Phnom Penh - US energy giant Chevron Corp has extended its offshore energy exploration deal with the Cambodian government, local media reported Friday, but the company provided no other details citing 'commercial reasons.'
'Chevron welcomes the ongoing opportunity to evaluate the Block A resource,' spokesman Gareth Johnstone told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.
Block A, an area off Cambodia's coast in the Gulf of Thailand, is thought to be one of the nation's most promising areas for oil and gas exploration in the coming years.
Announcement of the deal after almost a year of negotiations with the Cambodian government puts an end to speculation that Chevron might quit the country.
The newspaper noted that Chevron has spent 125 million dollars and drilled 15 exploratory wells in Block A since 2002. The latest date for production, which has been pushed back several times, is 2013.
Chevron is one of many extractive companies that have been criticized in recent years for their refusal to say what they are paying for the rights to tap Cambodia's natural resources. Corruption is endemic in the impoverished South-East Asian nation, and there are concerns that any windfall from oil and gas revenues will be squandered.
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Friday, January 29, 2010
Chevron extends Cambodian energy exploration deal
Bello, Crowe, "Slumdog" Scribe Team at HBO
By Nellie Andreeva
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Maria Bello has teamed with Russell Crowe and the Oscar-winning writer of "Slumdog Millionaire" for a series project in the works at HBO.
Bello is set to star in the drama "Emergency Sex," which is being written by Simon Beaufoy. They will executive produce with Russell Crowe.
Inspired by the book "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story From Hell on Earth," by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson, the project revolves around the larger-than-life exploits of expatriate nongovernment-organization workers who find their sanity tested in the face of atrocities, loneliness and primal desires.
The book chronicles the real-life experiences of Cain, Postlewait and Thomson, who met in Cambodia during the 1990s as members of a UN peacekeeping mission. Crowe purchased the screen rights to the book.
Bello stars in John Wells' film "The Company Men," which is creating buzz at the Sundance Film Festival. She also has been courted by the broadcast networks this pilot season. Crowe next stars in "Robin Hood." "Emergency" would mark the series debut for Beaufoy, who will reunite with "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle this year for "127 Hours."
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
Cambodia destroys tonnes of oil used to make ecstasy
PHNOM PENH, Jan 28 (AFP) - Cambodian authorities and Australian police on Thursday began destroying tonnes of a raw ingredient used to make the party drug ecstasy, an anti-narcotics official said.
They started burning 14.6 tonnes of confiscated sassafras oil, which is extracted from a rare tree found deep in Cambodia's jungles, said Moek Dara, secretary-general of Cambodia's national authority for combating drugs.
"If we don't crack down on the oil, a lot of people, not only those in Cambodia, will suffer," he told AFP, adding that it would take at least 10 days to destroy the sassafras.
Sassafras is an ingredient for cosmetics but also a precursor chemical to make ecstasy. Five litres of the oil would produce 10,000 pills of the club drug, officials said.
The oil comes from the rare M'rea Prov Phnom tree, Moek Dara said.
The stocks of sassafras, which were confiscated in anti-drug raids last year, were being destroyed in the northwestern province of Battambang along with nearly six tonnes of other chemical substances, he added.
Cambodia destroyed 35 tonnes of sassafras in 2007 when authorities made the oil illegal.
Impoverished Cambodia has become a popular trafficking point for narcotics, particularly methamphetamines and heroin, after neighbouring Thailand toughened its stance on illegal drugs in 2002.
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From Cambodia’s Killing Fields to $125,00 win in Las Vegas
By Robin Leach
It was a long and difficult journey from “The Killing Fields” of Cambodia for refugee Kimbo Ung, who has now settled in Las Vegas and become a full-time poker player. Kimbo recently defeated World Series of Poker bracelet winners and a Hollywood actor in the Heartland Poker Tour at Red Rock Casino to win the $125,000 pot.
Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari was there. Layne Flack was there. Lou Diamond Phillips and yours truly were there when 300 players from the Midwest invaded Las Vegas for the celebrity event. But the biggest star was a 42-year-old unknown who spent the past three years on the bubble.
Kimbo, the winner of $125,901, nearly busted out multiple times. He sat at the Final Table as the short stack, and at one point had 80,000 chips when his opponents had millions. But Kimbo is no stranger to starting over, having spent a lifetime overcoming horrifying and unbelievable odds as The Comeback Kid.
Kimbo relates his childhood to the Oscar-winning film The Killing Fields. He explained: “The movie didn’t even do justice to the horror we faced before we reached the United States as refugees.”
One of seven children, he learned English and graduated from high school on the East Coast. Without a college degree, Kimbo worked as a graphic designer in New York City. The daily grind of 14-hour days and traveling by train from Connecticut became too much, so he and his wife, Sokhim, moved to Texas to start over.
Kimbo and Sokhim, also from Cambodia, invested in the dream of owning their own business. Two years after opening a seafood restaurant, the couple realized the hard truths of the service industry and decided, having run out of money, to start over yet again. They packed their belongings in their truck and made the trek to Las Vegas.
During their drive three years ago, they had to stop to fill jugs of water for their overheating truck. Pulling up at Palace Station, the truck died for good. Kimbo and Sokhim started over a third time just as the economic recession began.
Unable to find a job, Kimbo made a living playing poker. “I never considered myself a pro, but I supported myself through poker,” he said. After 18 months of bad beats and missing the money, Kimbo gave up tournaments and played only two to five no-limit games.
On a day off from her job at a Strip casino, Sokhim and her husband were at the movies at Red Rock when she noticed a qualifier round of the Heartland Poker Tour about to start. She urged Kimbo to invest $250 of their last savings in the qualifier. Sokhim had no way of getting home 20 miles away while Kimbo played, and he didn’t want her hovering over the table. So she watched three more movies while he looked for the winning hands.
