Want to take our picture? Go ahead...

Boeung Kak Lake residents gather in front of the Senate to hand over their petition (All Photos: Soveun Theng)

Are these photographers journalists or government agents in disguise?

There is no place for ruffians

Editorial: The Phnom Penh Post will not be silenced

Security guards employed by the Shukaku Inc development company attempt to remove residents protesting the destruction of their homes in Village 24 in Srah Chak commune, Daun Penh district on Friday. (Photo by: Sovan Philong)

Sunday, 16 January 2011
POST STAFF
The Phnom Penh Post

Police officers are members of the public service. 

Their job is to ensure order by following clear guidelines within the law.

They are not above the law and, like general citizens, should be held accountable when they do the wrong thing.

On Friday four members of the city’s riot police surrounded Sovan Philong, a senior photographer with The Phnom Penh Post, who was taking pictures of home demolitions and evictions of residents from Boeung Kak lake.

The officers manhandled Sovan Philong, grabbed his shirt from the front and back as they shoved him, and illegally confiscated his camera equipment.

Sovan Philong was wearing his government-issued media-identification pass and was covering a breaking news story.

The EVIL SHuakaku Inc. continues to pump sand into Boeung Kak houses

Land thief Ly Yong Phat clears land and destroys one house belonging to Omlaing villagers

CPP land-thief and Hun Xen's crony Ly Yong Phat

Omlaing villagers protest against land clearing by the land-thief Phnom Penh Sugar Co. (Photo: Adhoc)

09 May 2010
By Tin Zakariya Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The chronic land dispute between Omlaing villagers and the Phnom Penh Sugar Co. belonging to CPP tycoon-senator-cum-land thief Ly Yong Phat has not ended yet. The villagers claimed that several of their families are now facing the loss of their rice fields.

On Sunday 09 May, O’Ponlov villagers in Omlaing commune, Thpong district, Kampong Speu province, indicated that, recently, several pieces of land clearing equipments belonging to Phnom Sugar Co. came to clear the village land and they even razed down a house belonging to one of the villagers.

Yim Sieng Hoy, a villager, said that the sugar company’s equipment started to clear the village land on 08 May. This land clearing operation affected more than 10 families in the village, and one of the houses in the village was also destroyed in spite of the fact that the villagers tried to stop them from clearing the land. The reason these equipments were so obstinate in their destruction was because they had about 100 soldiers to protect them.

Yim Sieng Hoy said: “Now, they have reached my aunt’s house, they have not razed it down yet, but they are 20-meter away from the house that they razed down. Yesterday they did not bring too many soldiers, but today, they brought in many soldiers.”

Mrs. Khieu Sophy indicated that in April, the villagers and Ly Yong Phat’s company agreed at the Omlaing commune office that the company will leave a swath of 200-meter behind the villagers from land clearing, but now the company is also clearing the villagers’ land.

She said: “When they cut the backyard, they said that they will leave 200-meter for us, now they came to clear that 200-meter swath also.”

Sieng Kim Sun, a representative of the land thief company, denied that her company cleared the village land, it was only clearing forest land that belongs to the company. Sieng Kim Sun claimed that all land disputes with the villagers have already been resolved by the land thief company with a swapping of land and a compensation payment of $250 per hectare.

Sieng Kim Sun claimed: “As for the villagers, they do not live there, this is all forest land, the owners transferred the title to me.”

Sieng Kim Sun added that the land-thief Phnom Penh Sugar company came to invest in Omlaing commune and provided jobs to the villagers, and that currently it employed 100 villagers and it will also need more than 20,000 laborers for work.

In spite of Sieng Kim Sun’s claim, Am Sam Ath, a top investigator for the Licadho human rights group, indicated that the Phnom Penh Sugar company is currently grabbing rice fields and lands belonging to the villagers because this land-thief company did not come to make any proper survey at all.

Am Sam Ath added: “The villagers do not have the ability to rent bulldozers to clear their lands like this company, therefore, they work on their land clearing in piecemeal fashion. In some places, the villagers did not touch it [for a while], then the forest trees grew back, then the company came and claimed that this is state land.”

