Police intercepted 25 tons of sassafras oil for making ecstasy tablets

By Khmerization
Source: DAP News

Authority pumping sassafras oil from the deck of the truck and (inset) the truck driver.

Pursat provincial police have intercepted a Phnom Penh-bound truck carrying 25 tons of sassasfras oil, an ingredient for making ecstasy tablets, near the Cardamon Mountain ranges in Phnom Krovanh district of Pursat province.

Deum Ampil reported that on the afternoon of Sunday 29th August, police from Pong-ril commune had intercepted a blue truck bearing the number plate C-0233 travelling on Hinghway 56A near Phnom Krovanh district en route to Phnom Penh. A check of the number plate shows that the truck is owned by a man named Khvoeung who live in Doem Chan village in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district. A 26 year-old driver of the truck, Sok Vicheth, was detained on the spot.

Mr. Sin Sophalla, a forestry official from Pursat, told Deum Ampil that the sassafras oil was discovered in a specially-built tanker under the deck. Authority pumped the oil from the specially-built tanker to plastic containers and kept them at the headquarter of Pursat Forestry Department to use as evidence. The truck driver was detained at the place overnight and will be sent to court on Monday, 30th August.

“Pkaay Sam-yong” a Poem in Khmer by Sék Serei

New Effort Brings Latrines to Rural Cambodia

Robert Carmichael, Voice of America
Phnom Penh 30 August 2010

Cordell Jacks, who heads IDE Cambodia's water and sanitation program, stands next to one of the award-winning EZ Latrines that the charity hopes will help improve sanitation in rural Cambodia (Photo: Courtesy: R. Carmichael)

In Cambodia, a new effort is focusing on improving rural sanitation and health by providing toilets to households. A novel way of doing that seems to be paying off, literally.

Latrines – they are humble, necessary, and for the most part lacking in rural Cambodia. Five years ago just one in seven rural Cambodians had access to a toilet.

As in many developing nations, poor sanitation has a cost in Cambodia. In rural communities, where 75 percent of the population lives, most families have no toilets and relieve themselves in fields.

The result is untreated human waste, which can spread disease and death. Poor sanitation is one reason Cambodia has one of the highest child mortality rates in Asia. And, the World Bank says, the lack of toilets costs Cambodia $450 million a year in health care.

Dr Chea Samnang heads the department of rural health at the Ministry of Rural Development. The government wants 30 percent of rural households to have access to a latrine by 2015, and 100 percent by 2025. Dr Chea says that target is currently on track. (Courtesy: R. Carmichael)

Government initiative

Dr. Chea Samnang heads the department of rural health at the Ministry of Rural Development. With the help of international donors, his office aims to provide 30 percent of rural homes, or 720,000 households, with latrines by 2015 – up from half a million now.

The government uses television advertisements and teams of workers sent to villages to explain the benefits of latrines. Chea says the program stresses three areas.

“One is to build toilet and use toilet by their own resources,” Chea said. “Second one is hand-washing with soap after defecation and before eating. And the third message is we talk about the safe drinking water at home, and the safe storage of drinking water at home.”

71 advisers needed to help a brainless CPP NatAss vice-president

Lawmaker employs 71 advisers: SRP

Monday, 30 August 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Nguon Nhel (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

THE opposition Sam Rainsy Party has accused Nguon Nhel, the first deputy president of the National Assembly, of employing 71 advisers, and urged National Assembly President Heng Samrin to investigate this “irregularity”.

In a letter dated Friday, 13 SRP lawmakers alleged thatNguon Nhel’s army of advisers was costing the government 112 million riels (US$26,730) per month, roughly $320,760 annually.

“The Royal Government always discusses the lack of budget for the salaries of civil servants and the armed forces, so we would like Samdech Assembly President to explain the large expenses of His Excellency the deputy president,” the letter said.

Nguon Nhel could not be reached for comment yesterday. However, Cheam Yeap, chief of the National Assembly’s Finance and Banking Committee, defended Nguon Nhel’s need for an armada of aides.

“This serves the interest of the nation and helps [Nguon Nhel] lead the legislature,” Cheam Yeap said. “It allows our leaders to get intelligent and expert advice.”

