The Cambodia Daily Newspaper on Tuesday, June 2, 2009.
Police in Phnom Penh on Sunday arrested seven men and confiscated five AK-47s that were allegedly used in a series of armed robberies across four provinces, Meanchey District Governor Kuch Chamroeun said. Police are still looking for additional suspects in the robberies, which investigators says spread over Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Kandal and Takeo provinces, Mr Chamroeun said. Police arrested three men in Meanchey district, two in Tuol Kok district and two in Dangkao district, he said. Police also discovered that the alleged thieves kept a large cache of arms and ammunition hidden on the outskirts of the capital in Dangkao district's Prey Sar commune. "This is the first case where we cracked down on the big nest [of suspects] in Meanchey district, thanks to the cooperation of the good people in the district who reported information about the suspects," Mr Chamroeun said. The seven men are being held at his district's police headquaters for questioning, he added.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Corruption Costing Up to $500 Million a Year, Official Says
According to The Cambodia Daily Newspaper, Volume 42, Issue 55: On Tuesday, June 2, 2009.
Corruption costs Cambodia as much as $500 million each year in lost revenue, US Ambassador Carol Rodley said during a speech at an anti-corruption concert on Saturday at Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium.
In her speech, the ambassador pushed for the Cambodian government to pass long-delayed anti-corruption legislation, which first reached the National Assembly in 1994. She said that such a law could only help the country survive the global economic crisis. "Countries that govern justly and democratically and are actively conbating corruption will feel fewer effects of the global recession and will recover and return to prosperity more quicky," Ms Rodley said, according to a transcript of the speech obtained Monday.
"I urge the Cambodian government to deliver on its promise to enact the anti-corruption law," she continued. The ambassador compared the money lost from government coffers to cash that could have been spent on public services. "Five hundred million is equivalent to the cost of constructing 20,000 six-room school buildings or the ability to pay every civil servant in Cambodian an additional $260 per month," she said.
Although Ms Rodley did not give a source for the $500 million figure, she said that information was derived from "verious studies". Embassy spokesman John Johnson said by e-mail Monday that the US Embassy had no further comment about the speech. However, he confirmed that the $500 million figure was derived from a 2004 study prepared by the US Agency for International Development. That study attributed an estimated loss of between $300 million and $500 million from the public purse to information obtained from unnamed informants.
Saturday's "clean hand" concert, which featured music, comedy and a fashion show, was organized by the NGO Pact Cambodia. Don Bowser, chief of staff for Pact's Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity project, said Monday that "we don't have any hardcore scientific data" on public losses from corruption. He added that Pact would soon be conducting a study in which members of focus groups would be asked how much they normally pay in bribes, to whom and how often.
He added that the government is obligated to pass anti-corruption legislation as soon as possible. "They've committed many, many times that they would pass this legislation," Mr Bowser said. "We're pushing for it, but there haven't been any hopeful signs." Earlier this month, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap defended the delay of the anti-graft law as necessary because of concerns brought up by NGOs and international organizations. "It has been pushed back and forth," he said.
The lawmaker added that people would find loopholes in any anti-corruption legislation by simply dividing up assets among their children. At the time, Som Kimsour, Minister of National Assembly-Senate Relation and Inspections, said that the long-awaited law had been drafted, but was awaiting passage of a new penal code before it could be completed.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan declined to comment on either law's progress Monday, and refered questions to Om Yentieng, president of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee. Mr Yentieng could not be reached for comment Monday.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Corruption costs Cambodia as much as $500 million each year in lost revenue, US Ambassador Carol Rodley said during a speech at an anti-corruption concert on Saturday at Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium.
In her speech, the ambassador pushed for the Cambodian government to pass long-delayed anti-corruption legislation, which first reached the National Assembly in 1994. She said that such a law could only help the country survive the global economic crisis. "Countries that govern justly and democratically and are actively conbating corruption will feel fewer effects of the global recession and will recover and return to prosperity more quicky," Ms Rodley said, according to a transcript of the speech obtained Monday.
"I urge the Cambodian government to deliver on its promise to enact the anti-corruption law," she continued. The ambassador compared the money lost from government coffers to cash that could have been spent on public services. "Five hundred million is equivalent to the cost of constructing 20,000 six-room school buildings or the ability to pay every civil servant in Cambodian an additional $260 per month," she said.
Although Ms Rodley did not give a source for the $500 million figure, she said that information was derived from "verious studies". Embassy spokesman John Johnson said by e-mail Monday that the US Embassy had no further comment about the speech. However, he confirmed that the $500 million figure was derived from a 2004 study prepared by the US Agency for International Development. That study attributed an estimated loss of between $300 million and $500 million from the public purse to information obtained from unnamed informants.