The Phnom Penh Sugar company was awarded a 99-year land concession from the government in February 2010 for planting sugar canes on 9,052 hectares of land. However, in this concession, the government stipulated that the company must cooperate with the local government and the ministry of Agriculture to perform a detailed study, and it also should get away from any land that affects the interest of the local villagers.

Am Sam Ath said that the land-thief company did not perform any study and did not show any proper document about the potential affect on the villagers. Quite to the contrary, the company started by clearing lands and it affected rice fields and plantations belonging to a number of Omlaing villagers. This situation has lasted for many months already and there was no proper resolution given to the villagers yet as of now.

Boeung Kak Lake: The last protesters are “prepared to die” [protecting their homes]

Boeung Kak Lake (Photo: DR, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

20 August 2009
By N.S.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

Several dozens of families refused to obey the order to evacuate from the lake shore.

About 50 families of villagers have announced that they refused to leave their homes, in spite of the ultimatum launched by the Phnom Penh city.

Pol Tourist, a representative of the community, indicated that he and the recalcitrant villagers are “prepared to die” rather than accepting the proposed indemnification offer.

“The Phnom Penh city and the Council of Ministers have declared in 2007 that no eviction policy would take place, consequently, we decide to stay and we are demanding for the setup of an on-the-spot development policy,” Pol Tourist said during a press conference on Thursday 20 August.

“Our home is what feeds us,” he added.

Of the 200 families, whose house are built on the lake, who are affected by the first phase of the project, about 50 of them have refused to accept the indemnification offer which includes a plot of land far away from the city. The remaining families have accepted the offer and left.

Altogether, more than 4,000 families are affected to date by the real estate development which involves the filling of the lake.

A further 160 families in Cambodia face forced eviction

13 August 2009
Amnesty International

A further 160 families in Cambodia are to be forcibly evicted from their homes without being given adequate alternative housing or just compensation.

Two lakeside villages in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh received an official notice on Monday, giving them seven days to dismantle their houses. A private company is due to redevelop the site for tourism and commercial use.

Around 4,200 families living on or around Boeung Kak Lake in central Phnom Penh are affected by this re-development, which is the outcome of an agreement reached in 2007 between the Municipality of Phnom Penh and the private company. The company started filling the lake with sand in August 2008, in preparation for building.

The agreement was made without any prior consultation with the affected families, who since learning about the deal have repeatedly protested and voiced concern about the plans. At least two villagers have been arrested for their peaceful protests.

Company workers and security forces have intimidated and harassed many others, while the rising water levels caused by the filling of the lake, have flooded and destroyed many homes around its shore, forcing people to move.

The inhabitants of Village 2 and Village 4 were offered three options by the notice signed by the Daun Penh district governor: compensation of 8,000 USD plus an additional two million riel (approx 500 USD) to cover the cost of dismantling the houses; a flat at a resettlement site some 20 kilometres away plus two million riel; or new housing on-site but with temporary relocation.

The resettlement site at Damnak Trayoeung has no adequate shelter, water, electricity, sanitation, sewerage, health care or job opportunities.

The offer of on-site development is welcome as it demonstrates that the authorities are exploring alternatives other than eviction. This is also the option favoured by most of the 160 families.

However, according to the notice, they still have to dismantle their homes within seven days and accept relocation to a site far away from their work places and schools for an undetermined period, with no formal assurances that they will be able to return to secure tenure at Boeung Kak.

Last month, security forces forcibly evicted 60 low-income families from their homes in an area of central Phnom Penh called Group 78. The families in Group 78 had been living under the threat of forced evictions for three years, with the Cambodian authorities following none of the safeguards required under international law.

The Cambodian Government has consistently failed to guarantee the right to adequate housing and to protect its population against forced evictions. In 2008 alone, Amnesty International received reports about 27 forced evictions, affecting an estimated 23,000 people.