Kimbo played the qualifier and won his way into the sellout Main Event, returning to battle accomplished poker players such as Theo Tran, Mary Jo Belcore-Zogman and David Singer. Low on chips throughout, a turning point came when he beat Theo. “I reminded myself to never give up,” said Kimbo, who made it to the Final Table.
Heartland Poker Tour producers weren’t surprised when they learned of Kimbo’s honesty shortly after the set was dismantled and shipped back to the Midwest.
“Our players are good people,” HPT President Todd Anderson said. “If a stereotype exists of today’s poker players, Kimbo seems to fit it at first glance. With dark glasses and an Ed Hardy hoodie, he appears emotionless, focused, confident and aggressive.
“At one point he was dangerously low on chips and had to ask another player to make change. Kimbo was given too much and really needed the chips, but said he’d never feel good about stealing from an older man. So he returned the overpay chips, and his luck turned, and he went on to win.”
After the shock of his win started to wear off, Kimbo revealed that he doesn’t normally wear glasses or conceal his face when he plays.
“I didn’t want to embarrass myself by becoming the first player to cry at the Final Table,” he said, crying as he hugged his wife, becoming the first champion of the televised Heartland Poker Tour’s Season 6.
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Minority groups in Cambodia get spotli
According to media sources in Phnom Penh, the Center for Advanced Study (CAS) has announced a release of the first book about the history of ethnic minority groups in Cambodia.
Jan 27, 2010 – According to media sources in Phnom Penh, the Center for Advanced Study (CAS) has announced a release of the first book about the history of ethnic minority groups in Cambodia.
The 664-page book examines the lifestyles and cultures of Cambodian residents of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian descent, as well as members of Muslim and other minority communities, CAS director Hun Sokhom was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.
"We hope the book will help Khmer people better understand the traditions and cultures of each ethnic group," Hun Sokhun said, adding that he believed that widespread distribution of the book will reduce discrimination directed at minority groups.
The book is based on two separate studies carried out by Khmer and foreign experts - a three-month study by the United Nations in 1996, and a 12-month study in 2006, paid for by the Rockefeller Foundation, according to the newspaper.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A thin line between Cambodia and Vietnam
By Jared Ferrie
PHNOM PENH - The leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, Sam Rainsy, skipped his court date on Wednesday, eluding an arrest warrant issued for allegedly uprooting border markers on the frontier with Vietnam. Rainsy instead remained in France, where he had fled in advance of the hearing because he felt the case was politically motivated.
The Svay Rieng province court convicted villagers Meas Srey and Prum Chea to one year in prison and ordered them each to pay 5 million riel (US$1,200) in compensation to district authorities for moving the border posts. Rainsy was convicted in absentia to two years in prison, handed an 8 million riel fine and ordered to pay 5 million riels compensation to district authorities. All three must pay an additional 50 million riel in compensation for destroying the border posts, according to the ruling.
The case highlights the ongoing controversy of Vietnamese influence over Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, some 30 years after the government in Hanoi ordered troops to invade Cambodia. The two countries are now in the process of demarcating their 1,270-kilometer long border. They are also negotiating investment agreements that could see Vietnam pouring billions of dollars into Cambodia.
On December 26, during a conference in Ho Chi Minh City, officials signed a memorandum of understanding intended to pave the way for more Vietnamese investments in Cambodia. No deals were finalized, but the economic agreements covered projects including electricity generation, fertilizer production and rubber plantations, as well as a proposal to explore for bauxite mining in Mondulkiri province. A Vietnam official in Phnom Penh told the Phnom Penh Post that revenues from bauxite mining alone could amount to US$6 billion.
Against the backdrop of a possible $12 billion worth of new Vietnamese investments, Rainsy implied that Cambodian officials were reluctant to criticize their larger neighbor about alleged Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian lands.
"I am defending Cambodia's independence and territorial integrity regardless of these ongoing investment projects and financial deals," he said in an e-mail from Paris. "Maybe those in the Phnom Penh government take those material interests into consideration in their handling of border issues with Vietnam, but I don't."
A spokesman for the Cambodian government, Phay Siphan, said in an interview that increasing economic ties with Vietnam had no bearing at all on the border demarcation process. He said a commission is carefully analyzing data from maps drawn up during the colonial period of French rule in order to determine exactly where the border lies.
"The job of the border commission between Cambodia and Vietnam is not to lose or gain territory from either side," said Phay. "Sam Rainsy is misrepresenting the work of the border commission."
Rainsy, who is a fierce critic of Vietnamese influence in Cambodian affairs, was charged with incitement of racial discrimination and destruction of property for his role in an October 25 incident in Svay Rieng province. Rainsy allegedly joined five villagers in uprooting the wooden poles after hearing complaints that they had been placed in a nearby rice field. Two of those villagers were arrested and sentenced on Wednesday.
To back up his case, Rainsy's eponymous political party (SRP) on Monday released what it said was evidence that the uprooted border demarcation posts were placed 300 to 500 meters inside Cambodian territory. The SRP referred to maps drawn up by the French in 1952, which defined the border and which were given to the United Nations by the Cambodian government in 1964. Those were corroborated by maps produced by the United States military in 1966, according to the SRP.
Rainsy said he enlisted the help of cartographers, historians, geographers and computer experts who examined the maps and used satellite pictures and GPS coordinates to determine that the uprooted border markers were indeed placed within Cambodian territory. Rainsy refused to name the experts, but he noted that he also received "technical assistance" from a French map engineer at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.
Cambodian officials threatened to lay further charges after the release of the information by the SRP. "The government will consider taking legal action to prohibit any illegal publication that affects the security of the social order," Tith Sothea, a government advisor who works at the press office of the Council of Ministers, told the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.
In his e-mail, Rainsy said that threat sounded "rather Stalinist". He added: "They are embarrassed and afraid because I am exposing scientific, objective and factual evidence of what I am claiming."
Phay, the government spokesman, confirmed that the government is investigating the information made public by Rainsy and the SRP, and that the investigation could lead to further charges if the claims are shown to be false. "We don't want to see any misleading information that will affect law and order and national security," he said.