Saturday's "clean hand" concert, which featured music, comedy and a fashion show, was organized by the NGO Pact Cambodia. Don Bowser, chief of staff for Pact's Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity project, said Monday that "we don't have any hardcore scientific data" on public losses from corruption. He added that Pact would soon be conducting a study in which members of focus groups would be asked how much they normally pay in bribes, to whom and how often.
He added that the government is obligated to pass anti-corruption legislation as soon as possible. "They've committed many, many times that they would pass this legislation," Mr Bowser said. "We're pushing for it, but there haven't been any hopeful signs." Earlier this month, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap defended the delay of the anti-graft law as necessary because of concerns brought up by NGOs and international organizations. "It has been pushed back and forth," he said.
The lawmaker added that people would find loopholes in any anti-corruption legislation by simply dividing up assets among their children. At the time, Som Kimsour, Minister of National Assembly-Senate Relation and Inspections, said that the long-awaited law had been drafted, but was awaiting passage of a new penal code before it could be completed.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan declined to comment on either law's progress Monday, and refered questions to Om Yentieng, president of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee. Mr Yentieng could not be reached for comment Monday.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Briefing: New Municipal Council Sworn In Over Weekend
According to The Cambodia Daily Newspaper, Volume 42, Issue 54, On Monday June 01, 2009.
Members of the newly established Phnom Penh municipal council were sworn in Saturday by Interior Minister Sar Kheng, the council's president said Sunday. Map Sarin, deputy governor of the capital and president of the first-ever council, said the 21-member body was selected after the May 17 municipal, district and provincial elections, which were dominated by the CPP. For the Phnom Penh municipal council, the ruling party holds two-thirds of the seats while the SRP counts the rest. Councilors will serve five-year terms and meet at least 12 times a year. Mr Sarin said the councilors' task would be dealing with legislative and executive functions though he did not elaborate further. Many have questioned the worth of the councils, anying their roles are ill-defined and powers too restricted. "As I said again and again, the election was not free and fair," said SRP spokesman Yim Sovann.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Members of the newly established Phnom Penh municipal council were sworn in Saturday by Interior Minister Sar Kheng, the council's president said Sunday. Map Sarin, deputy governor of the capital and president of the first-ever council, said the 21-member body was selected after the May 17 municipal, district and provincial elections, which were dominated by the CPP. For the Phnom Penh municipal council, the ruling party holds two-thirds of the seats while the SRP counts the rest. Councilors will serve five-year terms and meet at least 12 times a year. Mr Sarin said the councilors' task would be dealing with legislative and executive functions though he did not elaborate further. Many have questioned the worth of the councils, anying their roles are ill-defined and powers too restricted. "As I said again and again, the election was not free and fair," said SRP spokesman Yim Sovann.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
National Briefs: Hungary Agrees To Forgive Half of Cambodia's Debt
According to The Cambodia Daily Newspaper, Volume 42, Issue 54, On Monday June 01, 2009.
Cambodia and Hungary have signed an agreement to forgive half of Cambodia's outstanding debt to the Eastern European state and to use the remaining half to fund the expansion of an orphanage in Kandal province, Hungary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last week. Under the agreement, Cambodia will pay back half of the debt of $433,000, which stems from the communist era of 1979 to 1990, and Hungary will use that money to support an orphanage that it helped build in the 1980s, the ministry announced on its website. Hungarian representative Laszlo Varkonyi and Cambodian Finance Ministry Secretary of State Ouk Rabun and Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Sun Saphoeun signed the agreement on the sidelines of the 17th Asean-EU ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh last week. In early March, a visiting Hungarian delegation said that after the debt issue was resolved, Hungary would provide more than $50 million in soft loans to Cambodia to help develop areas such as agriculture, irrigation and fisheries.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Cambodia and Hungary have signed an agreement to forgive half of Cambodia's outstanding debt to the Eastern European state and to use the remaining half to fund the expansion of an orphanage in Kandal province, Hungary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last week. Under the agreement, Cambodia will pay back half of the debt of $433,000, which stems from the communist era of 1979 to 1990, and Hungary will use that money to support an orphanage that it helped build in the 1980s, the ministry announced on its website. Hungarian representative Laszlo Varkonyi and Cambodian Finance Ministry Secretary of State Ouk Rabun and Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Sun Saphoeun signed the agreement on the sidelines of the 17th Asean-EU ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh last week. In early March, a visiting Hungarian delegation said that after the debt issue was resolved, Hungary would provide more than $50 million in soft loans to Cambodia to help develop areas such as agriculture, irrigation and fisheries.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
National Briefs: Border Checkpoint Gets Upgrade To Facilitate Trade
According to The Cambodia Daily Newspaper, Volume 42, Issue 54 on Monday June 01, 2009.