Amnesty International is reiterating its calls on the government to end forced evictions and introduce a moratorium on all mass evictions until there is a legal framework in place which protects human rights.

Amnesty International has urged the Cambodian authorities to halt immediately any plans to forcibly evict the families living in Villages 2 and 4 in Boeung Kak.

The organization also urged them to reconsider the plan to move the community to the resettlement site at Damnak Trayoeung and called on the authorities to hold genuine consultations about the onsite development plans, including clarifying the time frame for temporary relocation and a guarantee of security of tenure at Boeung Kak.

Moreover, Amnesty International is demanding that the authorities uphold Cambodia's obligations under international human rights treaties prohibiting forced eviction and related human rights violations.

Boeung Kak residents put a curse on CPP-Tycoon-Senator Lao Meng Khin's Shukaku Co.

Boeung Kak Lake residents put a curse on the Shukaku Co. on 12 June 2009 (Photo: Sophorn, RFA)

13 June 2009
By Sophorn
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Residents of the Boeung Kak area have decided to organize a ceremony to put a curse on the Shukaku Co. [owned by CPP-Tycoon-Senator and Hun Sen’s crony Lao Meng Khin] which is currently funding the development of the Boeung Kak region in Phnom Penh city. The residents prayed that this company suffers total destruction.

The prayer for the curse on the Shukaku Co. was organized in the evening of Friday 12 June, and starting at 6PM on that day, all the residents burnt incense in their homes, while others gathered to pray at Village No. 6 of Boeung Kak area to put the curse on this company.

Be Pharom, a resident, said that because the residents no longer trust all levels of government authority to help them solve their hardship, they decided to organize this ceremony to put the curse on the Shukaku Co,: “May Lord Budda help us. Let the spirits guarding this land and water, let the spirit of Boeung Kak Lake, the angels, Indra, Brahma kill those who hurt us with lightning strike.”

The residents added that a few hours after they organized the cursing ceremony, plainclothes government agents, some of whom were armed, came to threaten the residents who dare organize this ceremony.

These agents also confiscated a cane juice container belonging to one of the residents, and they accused her of storing this container on the Shukaku Co. land.

Mom Phal, the owner of the juice container, said: “They used guns to threaten me, but I was not scared. I said shoot me, I am not scared. Even if I die, I still have many relatives left.”

On that same day, RFA reporters crossed the Shukaku Company’s fence to try to obtain information about the accusations made above, however, company agents and police officers in uniform came out to prevent us from asking any questions.

RFA attempted to call officials at the Srah Chork commune office, and officials of the Daun Penh district office, to obtain clarifications on this altercation, but they could not be reached.

Nevertheless, Sa Roeun, chief of Village No. 4 in Boeung Kak Lake area, confirmed that the Shukaku Co. indeed confiscated the cane juice container belonging to the resident, but, he does not have the rights and the duty to resolve this issue.

For the development of the 133-hectare area in Beoung Kak, the Cambodian government gave out a 99-year lease of the lake to the private Shukaku Co. Some of the residents disagreed to this lease and they have held several protests on this issue.

Phnom Penh Municipality’s Impossible Requirement For Holding Forum Violates Freedom Of Assembly

Friday, 12 June 2009
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Cambodia: Phnom Penh Municipality’s Impossible Requirement For Holding Forum Violates Freedom Of Assembly

Over the recent months, a human rights NGO, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR), has been making arrangements to hold a public forum for concerned officials and residents of Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh to discuss the issue of the eviction of these residents without just compensation. The Municipality of Phnom Penh has leased, allegedly illegally, the natural lake called Boeung Kak and its surroundings to Shukaku Inc., a private development company owned by a Senator from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), for a period of 99 years for US$79 million. This municipality has since been pressuring the residents of the area to accept its compensation package, an offer which the residents have repeatedly rejected.