Phay also accused the SRP of releasing the information in order to distract attention from Rainsy's case. "He has the right to freedom of expression, but it can't cover up what has been done." He said that rather than releasing the information to the media, the SRP should have brought it forward for debate in parliament, or even in a separate court case.
But Rainsy alleged that the courts are "political tools" used by the ruling Cambodian People's Party to "crack down on opposition". Many rights groups and analysts share that view. Last year, a spate of lawsuits against opposition parliamentarians, journalists and activists prompted a litany of criticism from international rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as the United States Embassy in Cambodia.
"This is a public secret. Everyone knows that the court is under control of the government," said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. "There is an attempt by the ruling party to consolidate its power." He said the case against Rainsy was an example of that trend. "This issue of the border could have been downplayed. They take any chance to silence the opposition."
But Rainsy has so far refused to be silenced, taking up his cause with governments in Europe while participating in radio call-in shows in Cambodia. His party has also vowed to begin investigating other sections of border between the two countries.
Jared Ferrie is a Phnom Penh-based journalist.
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Cambodian ship hijacked, Indian crew may be on board
Mumbai: A Cambodian cargo ship, MV Layla S, was hijacked off the Somalian port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden, a top maritime authority said here on Wednesday. The crew members are said to be a mix of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Somalian and possibly Syrian nationals.
The details of the crew members are still awaited, said the Directorate-General of Shipping (DGS). The vessel is believed to be owned and managed by Al Hufoof, an agency based in either Syria or the United Arab Emirates.
The DGS said the ship was overpowered after the cargo was offloaded at Berbera Port.
Moreover, the DGS said the crew has reportedly been abandoned by the owner so they may have been already held in captivity since the past few days. Such incidents are common in this region but come to light only much later.
The DGS has informed the authorities, including the Coast Guard and Indian Navy, of the developments.
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13 countries meet in bid to save wild tigers
By MICHAEL CASEY
The Associated Press
HUA HIN, Thailand -- Efforts to save the wild tiger are at a critical point and it will take greater political will and cooperation from Asian countries to prevent the big cats from becoming extinct, conservationists and the World Bank warned Wednesday.
The dire message was offered to 13 tiger range states attending the first Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation. The aim of the three-day meeting is to convince countries to pledge to spend more on tiger conservation and set targets for boosting their numbers - vows that would then be finalized by heads of state in September at a meeting in Vladivostok, Russia.
"There will be no room left for tigers and other wildlife in Asia without a more responsible and sustainable program for economic growth and infrastructure," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a video message to the 180 delegates.
"The tiger may be only one species, but the tigers' plight highlights the biodiversity crisis in Asia," he said.
Thailand's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti told delegates the time had come for his fellow ministers to commit to "bold commitments and actions so that we can collectively turn the tide of extinction on the tiger."
Tiger numbers have plummeted because of human encroachment, the loss of more than nine-tenths of their habitat, and poaching to supply the vibrant trade in tiger parts. From an estimated 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century, the number today is less than 3,600.
John Seidensticker, head of conservation ecology at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and chairman of the Save the Tiger Fund, recalled how he watched the Javan and Bali tigers disappear in the 20th century, adding that "losing a tiger is like losing a very close, dear relative and I'm still saddened by that experience."
He said conservationists have over the years been successful in banning trade in tiger parts, outlawing hunting and boosting protection measures. But he said he and others never foresaw the breakneck economic development in Asia that would "pave over" key tiger forests and grasslands and create a market for tiger parts that has caused poaching to skyrocket.
Still, Seidensticker and others said the meeting itself offered hope, showing that the bid to save tigers has gone beyond passionate environmentalists and scientists and is now being embraced by government officials and key donors like the World Bank.
The meeting is being organized by Thailand and the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in 2008 by the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institute and nearly 40 conservation groups. It aims to double tiger numbers by 2022.
"That this meeting is happening is hugely important," said John Robinson, executive vice president of conservation and science for the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
Robinson said the political will to save the tigers must be strengthened, funding increased for impoverished countries where tigers remain and forests expanded to ensure that tigers and humans don't clash - a problem especially common in India and Indonesia.
Relocating communities is an option as long as the villagers are compensated adequately, Robinson said.
The World Bank said countries must work to minimize the impact of roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects on tiger habitat - something the bank has vowed to do in projects it funds. It also called on countries to better train and equip their forest rangers and reduce corruption in the government agencies tasked with running national parks and protected areas.
"Corruption has been rampant and all pervasive in some of the countries as far as forest management is concerned," said Keshav Varma, the Global Tiger Initiative's program director, told delegates. "Corruption is gradually and persistently nibbling away at our natural resources. The politics of money is drowning out the weak voices of the tiger and the poor."
The 13 countries attending the meeting are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
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China to Help Restoration of Cambodia's National Road
The ground breaking ceremony of the restoration of National Road No. 62 in northern Cambodia was held on Wednesday with the attending of Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Zhang Jinfeng.
"It is a major route of transportation linking Cambodia's northern border to capital Phnom Penh and the road will be sure to enhance Cambodia's economic vitality as well as greatly promote Cambodia's economic and social development, " said Zhang at the ceremony.
"It is the first economic and trade cooperation project between China and Cambodia in the beginning of 2010," Zhang said. "A good beginning is half done." She also said that more construction projects assisted by Chinese government will be started or finished this year. These projects include irrigation system, road restoration and transmission and transformer networks.
The 128-km-long road, running through Kampong Thom province to Thbeng Meanchey, will lead to Preah Vihear province.
The construction project, carried out by Shanghai Construction Group, will last for 40 months and with a total cost of 52 million U.S. dollars.
Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke highly of China's assistance to Cambodia, saying that the assistance provided by China helps to promote Cambodia's social and economic development and reduce poverty for people. He said that China's assistance in infrastructure construction, including transport, water conservancy, electricity as well as personnel training are pure- hearted without any preconditions.