An upgraded border checkpoint and 13 new border markers were inaugurated along the Cambodia-Vietnamese border in Kampot province Friday, Province Governor Khoy Khun Hour said Sunday. The governor said facilities at the border crossing in Kompong Trach district's Prek Kroes commune had been improved in order to facilitate trade at the crossing, which consists mainly of agricultural goods. The upgraded Ton Hon checkpoint--one of five border crossing between Kampot province and Vietnam--would "be very beneficial for Cambodia to facilitate tourists, goods and people seeking medical treatment in Vietnam," Mr Khun Hour said. He added that between 200,000 and 300,000 tons of paddy rice passes through the checkpoint each week during the rice-harvesting season, which lasts from December to April. Mr Khun Hour added that in the near future, 11 more border markers would be placed on the border between his province and Kieng Giang province in Vietnam.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
An upgraded border checkpoint and 13 new border markers were inaugurated along the Cambodia-Vietnamese border in Kampot province Friday, Province Governor Khoy Khun Hour said Sunday. The governor said facilities at the border crossing in Kompong Trach district's Prek Kroes commune had been improved in order to facilitate trade at the crossing, which consists mainly of agricultural goods. The upgraded Ton Hon checkpoint--one of five border crossing between Kampot province and Vietnam--would "be very beneficial for Cambodia to facilitate tourists, goods and people seeking medical treatment in Vietnam," Mr Khun Hour said. He added that between 200,000 and 300,000 tons of paddy rice passes through the checkpoint each week during the rice-harvesting season, which lasts from December to April. Mr Khun Hour added that in the near future, 11 more border markers would be placed on the border between his province and Kieng Giang province in Vietnam.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Council of Ministers Approves $2.8-Billion Spending Plan
According to The Cambodia Daily Newspaper, Volume 42, Issue 54 on Monday June 01, 2009.
Council of Ministers on Friday approved a three-year plan to spend $2.8 billion on public infrastructure projects from 2010 through 2012. According to a Friday statement from the council, the Ministry of Planning anticipates that $2.8 million will be required for 536 projects across the country. The new three year plan is part of the broader national development planning strategy 2006 to 2010, which was approved by the National Assembly in May 2006.
According to the statement, 233 of the proposed 536 projects are already under way, and 303 of the infrastructure projects are considered to be priority developments. Minister of Planning Chhay Than said that the planned budget expenditures are aimed at generally improve Cambodia's infrastructure, with a focus on irrigation systems to boost agricultural production.
The list of planned projects also includes the construction of major roadways, hospitals and schools, Mr Than said by telephone. Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said that $2.8 billion only represents an expenditure forecast and the actual amount spent over the next three years may change. He added that, as of now, all of the projects will be paid for by the government and there are no donor pledges regarding the projects at present.
The minister of planning, however, said that budgetary constraints make it unlikely that the government can foot the entire bill for the projects, and therefore the state will need to seek partners in the private sector to bring the plans to fruition. "As I have told the cabinet, since we don't have enough money, then we need participation from the private sector," Mr Than said.
The entire state budget approved for 2009 totals approximately $1.9 billion, meaning that each year the proposed infrastructure projects would consume the equivalent of about half of the current national budget. SRP lawmaker and party spokesman Yim Sovann welcomed the budget proposal, which he deemed as necessary for development, but expressed concerns over corruption. "All projects must have a bidding process. So far there are projects that didn't have bidding process," Mr Sovann said. "The government must use the budget to be effective."
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Council of Ministers on Friday approved a three-year plan to spend $2.8 billion on public infrastructure projects from 2010 through 2012. According to a Friday statement from the council, the Ministry of Planning anticipates that $2.8 million will be required for 536 projects across the country. The new three year plan is part of the broader national development planning strategy 2006 to 2010, which was approved by the National Assembly in May 2006.
According to the statement, 233 of the proposed 536 projects are already under way, and 303 of the infrastructure projects are considered to be priority developments. Minister of Planning Chhay Than said that the planned budget expenditures are aimed at generally improve Cambodia's infrastructure, with a focus on irrigation systems to boost agricultural production.
The list of planned projects also includes the construction of major roadways, hospitals and schools, Mr Than said by telephone. Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said that $2.8 billion only represents an expenditure forecast and the actual amount spent over the next three years may change. He added that, as of now, all of the projects will be paid for by the government and there are no donor pledges regarding the projects at present.
The minister of planning, however, said that budgetary constraints make it unlikely that the government can foot the entire bill for the projects, and therefore the state will need to seek partners in the private sector to bring the plans to fruition. "As I have told the cabinet, since we don't have enough money, then we need participation from the private sector," Mr Than said.
The entire state budget approved for 2009 totals approximately $1.9 billion, meaning that each year the proposed infrastructure projects would consume the equivalent of about half of the current national budget. SRP lawmaker and party spokesman Yim Sovann welcomed the budget proposal, which he deemed as necessary for development, but expressed concerns over corruption. "All projects must have a bidding process. So far there are projects that didn't have bidding process," Mr Sovann said. "The government must use the budget to be effective."
