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| Children sit on top their inundated homes, where Shukaku, Inc., has been pumping fill into Boeung Kak lake, (File photo, Photo: Heng Reaksmey) |
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 20 April 2011
“Development partners would be interested in discussing the possible impact of the draft NGO law on the delivery of development assistance in the country.”
Cambodia’s donors on Wednesday raised a chorus of concern for forced evictions and a controversial law to regulate NGOs, as they met with government partners to discuss upcoming aid packages.
The groups met in Phnom Penh to discuss development plans, foreign aid pledges and Cambodia’s development needs for 2012. Donors pledged more than a billion dollars in aid to Cambodia last year.
Qimiao Fan, country manager for the World Bank here, said in statement that land issues, epitomized by the forced eviction of thousands of urban poor from a development area in Phnom Penh, continued to vex Cambodia.
“With rapid urbanization, the resumption of fast economic growth and the increasing interest from investors in large-scale commercial farming, land issues will become only more challenging, as exemplified in Boeung Kak lake area,” he said.
The World Bank found fault with its Cambodia operations earlier this year after a Bank program failed to issue land titles to residents of Boeung Kak ahead of a massive development scheme undertaken by the city.
Fan acknowledged that progress had been made in some government land titling programs, but he said the government should establish resettlement policies that follow the law and fairly award resettlement costs to residents caught in such developments.
Donors also remain worried about an impending law to regulate the NGO sector that critics say is unnecessary and potentially harmful to development.
“Development partners would be interested in discussing the possible impact of the draft NGO law on the delivery of development assistance in the country,” Fan said.
Flynn Fuller, USAID’s Cambodia director, said the agency “remains concerned about the necessity of the draft NGO law and the related implications for civil society organizations to operate freely in Cambodia.”
USAID has partnerships with more than 100 local organizations, he said in remarks at Wednesday’s meeting. “An excessively restrictive NGO law will hinder the ability of these partnerships to support achievement of critical development objectives in Cambodia,” he said.
UK Ambassador Andrew Mace urged the government to reconsider the law altogether, echoing requests from international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, who have come out against the law.
Local groups continue to push for further consultation on the law, rather than having it scrapped.
Lon Borithy, executive director of the Cooperation Committee of Cambodia, a conglomerate of local NGOs, said Wednesday that the Ministry of Interior, which is drafting the law, needs to discuss it further before forwarding it to the Council of Ministers for approval.
Minister of Economy Keat Chhon said in the meeting that not all NGOs agree on the draft law, but said he would bring their “concerns” to the weekly Cabinet meeting.
“I completely believe in the leadership of [Interior Minister] Sar Kheng in making the draft NGO law,” he said.
He said the particular case of the Boeung Kak villagers was being resolved by City Hall.
The rights group Adhoc recorded nearly 200 land disputes last year and 24 forced evictions. The groups lead investigator, Ny Chakriya, said Wednesday that donors had raised the right concerns at the meeting.
7 comments:
Var Kim Hong does recognize that Cambodia, if compared to the colonial Service Geographique de l’Indochine scale map 1/100,000 and the 1985 delimitation treaty, will loses 9,000 hectares; and compared to U.S Army Mapping Service scale map 1/50,000 with the 1985 Treaty, would lose about 7,900 hectares to Vietnam. This statement was confirmed by Var Kim Hong to Mr. Touch Bora Esq through a telephone conversation on 30 August 2002 at 4:30 p.m. (Sydney time), which Mr. Touch Bora Esq wrote in his letter dated on 9 September 2002 sent to Sam Dach Ta Noroudom Sihanouk concerning over border affairs.
In fact, the loss is absolutely more than the 1000 square kilometers stated by MP Sam Rainsy in his statement, if we add the size of the historical water of 30000 square kilometers awarded to Vietnam under the 1982 Agreement which has been into affect and now already become under the full control of Vietnam. And this would not be the last if the equidistance principle be used to delimit the maritime boundary, Cambodia will lose an additional area of sea and seabed measuring at least 860 square nautical miles from the Brevie Line to the north, analyzed by Mr. Touch Bora Esq or another 10000 square kilometers confirmed by Mr. Sean Pengse, the President of the Cambodian Border Committee Worldwide, which exclusively include another Koh Poula Wai to Vietnam added to the previous lost islands- Koh Tral (Dao Phu Quoc) and Koh Poulo Panjang (Dao Thu Chu).