The CCHR has encountered continuous difficulties in finding a venue and getting a permit from the municipal authorities for this particular meeting due to various forms of social control. On Friday 5 June at the very end of that day’s work and the end of the working week, the Municipality of Phnom Penh served the CCHR director with a summons to appear before its officials, police officers and officials from concerned departments on Monday 8 June at 2:30PM. The director of the CCHR was out of the country, and in the morning of Monday the CCHR office submitted, by hand, a letter to the Municipality seeking the postponement of the meeting until he returned later in the week. The Municipality refused to acknowledge receipt of the letter and insisted the meeting be held as shown in the summons.

The CCHR was compelled to comply. Its officials enlisted the participation of an official from the field Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the scheduled meeting. A number of officials from other NGOs lent support but were not allowed in and had to wait outside. At the end of the discussions on the holding of the forum, the municipal officials insisted that they would not consider any application for a permit to hold any forum for the residents of the area until the CCHR submitted with that application a receipt for payment of rent for the venue with the amount clearly stated and the signature of the owner of the premises.

The CCHR had already met that requirement when, on 25 May, a guest house called Lazy Fish near the lake agreed to rent its premises to the CCHR as the venue for US$250. It booked the premises and made a deposit of US$50. The forum was then planned for 12 June. But hardly a week later, on 1 June, the head and deputy head of the village where the guest house is located threatened the owner, saying: “If you let the CCHR conduct the public forum, your quest house will close after the forum.” Several days later the owner was summoned to their office. After his meeting with the commune officials, he informed the CCHR that he no longer wanted to rent his place for its forum unless the CCHR could secure a permit from the municipal authorities. On the morning of 8 June when the CCHR went to meet with the municipal officials, a police force of about 20 men surrounded the Lazy Fish guesthouse and shut it down on the charge that its business license had expired.

Before it found the Lazy Fish guest house, the CCHR had also been denied the yard of a mosque and a Buddhist monastery in the area when officials of these religious places, afraid of falling out of favour with their ‘benefactors’, withdrew their original consent to allow the use of their property. As a result the CCHR had to postpone its forum. Upon this postponement, local officials warned a woman resident who was distributing leaflets announcing the forum of the consequences of her activity. They told her, “Why do you continue to call and incite residents to go to the meeting now that the forum has already been called off? You should quietly contact the company. Beware! You could be sent to prison.”

Such threats and intimidation, and especially the way the authorities shut down Lazy Fish guesthouse after it had rented its premises, have created a climate of fear in the locality. It is now impossible for the CCHR to find anyone who is willing to rent their premises to be used as a venue for the forum. This means that the CCHR cannot obtain either premises or a receipt for payment of rent to submit with its application for permit to the Municipality of Phnom Penh. It is now a catch 22 situation. In order to be able to rent premises they must obtain a certificate from the local officials and the local officials will not issue a permit unless they can provide documentary evidence of having rented premises.

As a result, the residents of Boeung Kak Lake cannot exercise their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and expression, and in a matter of time they, like hundreds of thousands of their fellow Cambodians in a similar situation, will be forcibly evicted from their homes and lands without just compensation.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) holds that, by instilling fear in the population and then imposing a requirement which is impossible to meet, the Municipality of Phnom Penh has denied the residents of Boeung Kak Lake the enjoyment of their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and expression. The AHRC strongly urges the Cambodian government to order the Municipality of Phnom Penh to withdraw this requirement and remove any other obstacles to the holding of the forum so that those residents can exercise their rights.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Intimidation claimed at lake

A man working to fill Boeung Kak Lake with sand tries to prevent a photographer from taking a picture on Monday. (Photo by: CHRISTOPHER SHAY)

Tuesday, 09 June 2009
Written by CHRISTOPHER SHAY AND KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA
The Phnom Penh Post

A guesthouse near Boeung Kak lake that was set to host a meeting this Friday between residents, human rights groups and officials was briefly closed by police Monday in what critics of lakeside development say is part of an ongoing scare campaign by authorities.

"I led a mixed committee of police to close the Lazy Fish Restaurant and Guesthouse completely, because this restaurant and guesthouse had a business licence that had expired a few months ago," Daun Penh district Deputy Governor Sok Penhvuth told the Post.

