Monday, February 12, 2007

Aid donors blast Cambodia corruption

Phnom Penh (dpa) - Donors voiced increasing frustration at the Cambodian government's continued failure to pass an anti-corruption law or act on land grabbing and other related issues at a tense meeting in the capital Monday.

Speaking at the ninth meeting of the Government-Donor Coordination Committee (GDCC), Finance Minister Keat Chhon tried to placate visibly impatient donors by promising a long-promised meeting between them and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An would take place soon.

In-depth discussion of other related topics of major concern to donors and rights groups including land grabbing, land concessions and transparency were also postponed until that promised meeting.

But donors, who said they have heard it all before, told the government in the strongest diplomatic language possible that the time for waiting was over.

The subject was first scheduled for discussion after last October's quarterly GDCC, and the government promised an anti-corruption bill before the National Assembly by the end of the year, but also failed to meet that deadline.

"I have now been asked to inform you about Sok An's intention to schedule this meeting as early as possible... The meeting with Sok An will provide an opportunity for a full discussion on the anti-corruption law," Keat Chhon said, and in doing so removed the subject from the day's discussion.

Donors were not about to let the opportunity drop, however, and in speeches by a number of ambassadors and the UN representative, donor demands for action were clear and to the point.

Douglas Gardner, UN resident coordinator, said Cambodia's economic growth for 2006 was "commendable" at 9.6 per cent, but that this was offset by the "increased inequalities for marginalized groups and the rural poor."

US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said donors demanded answers and firm deadlines on the law.

"On behalf of all development partners, we ask you when will this law be enacted? We affirm our commitment to aggressively support your efforts to fight corruption and improve the lives of all Cambodians," he said.

Canadian Ambassador Donica Pottie said land issues remained of serious concern despite the fact that that law had been enacted, in doing so again echoing donor concerns that the proposed anti-corruption law must have teeth and be seen to work in practice.

"Six years have now passed since the adoption of that law and still not a single indigenous group has been issued with a land title," she said.

The government blamed changes to the penal law for the last delay in the anti-corruption law, which would require an independent body with executive powers be set up to investigate corruption allegations.

Last November, Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) positioned Cambodia at 151 out of 163 countries in its "corruption perceptions index" survey.

The TI study defined corruption as "the abuse of public office for private gain," and Cambodia scored just 2.1 points out of a possible 10. Corruption has been seen as a major stumbling block in the path of the heavily aid-dependant nation's development.

Sunday, ahead of the GDCC meeting, a coalition of non-government organizations issued a statement calling on donors to push the government to act on reform and make it show the political will to honour its promises.

Donors have threatened to withhold aid if the government fails to implement an acceptable anti-corruption law imminently.

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