The allegations come as the government pushes forward with a campaign of self-described public administration reform. According to a September circular from the Council of Ministers, government promotions and salary raises have been suspended for this year on orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The premier also called for the number of contracted and temporary staffers in the government to be halved, though he granted exceptions for the health and education sectors.

In September of last year, an International Monetary Fund mission to Cambodia warned that increased spending and “very large increases in the civil service and military wage bill” were running up the Kingdom’s deficit to unsustainable levels.

“The mission cautioned against allowing significant increases in the wage bill to become entrenched, as this could risk crowding out spending on priority sectors such as health, education, and operations and maintenance,” the IMF said at the time.

ERW casualties cause alarm

MONDAY, 30 AUGUST 2010 15:02
SAM RITH
PHNOMPENHPOST

LAND mine and explosive remnants of war accidents claimed five lives and caused 13 injuries last month, bringing the casualty total for the first seven months of this year to 184, according to new statistics.

That total marks a 7 percent increase over 2009, according to a Cambodian Mine/Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System report released last week.

After about five years of minor fluctuation, Cambodia recorded a 50 percent decrease in casualties in 2006, and the total has declined every year since. Last year, there were 244 casualties.

Chhiv Lim, the CMVIS project manager, yesterday said he was alarmed by the increase in casualties this year, which he described as unexpected.

Some 50 casualties were recorded in May, which was the worst month nationwide in nearly three years.

“We are very surprised because this year we have seen the number of land-mine casualties increase a lot, “ Chhiv Lim said. “We do not yet know the reason why there have been many land-mine casualties this year.”

He said that he intended to form a “working group” next week that would be instructed to “study the issue”.

Of the 18 casualties recorded last month, 16 were male and two were female, according to the CMVIS report.

Five, including one girl, were reportedly children.

There were nine separate incidents, and in each case the relevant area was not marked as contaminated.

Khmer Krom: Group calls for monk’s release

MONDAY, 30 AUGUST 2010 15:02
SEBASTIAN STRANGIO
PHNOMPENHPOST

kHMER kROM

THE Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation has condemned the reported arrest of an ethnic Khmer abbot in southern Vietnam last month, while decrying the treatment of the country’s Khmer minority. According to a statement issued by the organisation on Wednesday, Thach Sophon was arrested by Vietnamese police on July 29, and his current location is unknown.

“This is only one instance of the many human rights violations carried out by the Vietnamese government,” UNPO General Secretary Marino Busdachin was quoted as saying. The statement called on the Vietnamese government to release Thach Sophon and “allow members of the Khmer Krom minority and other ethnic minorities and religious communities to voice their opinions freely”.

In an August 23 statement, the local Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community also slammed the arrest of Thach Sophon, calling for the Cambodian government to intervene on his behalf.

“We would like to appeal to the Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia and both national and international organisations to legally intervene,” it said.

Labour agency investigated

MONDAY, 30 AUGUST 2010 15:02
KIM YUTHANA AND MOM KUNTHEAR
PHNOMPENHPOST

Photo by: Heng Chivoan Kin Ya, 27, speaks to police at a training centre run by APMN, a local labour recruitment firm, in order to secure her release yesterday. The centre was raided after her husband claimed the company was holding her against her will.

POLICE in Phnom Penh raided a labour recruitment training centre yesterday after a man complained that its director had refused to release his wife.

Chamkarmon district police officers dropped in on the training centre run by the firm APMN in the morning, said deputy district police chief Heang Tharet.

“We talked with the company staff about the complaint,” he said. “We told them that we cannot allow the woman to stay in this centre any longer because a man asked us to help his wife get out.”

The complainant, Prom Nai, said his wife, Kin Ya, had started training with the firm in July in the hope of becoming a domestic worker in
Malaysia.

But he said she wanted to quit because she was not permitted to leave the facility. The company, however, refused.

“The centre asked for US$975 from me if I wanted my wife to leave, but I don’t have that much money,” Prom Nai said.

Company officials agreed to a compromise fee of $300 following negotiations yesterday, he said.

Ben Sokpich, the chief of administration at the centre, yesterday confirmed that the company had agreed to accept a fee from the man in exchange for allowing his wife to leave.

“We asked for $975, but we accepted only $300 because we don’t want to have more problems for our centre,” she said.

Ben Sokpich rejected Prom Nai’s claims that workers were barred from leaving the training centre; they are only required to ask permission to leave, she said.