By Monday night, however, the guest house was again taking reservations, workers said.

Many Boeung Kak lake residents say the sudden interest in the Lazy Fish's business was not a routine check, but rather one of the intimidation tactics designed to prevent a meeting that would highlight rights issues surrounding the filling in of the lake.

"They knew that the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights [CCHR] rented this guesthouse to organise a meeting. Police told me that the NGO does not a have a permission letter from City Hall and, if I agreed to rent the place, they would close the guesthouse," a Lazy Fish staff member who declined to give her name told the Post.

After the owners were threatened, they informed the meeting organisers that they could not host the event at their venue, the Lazy Fish staff member said.

Boeung Kak lake resident Be Pharom, 57, said the police presence Monday morning was not just targeted at the guesthouse but was also meant to send a message to lake residents still trying to stop local developer Shukaku Inc from building on the lake, a project that will displace thousands.

"Now, because of the authorities, we are afraid the police will arrest us if we join the public forum," she said.

"[The authorities] do not really care about closing the guesthouse, but they need to make the owner cooperate," she added.

Chhim Savuth, a project coordinator for the CCHR, said that even though the Lazy Fish received threats, a meeting will still take place Friday at another location.

He added that police claims that a permission letter was needed are incorrect.

Cambodia: The Government Must Ban Social Control That Violates Human Rights

Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Cambodia: The Government Must Ban Social Control That Violates Human Rights

Cambodian society was under communist rule for some 15 years before the international community helped it to embrace liberal, pluralistic democracy with rule of law and respect for human rights at the beginning the 1990s. It has in many ways become an open society where people can enjoy property rights, freedom of enterprise in a free market economy, freedom of movement inside and outside the country, access to education and other public services, and a number of other rights. However, many forms of social control and the dysfunction of the institutions for the rule of law have limited or denied altogether the enjoyment of such rights and freedoms.

A recent story of the search by an NGO for a venue to hold a public forum in an area in Phnom Penh is a starkly insidious instance of such control.

Upon requests from residents of the Boeung Kok Lake, Srah Chak commune, Daun Penh district, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) planned to hold a public forum for the residents, municipal and other concerned officials, to meet and address the issue of eviction without just compensation. The municipal authorities have leased the natural lake called Boeung Kak and its surroundings to Shukaku Inc., a private development company owned by a Senator from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), for a period of 99 years for US$79 millions.

Shukaku then started to fill in the lake. This filling has subsequently flooded and destroyed houses and roads in the area and the dispute over compensation has not been resolved. The authorities have ignored the repeated requests of the residents for just compensation and also their request that the company should cease filling the lake. The authorities have instead pressurised the residents to accept the compensation package they set for them. Such pressure, together with the continuing filling of the lake is but a slow forced eviction of those people.

The CCHR is widely known for the public forums it has organised across the country for people with grievances and concerned government officials to come together in an effort to address these grievances. On 20 April 2009 the CCHR assigned an officer to contact different people in the lake area to find a venue for the forum. He identified the big mosque in the area as a very suitable place. The officer approached the caller of the mosque who was, at that time, willing to accommodate their request and let the CCHR use its yard for the forum. However, the caller instructed the CCHR officer to first secure an authorization from the local authorities, and an endorsement from a prominent Muslim leader and member of the mosque’s committee named Ahmad Yayha. This prominent committee member is a former Member of Parliament who defected from the opposition party to the CPP.

The next day the same officer together with a colleague was looking for other venues and approached a Buddhist monastery, also not far from the lake. The monastery’s secretary rejected his request out of hand and refused to allow them the use of the monastery’s yard. His reason was his fear of losing a big grant from two prominent ladies who were sponsoring the construction of a building within the monastery. One lady is the widow of the country’s top police officer who was a prominent member of the CPP. The other lady is the wife of a current deputy prime minister.

