County representatives travel to Cambodia for FCM project

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
SANDRA M. STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin

Agriculture, roads and communications are the same priorities in Kang Meas, Cambodia as they are in the County of Newell.

County councillor Anne Marie Philipsen represented council when she traveled to Cambodia in July with the county’s economic development project coordinator, Michelle Gietz.

It was the second trip as part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian International Development Agency’s international program to assist underdeveloped communities implement economic development projects.

In their July meeting, Philipsen and Gietz have guided the community to determine their top priorities.

They met with 60 councillors.

Six councillors represent one commune (division) and each division has 10,000 people. In addition there were representatives from the district council.

“So there’s two layers of government within the county,” Philipsen said.

“It was really interesting when we narrowed it down to three priorities. They were roads, irrigation and information (education for the farmers),” Philipsen said.

“It’s interesting how that’s the same here except they have no money,” she added.

There is no money at the commune level and the district has roughly $30,000 per year for 100,000 people and no way to collect taxes so any project is a major project.

As one of the priorities, the Canadians were asked to build 50 kms of roads.

The group managed to narrow it to the most critical portion of road.

The group decided on 500 metres of road which represents an area that becomes isolated during the rainy season. Getting product to market is almost impossible.

“It was a piece of road that could be a shortcut to the city, but it was so bad. From June to November it is not passable,” she said.

To raise money for such projects, the community holds a fundraiser.

“We have the Kinsmen and Rotary. They have the elders,” she said.

“The elders were playing music and sitting on the side of the road with a can collecting money.

“As soon as they have enough money, they buy a truckload of dirt or a truckload of rocks,” she said.

In addition to the road, farmers in the same commune take a portion of their product to sell at market.

Instead of only some able to transport their product by motorbike, if they’re fortunate, or by ox and a cart, it was suggested that a co-operative be formed to take more product together.

The second priority is irrigation but the desire to build a dam is too expensive.

“It’s just too big. We didn’t know how to bring it down to a smaller project,” she said.

So the next project chosen is to help get information to farmers.

“Apparently the farmers in that area - they are right by the river - grow about three tonnes a hectare (2,677 lbs per acre) of rice where they should be able to get 10 tonnes per acre,” she said.

To increase those numbers, a different way of farming is available, however, the farmers don’t have the information.

“The information is available at the government level but it doesn’t get down to the commune level,” she said.

The group will ask the district agriculturalist to get information to the farmers to find some who will volunteer their farm to try a new farming technique.

“The problem is the farmers are scared. If they have no harvest or a lesser yield, they have no food,” she said.

The group will meet for a third time in September, when they travel to the county.

Before Gietz and Philipsen left Canada, individual councillors donated $200.

“We bought them a printer and paper and a load of rocks for the road,” she said.

They also carried a suitcase of items that were donated for the schools.

“They were very much appreciated,” she said.

Many of the councillors were afraid to participate but soon learned that when they first spoke they were presented a pen with a Canadian flag on it.

“That got them going, so that was good,” she said.

The two groups will pick up the third meeting in Canada when they arrive in the county in September.

All costs are covered by FCM.