Sunday’s complaint comes as Labour Ministry officials deliberate ways of regulating the rapidly expanding labour recruitment industry, which has seen multiple new firms pop up in the last year in a bid to supply other countries with Cambodian labour.

Authorities have promised stricter rules in response to reports that women have been detained and forced to live in cramped quarters during training programmes.

Meanwhile, the father of a woman who died after falling ill at a centre run by a separate firm said yesterday that he planned to demand $20,000 in compensation, even though he had already agreed to a lesser payment of 1.2 million riels ($235).

Yun Mab died in hospital after she fell ill at a centre run by the firm VC Manpower.

Her father, Ream Vy, said that his daughter had bruises on her neck and face when she died.

However, the company said she died from a previously undiagnosed case of leukemia.

Sen Ly, VC Manpower’s director, could not be reached for comment.

An employee who answered the phone at the training centre yesterday, who declined to provide a name, said the company believed the case had been settled.

Riverside families signing petition

MONDAY, 30 AUGUST 2010 15:01
KHOUTH SOPHAKCHAKRYA
PHNOMPENHPOST

Photo by: Pha Lina Residents of a Russey Keo district community set to be affected by a park project at their floating home yesterday.

MEMBERS of more than 100 families in Russey Keo district that are set to be evicted to make way for a public park have thumbprinted a petition to express their outrage over the project.

Huot Danin, a representative of the families in Klaing Saing village, located in Russey Keo commune, said the petition would be sent to Prime Minister Hun Sen this week.

He said the families had been spurred to protest their pending eviction after Russey Keo commune officials instructed them on Friday to tear down their homes, distributing a notice dated August 23 and signed by Russey Keo district governor Khlaing Huot. The notice states that the families have 10 days from the date of the notice to comply with the eviction order, meaning they face a deadline of September 2.

“The commune ordered us to pull down our homes from 10 days after the day the announcement was signed to make way for the public garden, but they did not tell us where we can live after we pull down our homes,” Huot Danin said.

Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema announced the pending eviction, which local officials have said would affect at least 800 families in three Russey Keo villages, during a speech on August 10.

At the same event, Heu Heng, director of Sokimex Company, said the park would be roughly 250 metres long and 100 metres wide. He said that Sokimex, which has a petroleum depot on National Road 5 near the proposed park, is providing US$700,000 to support the project.

Chan Samang, the chief of Russey Keo commune, said she knew that some families were unhappy with the proposed project, but that most were not displeased.

“All the development always has some effects on some people, but this project will also provide many interests to many people in the affected communities,” she said.

No information regarding relocation or compensation plans has yet been provided.

Koh Kong villagers attempt to block road

MONDAY, 30 AUGUST 2010 15:02
MAY TITTHARA
PHNOMPENHPOST

Photo by: Photo Supplied Villagers involved in a land dispute plead with police in Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel district during a protest on Friday.

VILLAGERS involved in a long-simmering land dispute in Koh Kong province say they will send a new petition to authorities, after four protesters suffered injuries this past weekend while attempting to block a national road.

Ouch Leng, a programme officer for rights group Adhoc, said villagers blocked National Road 48 in Sre Ambel district Friday as part of a demonstration aimed at drawing attention to a dispute that could see 34 families evicted.

But a motorist who was angry with the traffic jam caused by the protest clashed with villagers, resulting in injuries to four of them, Ouch Leng said.
“The car owner tried to crash into the bed that villagers used to block the road,” said Ouch Leng, who described the injuries as “not serious”.

The villagers say they could be on the verge of eviction after a company owned by Koh Kong businessman Heng Huy set today as a deadline for the clearance of roughly 100 hectares of disputed land. The Supreme Court last year ruled that the land belonged to Heng Huy and another businessman.

Pher Nherng, a representative of the villagers, called the protest a “last choice” after Heng Huy began clearing parts of the disputed farmland last week. He said villagers yesterday began preparing a complaint to send to provincial, district and commune officials urging them to stop allowing military police to support Heng Huy. Last week, military police stood by as workers hired by Heng Huy cleared parts of the farmland. Pher Nherng said villagers also want authorities to issue land titles.

Heng Huy yesterday questioned how villagers could be issued land titles.

“How can they issue another land title to villagers if the land is already owned?”

Sre Ambel district governor Tuon Seila said that he would forward the complaint to provincial officials.