The two CCHR officers then tried to secure the venue at the mosque and followed the instructions the caller of the mosque had given. On 24 April they managed to contact Ahmad Yahya and asked him for permission to use the mosque. He told them to contact a Senator named Van Mat also from the CPP and chairman of the mosque’s committee. They contacted Van Mat who then told them to secure a permit from the Municipality, implying that with this permit the mosque’s yard could be used as the venue of the forum. They then applied for a permit to the Municipality of Phnom Penh.

Later on Van Mat changed his mind and told the CCHR officers the mosque could not be used for such a forum as it was against Islamic rules, while the Municipality also informed them it had no authority over the mosque and was not in a position to give any permit for the utilization of its premises. Unable to find the venue, the CCHR cancelled the planned forum.

The following day, a resident who was helping to distribute leaflets calling the lake residents to the forum was summoned to see officials of Srah Chak commune where the lake is located, simply to be warned of the consequences of her activity. “Why do you continue to call and incite residents to go to the meeting now that the forum has already been called off? You should quietly contact the company. Beware! You could be sent to prison.” So they told her.

The CCHR did not abandon the forum in the same area and its officials continued the search for a venue. On May 25 a resident found them a guesthouse called the Lazy Fish which was willing to rent its premises as the venue for US$250. They booked the place and made a deposit of US$50. The forum was then planned for 12 June.

Hardly a week later, on 1 June, the head and deputy head of village 6 in Srah Chak commune chief went to threaten the owner of the quest house, saying: “If you let the CCHR conduct the public forum, your quest house will close after the forum.”Several days later the owner was summoned to the commune office. After his meeting with the commune officials, he informed the CCHR that he no longer wanted to rent his place for its forum unless the CCHR could secure a permit from the municipal authorities.

On 8 June the authorities shut down that guesthouse on the allegation that “its business licence had expired.” As a result the prospects of the Boeung Kak Lake residents being able to exercise their right of assembly and expression through a public forum and of getting the authorities to address the compensation issue with them through that venue was practically closed.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) therefore urges the Cambodian government to honour its human rights obligations and take immediate action to ban all forms of social control that blocks and impedes the exercise of human rights by its people. The Cambodian government should order the Municipality of Phnom Penh to abandon any attempt to deny the Boeung Kak Lake residents and the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights their right to hold a public forum with all concerned officials to address the issue of eviction and compensation for those residents.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Lake Residents Want Development Canceled

Hun Sen's cronies: Lao Meng Khin (L) and his wife Choeung Sopheap (R). Lao Meng Khin owns Shukaku Inc. (Photo: Global Witness)

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
28 May 2009

Residents being pushed out by a lake development in Phnom Penh called on the National Assembly and two government ministries to intervene.

Thousands of residents living near Boeung Kak lake, in the north of the city, have not reached an agreement for compensation from a developer to move from their homes.

The city signed a 99-year, $79 million lease agreement with Shukaku, Inc., in February 2007, for the development of 133 hectares of the lake area.

Shukaku, which is owned by a ruling party senator, began filling the lake in July 2008, having reached agreements with many homeowners in the ramshackle area.

Remaining residents said Thursday they would not leave, and they called on the government to cancel the deal.

“We submitted our complaint to the National Assembly, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior, for intervention in the termination of the land deal…following no compensation solution for Boeung Kak residents,” Be Pharum, a representative of the citizens, told reporters Thursday.

More than 4,200 families living around the lake are facing eviction, having refused to accept what they see as unfair compensation from the government, Choung Chu Ngy, a legal representative for the residents, said.

Shukaku is now filling in the lake, with plans to build a modern hotel, commercial buildings, hospital, university and entertainment complex on the site.

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Man Choeun referred questions to the city’s cabinet director, Noun Sameth, who declined comment.

Lake residents protest over money

Boeung Kak resident Soy Kolab, 53, talks with reporters Monday outside the Court of Appeal. (Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN)

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Written by Ros Dina
The Phnom Penh Post

Boeung Kak evictees ask government to halt filling of lake until compensation is agreed upon.

MORE than 30 residents from Boeung Kak lake protested Monday, handing official letters of complaint to the National Assembly and the ministries of interior and land management, pleading with them to intervene in the filling of the lake until a fair compensation package could be worked out with those who would lose their homes.