He said that the construction of National Road No. 62 helps to connect the area to Siem Reap province which will promote the development of the local tourism industry.
Hun Sen said that the royal government has been strengthening the land, waterways, railways, aviation and port construction. " There are roads there is hope," he stressed.
The construction of the infrastructure will help to attract investment in various fields, promote economic development, enhance remote areas, and improve living standards, he said.
After thanking the Chinese government and people to provide assistance, Prime Minister Hun Sen also wishes Chinese people living in Cambodia have a happy Chinese New Year, saying that "with the approaching of traditional Chinese New Year, I wish all Chinese people, overseas Chinese living in Cambodia health and success in the coming year."
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Cambodia won't send troops to Afghanistan, Iraq
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday he will not send peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Hun Sen said some countries, which he did not name, had requested 1,000 Cambodian de-miners be deployed to Afghanistan.
"I will not send Cambodian sons to die in those two countries," he said in remarks at the groundbreaking for a new road in the central province of Kampong Thom. "The Cambodian people have seen enough war and suffered enough casualties from land mines."
Cambodia was wracked by almost three decades of war and unrest after a 1970 military coup and became one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. It has trained a large corps of skilled de-miners.
In April 2006, Cambodia sent 135 soldiers to help U.N. peacekeepers clear mines in war-torn Sudan. Hun Sen, however, rejected requests from the U.S. to deploy Cambodian troops to Iraq that same year. He said he questioned the overall legitimacy of the war in Iraq and that it was too dangerous for Cambodians to operate there.
In early 2009, Cambodia sent several dozen troops to Chad and the Central African Republic.
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KSL set to double sugarcane output
KOH KONG, CAMBODIA : Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Plc (KSL) aims to invest about 15 billion baht over the next five years to double its sugarcane output in Thailand and continuously expand its presence in Cambodia and Laos.
Thailand's only listed sugar miller expects the group's total revenue to top 20 billion baht from last year's 12 billion baht when the expansion is completed.
Chairman Chamroon Chinthammit said the company would spend 6-7 billion baht to build a new factory complete with a power and ethanol plant in Sa Kaeo. The Bo Phloi mill in Kanchanaburi also requires an investment of 8 billion baht, of which half is being spent on the first phase of construction.
The group currently operates four sugar mills and cane farms in Khon Kaen, Chon Buri and Kanchanaburi, with combined sugar production of 5 million tonnes per crop.
KSL projects that its local sugarcane output will double to 10 million within five years, moving it from the fourth to third place in the country in terms of overall production, said Mr Chamroon.
The company on Monday inaugurated its $100-million sugar mill in Koh Kong, the first of its kind in Cambodia. The group, together with Cambodian and Taiwanese partners, has been granted a 90-year farming concession for 20,000 hectares in Koh Kong along the border of Thailand and Cambodia.
An estimated 240,000 tonnes of sugarcane will be processed in the 2009-10 season, the first year of operation.
"We are aiming for the total production of 2 million tonnes from Cambodia within five years while our crushing capacity in Laos will be expanded to 700,000 tones from 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes at present," Mr Chamroon said.
KSL has also been awarded a concession of 30 years for 10,000 hectares in Laos. The Sawannakhet mill, with total investment of $40 million, began operating at almost the same time as the Koh Kong plant.
Laos and Cambodia are among the 19 developing countries entitled to duty-free sugar exports to European markets. KSL has signed five-year contracts with London-based Tate & Lyle to supply all of its output from Cambodia and Laos at the price of 19 cents a pound.
Ly Yong Phat, one of Cambodia's top businessmen and a close ally of Prime Minister Hun Sen, holds 20% in KSL's joint venture while the Thai sugar miller controls 50%. The remaining 30% is owned by the Taiwanese partner Ve Wong Corp.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen vowed to seek the required land and labour for KSL, which needs 4,000 employees, saying the sugar industry was vital for the Cambodian economy. According to data from Thailand's Commerce Ministry, the country exports 300,000 tonnes of white sugar to Cambodia.
Chalush Chinthammit, KSL's assistant vice-president for business development, said the group expected up to 20% growth in revenue this year, thanks to the high sugar price, now at a 28-year high of 29 cents a pound, and higher production than last year.
Given the current supply shortage, sugar prices will remain on the uptrend, definitely breaking the 30-cent mark by the end of the second quarter, Mr Chalush added.
KSL shares closed yesterday on SET at 14.70 baht, up 50 satang, in trade worth 44 million baht.
Relate Search: Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Plc, Chairman Chamroon Chinthammit, Bo Phloi mill, Kanchanaburi.
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Cambodian drug centres deny abuse
Operators of drug rehabilitation centres in Cambodia have denied accusations patients are subjected to "sadistic violence". Human Rights Watch claims people are being held in the centres against their will, where they are subjected to torture, rape and humiliation. The organisation is calling for Cambodia authorities to shut down controversial facilities .
Presenter: Stephanie March
Speakers: Joe Amon, director, Health and Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch; Nean Sokhim, director, My Chance Drug Detention and Rehabilitation Centre, Phnom Penh .
MARCH: The report by Human Rights Watch says 2,000 people are being held in so-called "drug rehabilitation centres" across Cambodia. Joe Amon is the director of the Health and Human rights commission for the organisation.
AMON: There were reports of beatings, being shocked with electric batons. There were cases where people would describe very specifically how staff and guards would wind together electrical cables together and whip inmates with them. But we also heard about rapes, we heard about people being shackled for long periods of time and being forced to stand in the sun.
MARCH: The report says many of the detainees are picked up by police and military in an effort to get drug users, sex workers and beggars off the street. Others are sent by their families who pay the authorities to treat and rehabilitate the patients. But Mr Amon says it's not only drug users who end up in the facilities.
AMON: Most of them were at some point drug users - not all of them were drug addicted or drug dependant. There were also children in there, adults who hadn't used drugs but got caught up in street sweeps. And also really quite disturbingly individuals with mental illness
MARCH: Government statistics show between 2007 and 2008, there was a 40% increase in the number of people in the the centres. Mr Amon says the centres are an easy way for authorities to keep so-called undesirables off the street.
