Assembly Canceling Further R'kiri Timber Orders
By Yun Samean
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
High prices and delays have stopped the National Assembly Construction Committee from ordering more luxury wood from the Agriculture Ministry for the interior of the new Assembly building. From now on, the committee will rely on private suppliers instead committee chairman and CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said Wednesday.
Agriculture Ministry's Forestry Administration has been controversially logging the wood in Ratanakkiri province's O'Chum district for the Assembly building since April.
There were 60 checkpoints to check the timber before it arrived in Phnom Penh. It was very difficult" Cheam Yeap said.
He added that instead of three days travel from Ratanakkiri, luxury wood can be purchased in Phnom Penh and delivered in only one day.
Cheam Yeap also said that the Agriculture Ministry was charging too much for the 2,000 cubic meters of luxury wood and 6,000 cubic meters of ordinary timber required for the building.
The Assembly has already purchased 1,000 cubic meters of wood from Ratanakkiri, but has received only 251 cubic meters so far, he said. Logging in Ratanakkiri, however, will continue until the initial 1,000-cubic-meter order is filled he added.
But Ratanakkiri provincial economic police statistics officer Sear Savuthy said that from April 27 to Oct 29, he has registered 595 cubic meters of luxury timber leaving the province for the Assembly.
He said police had also confiscated an unspecified amount of wood from illegal loggers claiming to work for the project.
Cheam Yeap declined to discuss the differing amounts of timber leaving Ratanakkiri for the Assembly building and Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun could not be contacted.
Forestry Administration Director Ty Sokhun declined to reveal the amount of wood logged so far for the Assembly.
Agriculture Ministry's Forestry Administration has been controversially logging the wood in Ratanakkiri province's O'Chum district for the Assembly building since April.
There were 60 checkpoints to check the timber before it arrived in Phnom Penh. It was very difficult" Cheam Yeap said.
He added that instead of three days travel from Ratanakkiri, luxury wood can be purchased in Phnom Penh and delivered in only one day.
Cheam Yeap also said that the Agriculture Ministry was charging too much for the 2,000 cubic meters of luxury wood and 6,000 cubic meters of ordinary timber required for the building.
The Assembly has already purchased 1,000 cubic meters of wood from Ratanakkiri, but has received only 251 cubic meters so far, he said. Logging in Ratanakkiri, however, will continue until the initial 1,000-cubic-meter order is filled he added.
But Ratanakkiri provincial economic police statistics officer Sear Savuthy said that from April 27 to Oct 29, he has registered 595 cubic meters of luxury timber leaving the province for the Assembly.
He said police had also confiscated an unspecified amount of wood from illegal loggers claiming to work for the project.
Cheam Yeap declined to discuss the differing amounts of timber leaving Ratanakkiri for the Assembly building and Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun could not be contacted.
Forestry Administration Director Ty Sokhun declined to reveal the amount of wood logged so far for the Assembly.
1 comment:
Brilliant.
They never cease to amaze me on how they come up with ideas to share the loot and make them look good as well.
SiS
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