This is why sVar Kim Hong said in front of Students´s Movement for Democracy (SMD), and Sam Dach Ta Norodom Sihanouk on 22 Janaury 2000 during our audience with him concerning the border resolution with Vietnam that; “If we want peace, we must sacrifice our flesh to the tiger.” The truth is discovered now that, “Sacrifice the flesh to tiger actually means cutting our land to the Viet.” This word was clearly spoken out from his mouth and there were Sam Dach Ta as witness and 31 members.
We must condemn this Var Kim Hong for his role in helping the traitorous regime of Hun Sen.
Smart Khmer Girl Ms. Rattana Keo,
Koh Tral Island must not be forgotten
By Ms. Rattana Keo
Why do Koh Tral Island, known in Vietnam as Phu Quoc, a sea and land area covering proximately over 10,000 km2 [Note: the actual land size of Koh Tral itself is 574 square kilometres (222 sq miles)] have been lost to Vietnam by whose treaty? Why don’t Cambodia government be transparent and explain to Cambodia army at front line and the whole nation about this? Why don't they include this into education system? Why?
Cambodian armies are fighting at front line for 4.6 km2 on the Thai border and what's about over 10,000km2 of Cambodia to Vietnam. Nobody dare to talk about it! Why? Cambodian armies you are decide the fate of your nation, Cambodian army as well as Cambodian people must rethink about this again and again. Is it fair?
Koh Tral Island, the sea and land area of over 10,000 square kilometres have been lost to Vietnam by the 1979 to 1985 treaties. The Cambodian army at front line as well as all Cambodian people must rethink again about these issues. Are Cambodian army fighting to protect the Cambodia Nation or protecting a very small group that own big lands, big properties or only protecting a small group but disguising as protecting the Khmer nation?
The Cambodian army at front lines suffer under rain, wind, bullets, bombs, lack of foods, lack of nutrition and their families have no health care assistance, no securities after they died but a very small group eat well, sleep well, sleep in first class hotel with air conditioning system with message from young girls, have first class medical care from oversea medical treatments, they are billionaires, millionaires who sell out the country to be rich and make the Cambodian people suffer everyday.
Who signed the treaty 1979-1985 that resulted in the loss over 10,000 km2 of Cambodia??? Why they are not being transparent and brave enough to inform all Cambodians and Cambodian army at front line about these issues? Why don't they include Koh Tral (Koh Tral size is bigger than the whole Phom Phen and bigger than Singapore [Note: Singapore's present land size is 704 km2 (271.8 sq mi)]) with heap of great natural resources, in the Cambodian education system?
Look at Hun Sen's families, relatives and friends- they are billionaires, millionaires. Where did they get the money from when we all just got out of war with empty hands [in 1979]? Hun Sen always say in his speeches that Cambodia had just risen up from the ashes of war, just got up from Year Zero with empty hands and how come they are billionaires, millionaires but 90% of innocent Cambodian people are so poor and struggling with their livelihood every day?
Smart Khmer girl Ms. Rattana Keo,
Copy and paste. Copy and paste.
They will not get you, idiot, anywhere.
Kick the Khmer out, we the viet settlers need their land.
1:08 PM,
Ugly Yuon/Vietcook bastard, get out of the planet. Yuon are flip-flipped and unreliable. China will crush Yuon completely and save my friend Khmer. Khmer is a good friend of China.
9:26 AM,
You are ugly Yuon bastard. Your ass will be kicked out by China and Khmer. Yuon/Viet folks are unreliable and hypocrite. If you hurt my Khmer people, China will destroy you.
What happen to all the Lol Nol government worker,,,are some still alive or still woking.. We need their opionion to help clean the country
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