AMON: And the other is profit. You know family members that are paying to have individuals picked up and put in these centres. You know that money is against Cambodian law, by law it says drug dependency treatment should be free. And that money is going directly into the pocket of the people running the centres.
MARCH: Nean Sokhim is the director of the civilian-run "My Chance" drug rehabilitation centre in Phnom Penh. He says patients are treated well, receive three meals a day and have job training opportunities.
SOKHIM: In my centre is no murder happen, no problem eh.
MARCH: Is there any violence towards the people in your centre from the guards?
SOKHIM: No, never.
MARCH: The is a report that has come out from a human rights organisation that says people that are tortured and kept against their will. What do you say about this report?
SOKHIM: No, no never happen like this. But the Human Rights Watch always say, always advise bad about the drug rehab centre in Cambodia. I don't know why because in my centre I always try to do everything better and better.
He says some detainees have tried to run away in the past.
SOKHIM: We have some, but all of them because we (inaudible) them and we can drug them and we forbid them to do the work at the outside of the after they can escape.
MARCH: So if someone tries to run away you give them drugs so they can't escape?
SOKHIM: Yeah, yeah yeah.
MARCH: Human Rights Watch says there are at least 11 drug centres operating in Cambodia. Some are run by the police and military while others are operated by civilians. Mr Sokhim says while there is no abuse at his centre he can't vouch for those run by the security forces.
SOKHIM: For other centre, they can violence at the centre governed by the police, governed by the military police. But in my centre is civil governed.
MARCH: Human Rights Watch is calling for all the drug rehab centres to be closed down and investigated for rights abuse. Joe Amon from the organisation says detention centres are the wrong way to tackle drug abuse.
AMON: The World Health Organisation did an assessment and they said in their report that they estimated that it was close to 100 percent relapse for the people who have been in these centres.. It's just the wrong way to approach drug addiction. Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing condition. It's not helped by a period of military drills and forced exercise.
Mr Sokhim estimates 70 percent of the 2,500 people who have been in his centre since it opened in 2006 have successfully managed to conquer drug abuse.
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
WING set to cover all of Cambodia
Mobile phone electronic payment service, which just turned one year old, says it will cover Rattanakiri and Mondulkiri from next week, the last provinces to gain full access to WING
THE mobile money transfer system WING will operate fully in Mondulkiri and Rattanakiri provinces by the end of the month, Managing Director Brad Jones said Monday, giving the service full coverage in the Kingdom for the first time.
Having launched one year ago, WING will allow customers to “cash out” for the first time in the two provinces from next week, Jones said.
Previously WING users could transfer money there on the service’s four partner mobile operators – Hello, qb, Smart Mobile and Mfone – but could not collect the money.
“This week we have people who are setting up Wing cash X-press outlets in Rattanakiri and Modulkiri which now gives us access to every province in Cambodia,” Jones told the Post.
He added that the expansion was the result of a A$1.5 million (US$975,000) grant from the Australian government (via Ausaid) made last year.
“We have been using that [Ausaid] grant to actually further development of WING to provincial areas” Jones said.
WING, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ANZ Bank, formally launched its operation in the kingdom on January 21 last year.
Jones said that during the first year of operations, WING had gained 85,000 users, adding that the growth rate of its users was increasing.
“In the first month, we put on maybe 4,000 to 5,000 customers. In our last month, we put on close to 20,000 customers,” he said, adding that the network aspect of the WING business model meant growth would rise at an increasing rate.
“To use WING, you need to have your friend or family on WING, so as more and more people start to use WING, it becomes more useful for people who are already WING’s customers,” he said.
The electronic payment service had also benefited from a rising number of mobile providers signing up over the past 12 months, the latest being Mfone in October.
“Smart Mobile is pleased on the results of the partnership since the launch,” CEO Thomas Hundt said by email Monday.
The two companies started to work together from the start of August.
It remained unclear how much revenue WING had generated in its first 12 months of operations.
Jones declined to give a breakdown of financial results Monday. “We don’t disclose the actual figure in terms of what’s been transacted, but I can tell you … [there has been] significant growth month on month in both the volume of transactions we have and the value of transactions.”
WING is completely dependent on coverage by its four mobile partners, Jones admitted, given that transactions are conducted by mobile phone.
WING is not available with Mobitel, the country’s mobile leader in terms of market share, or on Metfone, which is understood to cover the largest area of any mobile service in the Kingdom.
The Vietnamese operator’s Cambodia CEO Nguyen Duy Tho told the Post in October that by the end of November last year, Metfone had been due to cover between 90 and 95 percent of the Kingdom’s population of about 14 million people.
“If there isn’t coverage of that particular network, but there is coverage for Hello, they might borrow someone’s phone who is on Hello, and use the WING service,” Jones said, adding that most people would have a SIM card with one of the four operators working with WING.
Cambodia’s mobile-phone users are notorious for posessing a selection of SIM cards in a bid to make the most of tariffs that have become increasingly competitive as new mobile phone companies have entered the market.
WING had held discussions with other operators, he added, but “we don’t have concrete plans at this stage”.
“We’re not actively looking to partner with them,” he added.
Mobitel, which is wholly owned by the Royal Group, the joint-venture partner with ANZ in ANZ Royal Bank, is understood to be developing its own mobile money transfer network.
Jones said he recognised that another mobile operator was looking to set up a rival mobile payment system and that “we welcome the competition in this market”.
He added that he had not had discussions with Mobitel with which WING “are unlikely to work with”. Mobitel was going in its “own direction”, Jones said.
By not working with the market leader, it was important that WING build a strong customer and provider base, he said.
