran offers trade, technology
The two countries established formal relations in 1992 as Cambodia emerged from civil war, but Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith says this is the most senior bilateral exchange to date.
"Iran requested to have a diplomatic relation with Cambodia. We don't see any objection to that," says Mr. Khieu, who is also the minister of Information. "Our policy toward Middle Eastern countries is to sell more of our products, mainly agricultural, and try to get more knowledge on oil management."
The summit touched on trade, investment, tourism, and oil, which is notable in light of Cambodia's hopes to tap recently discovered offshore oil reserves. After years of exploration and speculation – from international firms such as Total and Chevron – oil production is projected to begin in 2012. Then, in mid-August, a top Cambodian official told Nikkei news agency that Cambodia is looking into nuclear technology and hopes to build its first nuclear power plant as early as 2020.
President Ahmadinejad "voiced readiness to share Iran's experiences with Cambodia in various fields of agriculture, science, technology, and research," according to Fars News Agency. The two sides agreed to establish a joint economic commission to explore opportunities, according to The Tehran Times.
Shared dislike of American 'interference'
They also found common ground in rejecting pressure from the US. “My country has always been opposed to the interference of the United States in other countries’ internal affairs," Hor said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Economic ties remain minimal between Iran and Cambodia. The two countries’ trade value during the past Iranian calendar year (ending March 20, 2010) stood at $539,000, according to The Tehran Times. In the three months prior to June 21, Iran exported $120,000 and imported $66,000 to and from Cambodia.
Even more than a new economic partner, Iran is apparently looking to Cambodia as a conduit to reach greater Southeast Asia through the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). "Cambodia can play a key role in connecting Iran and the association," Iran's Accredited Ambassador to Cambodia Seyed Javad Qavam Shahidi told the FARS news agency after Hor's visit.
Web of geopolitics
In the complex web of geopolitics, it makes sense that Iran would warm relations with Cambodia, says British historian Philip Short. China woos Cambodia and Burma as counterweights to regional power India, while also wooing Iran and Pakistan as counterweights to longtime rival Russia, he says.
"So, for Cambodia and Iran – both Beijing’s good friends – to get cozy isn't a surprise at all. In fact, one wonders why it didn’t happen earlier," says Mr. Short, author of the Khmer Rouge history "Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare" and the biography "Mao: A life."
"For Cambodia there’s an obvious economic interest," continues Short. "And for Iran, which is still pretty isolated, the more diplomatic support it can garner the better."
China has invested millions in infrastructure projects in Cambodia. In December 2009, Beijing pledged $1.2 billion in aid and soft loans. That made China a bigger benefactor to Cambodia than all other countries combined. In July, international donors pledged $1.1 billion in annual aid to Cambodia, which was still the most ever from them. "China is Cambodia’s best buddy," says Short.
But Cambodia has also been courted avidly by Washington in recent years. In July, US soldiers participated in a peacekeeping exercise with troops from 23 Asia Pacific nations as part of the US-run 2010 Global Peace Operations Initiative. Washington and Beijing have long competed for influence in the region, with China supporting the Khmer Rouge insurgency against a US-backed government of the 1970s.
No warning from Washington?
Cambodia's business community appears unfazed by the country's newfound friendship with Iran.
"If Iran wishes to offer any material support to Cambodia, why shouldn’t they accept it? Cambodia is a neutral country with a lot of needs, and welcomes all the help it can get," says Douglas Clayton, CEO of the private equity fund Leopard Capital, which has attracted international investors to a $34 million multisector equity fund in Cambodian businesses.
A spokesperson from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh says that Washington urges "all UN Member States, including Cambodia, to fulfill the objectives of UNSCR 1929 (United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929) by meeting not only their mandatory minimum obligations but also by applying accompanying measures." UNSCR 1929 was passed in June to target Iran's nuclear enrichment program.
While Cambodia's government spokesman says that Phnom Penh has not been warned against developing ties with Iran, Professor Ben-Meir of New York University suspects the US may have dropped a hint to Cambodia against getting too close.
"Soon Cambodia itself will begin to feel the pressure from the international community to stop trading with Iran," he says. "Cambodia therefore will continue to play a balancing act, swaying from which side it is getting the greater benefit. For this reason, the United States and the EU will have to come up with some aid to Cambodia if they wish to distance Cambodia from Iran."
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My Semester off: Volunteering in Guatemata and Cambodia
YouthGive contributing writer Nate Parish shares his story from travels in Guatemala and Cambodia
After attending my first semester of college last fall at St. Louis University in Madrid, Spain, I realized that I was not fulfilling the reasons why I wanted to go to college. In fact, I recognized that I wasn't quite sure what those reasons were any more.
College is supposed to be a place where there is a balance between working hard at one's studies and enjoying a fun social life. Unfortunately I could not find the right balance at my school. Everyone around me was always out at a bar and not even worried about school. I got wrapped up in this situation. When I received my transcript and saw that even though I was not working as hard as I could and still getting A's, I decided it was time for a change. I was not going to be paying all this money to just party in Spain for four years, even though that would have been fun.
My parents were worried that I would waste my time off, but there are many ways to make a break from schooling more productive than a semester in college. I decided to combine my love of travel with volunteering.
