Filling of Boeung Kak lake halted

THURSDAY, 26 AUGUST 2010 15:03
CHHAY CHANNYDA
PHNOMPENHPOST

Photo by: Uy Nousereimony Lakeside residents hold photos of Prime Minister Hun Sen, his wife, Bun Rany, and Senate President Chea Sim yesterday.

RESIDENTS of the city’s Boeung Kak lakeside said yesterday that city authorities had promised a temporary halt to the filling of the lake after parts of Srah Chak commune experienced chronic flooding.

According to lakeside representatives, Daun Penh deputy district governor Sok Penh Vuth made the announcement during an impromptu meeting yesterday after about 100 residents gathered in front of City Hall to protest the filling of the lake by a local developer.

Ly Mom, a representative for the lakeside community, said yesterday that “we are happy to hear that they have suspended operations to fill in the lake”.

But she said authorities should pay closer attention to the lakeside drainage situation so that villagers do not have to protest in order to express concerns.

“We still want to meet with [Phnom Penh Governor] Kep Chuktema because our houses are flooded, and we want to ask him when the city will issue land titles for residents,” she said.

Residents blame the flooding on a 133-hectare housing and commerical project planned for the site, which is being developed by Shukaku Inc, headed by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin.

Housing rights groups, which estimate that more than 4,000 families will be displaced by the project, said last week that the floods had prompted about 70 families to leave the lakeside, each accepting US$8,500 in compensation.

Ly Mom said that numerous lakeside children “have been getting sick” because of the flooding and “many of them have rashes on their skin”.

Ten-year-old Kim Chanrady, who held a photograph of Prime Minister Hun Sen at yesterday’s protest, said: “I beg Samdech Hun Sen to help me and my neighbours because we are living in disgusting floodwater.

“I am afraid of insects biting me, or that I might drown or be electrocuted because of loose wiring.”

Chhay Thirith, Srah Chak commune chief, said yesterday that Kep Chuktema had asked the company to temporaritly stop pumping sand into the lake.

“We have intervened to halt the filling, but still the villagers protested,” he said. Kep Chuktema could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Villagers decry missed meet

THURSDAY, 26 AUGUST 2010 15:04
MAY TITTHARA
PHNOMPENHPOST

Photo by: Photo Supplied Police and a Phnom Penh Sugar Company representative look on as villagers from Omlaing commune in Kampong Speu province protest outside the commune office yesterday.

AROUND 300 Kampong Speu farmers involved in a land dispute with a sugar company owned by Cambodian People’s Party senator Ly Yong Phat protested yesterday after a company representative allegedly broke a promise to attend a meeting aimed at resolving the conflict.

On Monday, villagers from Omlaing commune, in Thpong district, blocked National Road 52 in a bid to prevent Phnom Penh Sugar Company workers from clearing their farmland.

Villagers said that after they blocked the road, company representative Chheng Kimsruon agreed to a meeting at the Omlaing commune office, saying she would be “killed by a lightning strike” if she did not attend.

Phal Vanank, a local representative, said the company’s promises were just a ruse to get the villagers to clear the road.

“Everything that company has promised before is a lie, even though under the rain she dared to swear to villagers that she would die if she did not come to the meeting,” he said.

A total of 11 villages in Omlaing commune – home to more than 2,000 families – have been impacted by a 9,000-hectare concession granted to the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, which lies adjacent to a 10,000-hectare concession registered in the name of Ly Yong Phat’s wife, Kim Heang.

Eang Chiva, a villager who joined yesterday’s protest, said that the community planned to block the road in front of the company’s office and burn a photo of Chhen Kimsruon in front of a statue of Yeay Mao, a local spirit, on the highway close to Pich Nil mountain.

“Villagers were cheated by the company again and again,” he said.

When contacted yesterday, Chheang Kimsruon said she was not aware of the meeting, and had thought villagers were meeting with district authorities. “I am bored with the villagers who are against the company,” she said. “We bought the land legally from villagers and have land titles.”

She said that this year, the company planned to plant 1,000 hectares of sugarcane, with 3,000 more to follow in 2011.

Ouch Leng, a land program officer for the rights group Adhoc, said the company clearly had “no willingness” to find a resolution for local villagers, and enjoyed the backing of the local authorities. Thpong district governor Tuon Song declined to comment.

“Kuor Ruom Knea Doeumbei Cheath! ” a Poem in Khmer by Sam Vichea

Banana Kingdoom: Be warned, laugh at your own risk!

The humor-king: aka Norodom Sihanouk

The bodyguard-comedian: Neay Krem (right standing next to Neay Koy) is on the payroll of Hun Xen's bodyguard (B-70) unit.

The Cartoonist: Cartoon by Sacrava published by the Phnom Penh Post in 1998

Comedians do not dispense humor freely

18 August 2010
By Kang Kallyan, Emile Boulenger and Adrien Le Gal
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Jean Sanculnitête

Cartoonist Ung Bun Heang, who is now settled in Australia, finds himself being a “black sheep” as well because of his ferocious anti-government cartoons published on the opposition website KI-Media under the penname of Sacrava. Political cartoonist under the Khmer Republic, he described the latter as being a period of freedom of expression whereby no cartoonists were ever sent to court. To Ung Bun Heang, the absence of political cartoons in the news media published in Cambodia is a missing culture: “Cambodians love to laugh, even when they endure a hard life,” he claimed. “They appreciate cartoons, it’s the government that does not want to see them. If I were to publish my cartoons in the country, I am 1,000% certain that I would be sued for defamation.” His unflattering cartoons of Hun Xen – always wearing an eye patch – or that of the king leave him very little hope of returning back to Cambodia.

Skits, jokes, mimes … Humorists and cartoonists only have to dig into their repertoire to make Cambodian people laugh. But, when it involves politics, humor quickly turns into a double edge sword.

“It’s the story of a pretty girl…” Pok Thareth, aka Loa Sy [screw] his acting name, follows the gaze of an imaginary damsel and he knocked his face into a door. “That’s a skit that always works,” he joked. “But, there is no magic formula for humor … what matters most of all is talent. There’s this joke that works well: it’s about a Vietnamese woman who squeezes herself next to the driver at the front of the truck, and she placed her legs on each side of the hand brake … When she arrives at her destination, she refuses to pay because her thighs are bruised!”