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Cambodia Gold & Ruby Exploration Project Moves to Second Phase -- Terra Energy & Resource Technologies Increases Royalty Rights
Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: TEGR), a natural resources exploration services technology company, announces that the Company has signed a phase two contract for gold and ruby exploration in Cambodia, increasing its royalty rights in the overall project.
The exploration services contract engages Terra in its proprietary satellite-based STeP® analysis of gold and ruby mineralization in Cambodia, which is the second phase contracting of exploration after it successfully completed the first phase of the project. As requested by the client, in addition to STeP®, Terra is to perform other traditional geological and management services, in order to further define and locate resources after presenting the client with good indications of mineral prospectivity and priority zones as a result of Terra's phase one survey.
Terra previously signed a working agreement with the Millennium International Group, which serves as a frame work of the relationship between the companies and outlines the pricing, royalty as well as co-investment rights, among other provisions, Terra Energy & Resource Technologies obtains as consideration for its services.
In connection with the phase two contract, Terra has an increased royalty interest in the acreage and co-investment rights contingent upon the advancement of the exploration license in Cambodia.
"We have had several service contracts with the Millennium International Group over the past six months. This relationship is dear to us, and we are encouraged that this client is also our market partner in Asia," said Dmitry Vilbaum, Chief Executive Officer of Terra Energy & Resource Technologies.
"The synergy is in Terra performing the services for cash, royalty, and non-promoted co-investment rights, effectively creating a joint venture with the client," said Dr. Alexandre Agaian, Terra Energy & Resource Technologies' President. "Terra is encouraged and incentivized to perform its innovative technology work and help our JV shorten the exploration cycle and expense to a minimum, so that Terra can start receiving the royalty cash flow and potentially co-invest on the same terms as the Millennium International Group."
About Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc.
Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc., through its subsidiary Terra Insight Services, Inc., provides mapping and analysis services for exploration, drilling, and mining companies related to natural resources found beneath the surface of the Earth. The Company uses a suite of innovative and efficient technologies, which facilitate the prediction and location of commercially viable deposits of hydrocarbons, gold, diamonds, and other natural resources, and assesses them for any given geographic area -- on or offshore. For more information, visit http://www.terrainsight.com/.
Safe Harbor for Forward-looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. There are many factors that could cause the Company's expectations and beliefs about its operations, its plans to acquire interests in exploration properties or technologies, plans to drill or drilling results to fail to materialize, including, but not limited to: competition for new acquisitions; availability of capital; unfavorable geologic conditions; prevailing prices for oil, natural gas and other natural resources; and general regional economic conditions.
For More Information, Please Contact:
Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc.
212-286-9197
info@terrainsight.com
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Brisbane charity rescues trafficked children in Cambodia
David Barbeler
A BRISBANE-based organisation that rescues child sex workers in southeast Asia has cracked its first Cambodian syndicate, saving two girls, 10 and 14.
The rescue was carried out by the Brisbane-based charity The Grey Man, comprising former Australian special forces soldiers, former police and civilians.
A spokesman said the group's director of operations - a former Sydney policeman who uses only the name Tony to protect his identity - was in Cambodia on a fact-finding tour when a motorbike driver offered to arrange some young girls for him.
"Tony contacted our partner agency International Justice Mission (IJM) who in turn engaged with the police," the spokesman said.
The motorbike driver took Tony to a hotel late on Monday where a pimp showed him two Vietnamese girls, aged 10 and 14, the spokesman said.
"He (Tony) asked for both girls and on the pretext of going to an ATM to get the $US600 ($A665) to pay for them, he briefed police," he said.
Police and an IJM investigator then accompanied The Grey Man director back to the room to arrest the pimp and the motorbike driver.
The girls, who'd been trafficked from Vietnam, have been placed in the care of a British aid agency. The Grey Man will assist in supporting the children.
It's understood The Grey Man representatives are working with Cambodian police to arrest others involved.
The Grey Man's president, a former special forces soldier who uses the pseudonym John Curtis, said it was the organisation's first official operation in Cambodia, having previously rescued more than 100 children and women in Thailand and Laos.
"Without our intervention these girls would have been tossed onto the street in a few short years with AIDS," he said.
"I commend the Cambodian Police and IJM for their assistance.
"It is particularly apt that on Australia Day, Australians from The Grey Man charity are putting themselves in harm's way to rescue children in southeast Asia."
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GMS cooperation brings freer flows of people, goods
Almost every day from early in the morning until dusk, Buenan, a 41-year-old migrant from Cambodia, moves around his food peddling cart in the small seaport of Trat on the eastern coastal area of Thailand’s Trat province, which borders with Cambodia’s Koh Kong province.
The small seaport, which stands as a gateway for cross-border trading between Cambodia and Thailand, has for almost two years been a trading site for Buenan, who sells various kinds of snacks mostly to workers in the seaport.
“I come from a small village in Koh Kong province, Cambodia. Now it’s easier for us to cross the border. I use a seasonal identity card for the border crossing, which we can get from the gubernatorial office in Koh Kong. The others just use the normal passports and cross the border conveniently,” he said.
He was speaking to The Jakarta Post through an interpreter, when a number of ASEAN journalists visited several development projects under the Greater Mekong Sub-region cooperation program (GMS) on the invitation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) late last year.
Yem Yan, a Cambodian immigration officer at the Cham Yeam International border checkpoint on the Cambodia’s Koh Kong/Thailand Trat border, said that cross border travel through the checkpoint has increased. “It is partly because of less bureaucracy and partly because of the improving infrastructure on the border areas,” he said.
He said that on the side of Koh Kong there had been thousands of people like Buenan applying for the seasonal passports in order for them to cross the border and work in the informal sector, as house maids and construction workers, or to do small businesses like food sales.
“I decided to do this job after I saw that many Cambodian people succeed in doing this. Now I’ve found it better than doing farming in my home village,” Buenan added.
The combination of improving management of cross-border travel and increasing economic development under the GMS cooperation program have significantly contributed to the freer flow of people and goods and to the sharing of resources, which is key to the industrial development and modernization of the sub-region.
