Tith Sothea in his "black" jacket (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)Government pooh-poohs poverty stats
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Khouth Sophakchakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
THE government has rejected a recent media report stating that around 30 percent of the Kingdom’s 14 million people are currently living below the poverty line.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit took exception to a Radio Free Asia report, aired on Sunday, that quoted a spokesman from the United Nations Population Fund offering the figure.
“We entirely reject the information,” said Tith Sothea, a spokesman for the PQRU.
“We do not know for sure whether Radio Free Asia quoted incorrectly or if the [UNFPA] official spoke incorrectly, but we reject the information.”
According to yesterday’s statement, the percentage of Cambodians living in poverty fell from 50 percent in 1993 to 30 percent in 2007 and 27.4 percent in 2009.
“Even though Cambodia suffered from the global downturn, the latest figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Planning show that Cambodians living under the poverty line dropped to 27.3 percent in 2010,” the statement said.
It added that the Cambodian government expected to reach the country’s Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty to 19.5 percent by 2015.
Pen Sophanara, the UNFPA communications officer quoted by RFA, said the figure she cited was based on a report released by the agency in 2008.
Men in black
Also yesterday, the PQRU moved to quash a Thai media report that a group of “men in black” – Cambodian-trained special forces of Vietnamese origin – was “staking out” the home of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The report, carried in The Nation newspaper last week, was based on comments from a Thai government spokesman, who said police were maintaining a close watch on the men.
The PQRU denounced the report as an attempt “to link Thai unending squabbles with Cambodia” and “fan acts of hostility towards the Kingdom of Cambodia”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also rejected the reports Sunday.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit took exception to a Radio Free Asia report, aired on Sunday, that quoted a spokesman from the United Nations Population Fund offering the figure.
“We entirely reject the information,” said Tith Sothea, a spokesman for the PQRU.
“We do not know for sure whether Radio Free Asia quoted incorrectly or if the [UNFPA] official spoke incorrectly, but we reject the information.”
According to yesterday’s statement, the percentage of Cambodians living in poverty fell from 50 percent in 1993 to 30 percent in 2007 and 27.4 percent in 2009.
“Even though Cambodia suffered from the global downturn, the latest figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Planning show that Cambodians living under the poverty line dropped to 27.3 percent in 2010,” the statement said.
It added that the Cambodian government expected to reach the country’s Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty to 19.5 percent by 2015.
Pen Sophanara, the UNFPA communications officer quoted by RFA, said the figure she cited was based on a report released by the agency in 2008.
Men in black
Also yesterday, the PQRU moved to quash a Thai media report that a group of “men in black” – Cambodian-trained special forces of Vietnamese origin – was “staking out” the home of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The report, carried in The Nation newspaper last week, was based on comments from a Thai government spokesman, who said police were maintaining a close watch on the men.
The PQRU denounced the report as an attempt “to link Thai unending squabbles with Cambodia” and “fan acts of hostility towards the Kingdom of Cambodia”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also rejected the reports Sunday.
16 comments:
អា សុទ្ធា ខ្ញុំយួនមួយនេះតិចទៀតវាងាប់ហើយ!
Tith Sothea , don't be such a fool. What is the difference between 30 % and 27.3 % ? . They are still poor . Is that what your govermenet told you to say ? If there is anyway that he can say .. there is no people living under poverty line he will say so . Every spokesman from every department say the samething ... deny or disagree with the report
ah tith sothea ah slap rontasbanh
Yes, Mr. Sothea, this figure is too low compare to neighboring countries such as Vietname and Thailand. Their people live under poverty line is up to more than 50%.
Saphan
មុខអានេះដូចយួនទាំងអាចម៏ ។
he is a precision man, he need to have the exact number, not the rounded one.... but i guess he has never learned statistics.
look at this guy. his face looks like his ass. his ass likes like his face. no wonder he blows like this.
If Cambodia cherishes such caliber of officials, it would go down the drain. These guys do nothing but to rebuke whatever not in the line of their primitive thinking. As astonishing as it is now, this government is so much intolerant to anything looks negative on them by denying, denying blindly.
To be fair, there is no such an update estimation of people living under poverty line in Cambodia except the last one in 2007 conducted by the world bank which gives the rate of the poor at 30%.
It is stupid to say that there is no negative impact from slow growth in 2009.
it's good to see gov't's goal of poverty reduction is working slowly but surely; the number decreased every year, that's good sign! keep up the good work! god bless cambodia.
Ah stupid, ah silly, ah doll, ah insane, ah crazy, mentalill, ah lobster brain, ah yuon bain..... tit xothea
ar-choy-mrey now i know your fucking face when ( cpp tribunal came up you can't hie at all KADOUY-MEY AR-CHOY-MREY TITH SOTHEA
ar-choy-mrey now i know your fucking face when ( cpp tribunal came up you can't hie at all KADOUY-MEY AR-CHOY-MREY TITH SOTHEA
3:10 PM
ar-choy-mrey now i know your fucking face when ( cpp tribunal came up you can't hie at all KADOUY-MEY AR-CHOY-MREY TITH SOTHEA
3:10 PM
ar-choy-mrey now i know your fucking face when ( cpp tribunal came up you can't hie at all KADOUY-MEY AR-CHOY-MREY TITH SOTHEA
3:10 PM
Ah Tit Kud Tia ppls around the globe cursing you everyday as your boss as well.
The number means little to the real fact of living hardship for common ordinary Cambodians. If it were to be counted as the number, it should have been as high as
56.7 % of psychological impact of fleeing for being in a dark deep.
USA deep recession was over since June, 2009 but many people feel thay are still in that stage.
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