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Japan Agency To Design 3rd Bridge Across Mekong
According to The Cambodia Daily Newspaper, Volume 42, Issue 54 on Mondy June 01, 2009.
The government on Friday signed an agreement to have the Japan International Cooperaton Agency design a new bridge that would cross the Mekong River between Prey Veng and Kandal provinces, officials said Sunday. Construction could begin early next year, said Suon Rachana, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.
The bridge would only be the third in Cambodia to cross the Mekong River, after the completion of a bridge within Kandal province's Khsach Kandal district, which is split by the waterway, according to Touch Chankosal, secretary of state for the Public Works Ministry. The only existing bridge spanning the river is the Kizuna Bridge in Kompong Cham province.
The proposed bridge will be along National Road 1 and would link Kandal province's Loeuk Dek district to Peamro district's Neak Loeung commune in Prey Veng province, said Mr Chankosal. The area is currently home to one of the country's busiest ferry crossings, which shuttles traffic moving between Phnom Penh and Vietnam on National Road 1.
The bridge itself would be 2,200 meters long and 13.5 meters wide, but would require some 2,800 meters of road to be built, he said, adding that the figures are from a JICA feasibility study begun three years ago. At its apex, the bridge would rise 37.5 meters above the river. "The bridge will be the longest and highest bridge in Cambodia," Mr Chankosal said. The cost of construction is uncertain, but a previous estimate put the price tag at about $70 million, he said.
"We will know details after Japanese technicians finish the study in November," Mr Chankosal said. At that point, the Japanese governement will be approached for money, said Mr Rachana. The memorandum of understanding signed Friday is for JICA--the aid arm of the Japanese government--to study the social and economic benefits of the proposed bridge, and to make a design, he added. "There should be another detailed study before putting the project out to bid in Tokyo," Mr Rachana explained.
The bridge will be about 1 km north of the existing Neak Loeung ferry crossing, he added. Seng Chhuon, director of the Neak Loeung ferry, said he welcomed the new bridge: "we are not concerned with losing jobs," he said, adding that the ferry is state-owned. "We just want to see development for our country...We will move to another area that needs a ferry after the bridge is built". He said more than 10,000 people use the ferry service every day, which operates three boats and has 140 employees. "If the new bridge is built, it will be much more convenient for the surrounding residents to travel back and forth, and we won't have any traffic jams," he said, noting that during the last Khmer New Year, traffic was backed up 3 km at the crossing.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
The government on Friday signed an agreement to have the Japan International Cooperaton Agency design a new bridge that would cross the Mekong River between Prey Veng and Kandal provinces, officials said Sunday. Construction could begin early next year, said Suon Rachana, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.
The bridge would only be the third in Cambodia to cross the Mekong River, after the completion of a bridge within Kandal province's Khsach Kandal district, which is split by the waterway, according to Touch Chankosal, secretary of state for the Public Works Ministry. The only existing bridge spanning the river is the Kizuna Bridge in Kompong Cham province.
The proposed bridge will be along National Road 1 and would link Kandal province's Loeuk Dek district to Peamro district's Neak Loeung commune in Prey Veng province, said Mr Chankosal. The area is currently home to one of the country's busiest ferry crossings, which shuttles traffic moving between Phnom Penh and Vietnam on National Road 1.
The bridge itself would be 2,200 meters long and 13.5 meters wide, but would require some 2,800 meters of road to be built, he said, adding that the figures are from a JICA feasibility study begun three years ago. At its apex, the bridge would rise 37.5 meters above the river. "The bridge will be the longest and highest bridge in Cambodia," Mr Chankosal said. The cost of construction is uncertain, but a previous estimate put the price tag at about $70 million, he said.
"We will know details after Japanese technicians finish the study in November," Mr Chankosal said. At that point, the Japanese governement will be approached for money, said Mr Rachana. The memorandum of understanding signed Friday is for JICA--the aid arm of the Japanese government--to study the social and economic benefits of the proposed bridge, and to make a design, he added. "There should be another detailed study before putting the project out to bid in Tokyo," Mr Rachana explained.
The bridge will be about 1 km north of the existing Neak Loeung ferry crossing, he added. Seng Chhuon, director of the Neak Loeung ferry, said he welcomed the new bridge: "we are not concerned with losing jobs," he said, adding that the ferry is state-owned. "We just want to see development for our country...We will move to another area that needs a ferry after the bridge is built". He said more than 10,000 people use the ferry service every day, which operates three boats and has 140 employees. "If the new bridge is built, it will be much more convenient for the surrounding residents to travel back and forth, and we won't have any traffic jams," he said, noting that during the last Khmer New Year, traffic was backed up 3 km at the crossing.
Republished by CI, Cambodia.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)