This was contrary to the strained relations between the GMS states and very limited intra-trade and economic cooperation at the beginning of the program in 1992.
With improving conditions, people like Buenan have had a better chance to improve their livelihoods outside of their hometowns or even outside of their countries within the sub-region, which comprises the six countries of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, as well the Yunnan province of China, all linked by the Mekong River.
Initiated by ADB, the six countries set up the GMS cooperation program in 1992 to enable them to work more closely together to reduce poverty, and promote integration and economic cooperation.
Due to improving relations and increasing economic growth, people like Buenan were facilitated by this sub-regional cooperation to lift themselves out of the poverty trap.
Based on data from ADB, 10 years after the GMS cooperation program started, the proportion of people living on less than US$1 a day fell from 52.7 percent to 28.8 percent in Laos, 50.7 percent to 9.7 in Vietnam, 46 to 33 percent in Cambodia, and 10.1 percent to less than one percent in Thailand.
This trend is expected to continue as member countries committed themselves to improving their economic cooperation.
During the first GMS Summit in November 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the six leaders of the sub-region stated in their joint declaration: “Our most important achievement has been the growing trust and confidence among our countries, which has provided a favorable environment for trade and investment, economic growth, and social well-being.”
Eric Sidgwick, the senior country economist of ADB in Cambodia, said that such sub-regional integration and cooperation had helped lead the transition from subsistence farming to more diversified economies, and from command economies to more open and market-based economies, particularly for the state-centralized systems in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The GMS covers an area of 2.6 million square kilometers, the size of Western Europe, with a population of about 325 million, including the Yunnan province of China. This is a large potential market, with abundant but un-exploited natural resources.
The sub-region has attracted international interest, especially from international agencies like ADB, and the World Bank which provide loans and assistance to develop infrastructure and encourage private firms to invest and expand trade.
But Eric noted that human resource development had been slow to catch up with the pace of economic development.
Despite the efforts of GMS governments to improve their human resources and the help of international agencies like ADB and the World Bank, the quality of human resources in the sub-region is still lower than hoped for.
This is shown by the relatively low literacy rate in the sub-region. “In Cambodia the national literacy rate reached up to 75 percent, but in some areas like the Koh Kong province bordering Thailand’s Trat province the literacy rate is even lower than that,” he told visiting journalists in Koh Kong town.
“Without the quality of human resources, people in the sub-region cannot benefit to the maximum from rising economic development. This is a challenge for governments in the sub-region if they are serious in realizing the social well-being of their people,” he said.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
Need of Haitian orphans almost incalculable: Jolie
Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie who has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world feels the needs of Haitian orphans devastated by a quake are “almost incalculable“. File Photo: AP
The 34-year-old beauty, a UN Goodwill Ambassador said before the Caribbean nation’s cataclysm, SOS Villages had been raising more than 300 orphaned or abandoned children and cared for 4000-plus poverty-stricken kids and families in Haiti, US magazine reported.
“That was before the earthquake, now the needs for orphaned children are almost incalculable,” Jolie said in a statement.
The ‘Original Sin’ star insists the organisation has been working nonstop in Haiti to find shelter, food, medicine, trauma counselling and more for children and families.
“As a long time supporter of SOS, I have visited many of these unique villages personally. I can vouch for their commitment and care for the children. As the Haiti situation unfolds, and we all focus in on ways to help these desperate children -- I ask you to please learn more about and consider supporting SOS Children’s Villages,” Jolie added.
Group: Cambodia should shut drug detention centers
By MARGIE MASON AP Medical Writer
An international human rights group called on the Cambodian government Monday to shut down its drug detention centers alleging abuses such as torture and rape, as well as the lockup of children and the mentally ill.
In a 93-page report, New York-based Human Rights Watch detailed examples of detainees being beaten with electric wire, raped by drug center staff, shocked with electric batons and coerced into giving blood. Some Cambodian families paid to send their relatives to the locked-down centers, where detainees undergo military-style drills to sweat out the drugs in their systems to "cure" their addiction, the report said.
According to government data, more than 2,300 people were detained in Cambodia's 11 drug detention centers in 2008, a 40 percent increase from a year earlier.
"The bottom line really is that these centers operate outside any judicial oversight and outside of any monitoring," said Joe Amon, director of Human Rights Watch's health and human rights division in the Thai capital, Bangkok. "We're sending a message that these centers need to be shut down."
Cambodian Brig. Gen. Roth Srieng, commander of the military police in Banteay Meanchy province, denied torture at his center but said some detainees were forced to stand in the sun or "walk like monkeys" as punishment for attempting to escape.
Cambodian officials from the National Authority for Combatting Drugs, Interior Ministry, National Police and Social Welfare Ministry declined to comment.
Amon said the centers that operate in several Asian countries do nothing to help detainees overcome drug addictions and the relapse rate upon release remains high.
About one-fourth of those detained at Cambodia's centers in 2008 were 18 years or younger, with 5 percent classified as "street children," according to government data.
These children - some as young as 10 - along with prostitutes, beggars, the homeless and the mentally ill, are often rounded up and taken to drug centers, the Human Rights Watch report said. Most detainees were not told why they were being held or given access to a lawyer, it said.
The report also said police demanded money or sex for release in some cases, and told some detainees they could leave early or would not be beaten if they donated blood.
The report relied on interviews from February to July 2009 with 74 informants, most of whom were drug addicts who had been through treatment in government centers.
The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture was made aware of the allegations in 2008 and has addressed them in a report to Cambodia's government that will be published soon, said Claudia de la Fuente, an official with the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
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Travel by Bamboo Trains in Cambodia – True Ingenuity!
By Stacey Irwin
In Cambodia, a country destroyed by years of civil war and the Khmer Rouge reign, transportation is a struggle. The French colonists created an intricate system of railroad lines to connect the plantations with their lucrative coffee and bananas to marketplaces. But these lines and trains fell to waste after the Khmer Rouge banned the “ordinary” people from using them. Now trains run infrequently in between the villages and the trips are long as break-downs and derailments are common. The Cambodian Government promise an upgrade to the system but little has been done. So, Cambodian villagers long ago took matters into their own hands and built the Bamboo Train.