I started my journey by taking a week-long trip with my mother and a group of two surgeons and three doctors traveling down to Guatemala. I learned that these trips are vital as the largest health care providers in Guatemala are Christian groups from America who come down and offer free or extremely inexpensive medical care. Our group was focused on doing simple surgeries like fixing hernias and cleft lips. It was all fascinating. Not only did this experience give me a passion for medicine, and specifically surgery, but I got to see just how hard these people's lives are, and that my small contribution of time made a huge difference in their lives.
During one surgery, the doctor let me scrub in to assist him with tying the tubes of a forty-five year old woman who already had ten children and didn't want any more. As we finished, the doctor told me to switch places with him and handed me the clamp and needle. As he instructed me, I began sewing up the gaping hole in this woman's stomach. I had never done anything like it in my life, and at that moment I knew I wanted to be a doctor (see photos below).
Even though sewing up the incision was the coolest thing I have ever done, it was nothing compared to the gratitude this woman showed me when she woke up. She didn't speak English or Spanish, but while I sat and fed her soup, she gave me the biggest smile I have ever seen and a huge hug. My mom was watching and her eyes started to tear-up. Luckily I was able to hold myself together.
I returned home to San Francisco for some time to relax, but I missed that sense of accomplishment like I had in Guatemala. When my friend Matt invited me to Cambodia to volunteer with the Cambodian Children's Fund (CCF), I bought my tickets the next day and two weeks later met him in Asia.
CCF is an organization started by Scott Neeson, a former Hollywood executive who dropped his career and moved to Cambodia after witnessing the lives of the children living on the trash dumps in Phnom Penh. To learn more about Scott and the CCF, check out Matt's article or their website.
Our volunteering was focused on teaching English and working in the daycare center with the younger kids. Each day was harder than the one before it, but also more rewarding. We would start teaching by 7:30 a.m. and not get back to our hotel till 8:00 p.m., feeling tired and accomplished. I would teach four hour-long English classes to kids between the ages of 9-16. I played games and taught them the sounds of the alphabet. They absolutely loved any learning activity that involved laughing and high energy.
One day during lunch I was talking with Scott Neeson when one of the girls ran up and jumped into my lap. Scott leaned over to me and quietly said, "This girl was raped by her father." I was stunned and my heart broke for this poor little girl who wasn't more than twelve or thirteen. The pain in this child's life is unimaginable, and I felt so bad for her. I had been teaching her and seen her happily playing with the other girls. If Scott hadn't said anything, I would've thought that this girl had come from a loving family. It was then that I understood the importance of CCF. It takes kids out of their traumatic childhood situations and gives them the support system that every child deserves.
While we got more tired as our volunteer days progressed, the kids got more and more comfortable with us. Each time we arrived at a facility, more kids than the day before would be there to greet us with huge smiles, hugs, and even letters saying, "I want to set you as my brother." These heartfelt signs of affection were the source of energy that Matt and I used to finish the two weeks of volunteering.
We could see that by just showing up everyday we were changing these kids' lives. For the older kids we were two strange but extremely fun and playful teachers, and for the little kids we were two play structures that they could jump all over. But most of all, just showing them a little affection makes all the difference. I have never worked harder than in those two weeks, but I have never felt more fulfilled either.
Volunteering overseas enables you to see the true culture and people of the countries you are visiting. On most vacations, families might travel to developing countries, but they are not able to see how the majority of the country is actually living, and unfortunately might get an unrealistic idea of what the country is really like.
Global volunteering is so important because you really get to experience people in their daily life. You make human connections that can last a lifetime. I am still emailing with students each week so that when I return to Cambodia these wonderful young people will still know me as the fun-loving teacher they had back in 2010.
My service time in Guatemala and Cambodia gave me a learning experience that I never could have imagined getting at college. I can now take the lessons I have learned from these two experiences and implement them into my life as I start my first semester at Colorado College this fall.
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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Cambodian envoy back on Thai soil
Thailand and Cambodia have moved forward in their "normalisation" of diplomatic ties with the reinstatement of You Aye as Cambodian ambassador to Thailand.
The Cambodian envoy arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport at 10.30am yesterday, smiling to an army of reporters and photographers and even stopping to allow the cameramen to take her photograph.
But the ambassador refused to speak to the media and left immediately for the Cambodian embassy in central Bangkok.
You Aye returned to Bangkok one day after Prasas Prasasvinitchai arrived in Phnom Penh to re-assume his posting as Thai ambassador to Cambodia.
Mr Prasas was recalled by the Foreign Affairs Ministry last November in protest against Cambodia's appointment of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic adviser. Phnom Penh responded by recalling its ambassador.
The government decided to send Mr Prapas back to Cambodia following Thaksin's decision to resign his economic adviser's post. The announcement of the resignation was made on Monday in Phnom Penh.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said yesterday dialogue would be a major means for Thailand to resolve border conflicts with Cambodia, which he hoped would not affect relations between the two countries.
In a related development, Surin governor Raphee Phongbuphakit said authorities still had to wait for notification from the governor of Siem Reap before they could pick up three Thais being detained in the Cambodian province after they were arrested last week for entering Cambodia illegally.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered their release after Mr Raphee contacted his counterpart in Siem Reap with an official request. The three detained are Sanong Wongcharoen, Lim Puangpet and Lan Sapsri.