Their choice of materials is an unusual combination of the strong and abundant bamboo that surrounds them and parts from abandoned military tanks. Described as a “bamboo slab on wheels,” these trains sprung up in the late 70s where they were controlled by a series of levers and hand-cast controls. They have since upgraded to wooden footbrakes and small motors that poured into the country, courtesy of the United Nations relief effort in the 1980s.
Simplicity is key for this train system. They use the existing railroad tracks and spurs to travel. When they meet another bamboo train on the tracks, whoever has the least passengers merely lifts their train off the track to let the other one by. They keep a sharp ear out for the infrequent freight trains that come through and when they reach their destination, they simply pick the train up and turn it around to head back.
These bamboo trains, or “Norries” as they are called by locals, provide a link between villages, a way to get produce and animals to the market, a way to get lumber to building sites and a means of income for many as rich tourists pay up to $2/day to ride them. In Cambodia, that can equal two months wages to most citizens. A local village has even turned into a “little Detroit” and builds up to 10 trains a month for sale and use. Not only are they building them, but they want to make them more beautiful to help encourage the tourists to ride them.
Necessity is the mother of invention and in a country that desperately needs (and wants) to rebuild itself, these bamboo trains are an ingenious solution.
Justine Henin's path back to tennis
By JOCELYN GECKER
Associated Press Sports
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -Justine Henin's travels through Congo and Cambodia didn't begin as a spiritual journey but ultimately set her on the path back to tennis.
Now that she has returned, Henin says she recalls images of those travels daily: the African baby who took her hand and wouldn't let go, the Congolese girl who pleaded, "Take me back with you to Belgium," the children who delighted at seeing their faces in her digital camera.
At 27, Henin speaks of her life as having a before and an after.
Her "first career" was what came before May 2008, when the seven-time Grand Slam winner jolted the tennis world by retiring while ranked No. 1.
And there's her "second career," which is off to a stunning start.
Henin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, her second tournament out of retirement. She mesmerized the crowds with her sublime one-handed backhand - which John McEnroe has ranked among the best shots in the game - her amazing speed and endless determination.
There is little doubt, that she has a renewed passion for the sport, which she started as a child prodigy but was slowly suffocating her.
"I had so much inside me that I couldn't express because there was my tennis, and it took everything. It took everything out of me. I didn't know myself enough anymore," Henin said in an interview Monday on the eve of her quarterfinal against Russia's Nadia Petrova.
"I'm so happy that I stopped playing tennis two years ago," Henin said. "For me, these two years were the richest years in my existence, because I think it marked my passage to adulthood."
Indeed, Henin has changed and matured. She was always introspective and spoke from her heart but was also guarded and tense. She once described herself as "the oldest 24-year-old on the planet."
"Now I feel like a young 27," said Henin, who now offers eloquent self-analysis and is much quicker to smile.
Seated in the player's lounge at Melbourne Park, Henin spoke passionately in her native French about her work abroad as a UNICEF ambassador and other projects at home that included a reality TV show called, "The 12 Labors of Justine Henin," in which she undertook a different challenge for each episode.
"What interested me was the aspect of the challenge," she said. "It was to do things, nobody thought I could do. I did comedy, I sang, I played football with star Belgian football players."
"It's a paradox. I'm very timid and very reserved, but I chose a career that puts me in the spotlight," she laughed. "So there must be a part of me that needs that. It's about finding equilibrium."
Henin spent a week in war-ravaged eastern Congo last January with UNICEF and a week in rural Cambodia in August for a vaccination campaign for mothers and babies.
In Congo, she showered with cold water and had to abide by a 10 p.m. curfew for security reasons.
Nobody knew her there, and she loved the anonymity.
She visited camps where child soldiers waited to find their families, she observed treatment of malnourished children and met victims of violent rape. She was startled to see the shattered lives of 28,000 people in a refugee camp where "the hygiene was catastrophic."
"One day I was in the car driving back to the hotel and I missed home very much. I felt like I was on another planet, and I sat there crying," Henin said. "It was the strongest thing I have ever lived, this encounter with misery and difficulty but also with dignity - because these people remained so dignified. The children were still smiling. The women were so courageous."
"I don't think I ever experienced anything more important, anything that marked me like that in the past," she added. "And it allowed me to get my feet back on the ground, to confront very difficult, very complicated things."
Henin lost her mother to cancer at the age of 12. She dedicated her first French Open title in 2003 to her mother, who had brought a 10-year-old Justine to Roland Garros to watch a tennis match in person for the first time.
She went on to win the French Open three more times, the U.S. Open twice and the Australian Open in 2004. But she endured injuries and, in 2007, the end of her five-year marriage. After years of being estranged from her father and siblings, she reunited with her family in 2008.
When Henin quit tennis, it was a clean break. She says she didn't pick up a racket for more than a year and didn't watch any tennis on TV for months.
Slowly, the spark returned. She realized she missed tennis and competing and that happiness could coexist with tennis.
She has said she was inspired by Roger Federer's triumph at last year's French Open. Like Henin, the Swiss star needed one more title to complete his Grand Slam collection. In Henin's case, it is Wimbledon.
"Of course, it would be a dream come true to win all the Grand Slams," said Henin, who has demonstrated new aggressiveness at the net that she says is what she needs to improve her game on grass. "But I'm just going step by step, it's still early."
She was also inspired by the comeback of fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, who returned after two years off to get married and have a baby and won last year's U.S. Open.
Clijsters was upset in the third round in Melbourne by Petrova, who will now face Henin in the quarterfinals.
Petrova and many other players have applauded Henin's return, saying she and Clijsters have reinvigorated women's tennis.
"She was too young to retire," said Petrova. "She realized there is still a lot of unfinished business."
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