In August, Shukaku Inc, a development company, began pumping sand into the lake, slowly filling the popular tourist site. Since then, hundreds of families have been forced from their homes.

Soy Kolab, a representative of the lake community, said that Cambodia's ministries and lawmakers were their last chance for help, but that Cambodian law was on their side.

"Cambodia has laws to protect its people," she said. "I want them to delay pumping sand into the lake and to negotiate suitable compensation for us. I am not against the government's development plan, but any development in which the poor have to be evicted without proper compensation will only benefit powerful people,"

A lawyer representing the community, Choung Choungy, said only a small number of the 4,252 families living at Boeung Kak have agreed to the municipality's compensation offer of US$8,000 cash, or replacement housing on the outskirts of Phnom Penh with $500 cash. He said the residents did not want to be relocated far from their children's schools and their livelihoods.

Residents have already appealed to courts, protested in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen's house and sent complaints to City Hall.

CPP lawmakers Cheap Yeap said the National Assembly would push the government to solve this problem in accordance with the Land Law.

Hun Sen threatens to close crony Mong Reththy's dry port

Hun Sen threatens to close S'ville port

Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Written by May Kunmakara
The Phnom Penh Post

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday threatened to close agriculture tycoon Mong Reththy's dry port if outstanding taxes are not paid.

The prime minister also pressed for a broader crackdown on illegal goods passing through the country's southern border checkpoints, which is depriving the government of taxes.

"Don't blame me if I close [the port], leaving employees jobless," he said, during a ceremony in Sihanoukville.

"Today, I ask that authorities help the government to collect taxes from all sea-crossing points, especially Preah Sihanouk province. We have to use this occasion to collect taxes," he said.

He encouraged customs officers, police and the navy to cooperate to curb smuggling and other illegal businesses.

"The authorities have to crack down on traders that don't pay their taxes," he said.

He also warned customs officers and traders to stop colluding to dodge taxes.

Agriculture tycoon Mong Reththy endorsed the premier's pronouncement and urged authorities to scrupulously collect taxes on goods crossing through the southern borders.

"I want all ports to cooperate to collect tax on imported goods ... to take this money to develop our country," he said.

However, he would not provide figures on the volume of goods passing through his facility.

Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon said that tax income has increased this month after falling for the past two months due to declining imports.

Another govt monopoly contract for Hun Sen’s crony Kith Meng

Private company for VIPs transport (limousine service)

24 March 2009
By Im Navin
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

Kith Meng and the government, through Keat Chhon, the minister of Economy, have signed an agreement on Monday 23 March to provide a 15-year VIPs transport (limousine service) monopoly to the Royal Group company led by Kith Meng.

The Royal Group now owns 40 vehicles and it employs personnel trained in driving VIP convoys. If the government need will be higher, the Royal Group can gather up to about 100 vehicles.

According to the terms of this agreement, private company and NGO officials could also need to use this service.

Yim Sovann, SRP spokesman, is in disagreement with this project: “The government must ensure this VIP transport by itself, otherwise, the government must allow competition to take place between several private companies.”

Boeung Kak lake: A widow threatens to take her own life

Boeung Kak Lake: A house fell into the lake from the pumping operation performed by the Shukaku Inc. company owned by CPP tycoon-senator-cum-land-grabber Lao Meng Khin (Photo: ALG, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

19 March 2009
By Nhim Sophal
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

Kao Malai indicated that the Shukaku Inc. company only paid her $200 in compensation for her house which fell into the lake, and the company did not offer any relocation at all.

Kao Malai, a widow and mother of two children, indicated that she would like to end her life because of the Boeung Kak lake land dispute.

Addressing a meeting of villagers involved in land disputes on Thursday 19 March in Phnom Penh, she indicated that the Shukaku company only paid her $200 when her house fell into the water (from the filling of the lake by the Shukaku company).

“My house fell down because of the pumping operation in the lake!” she said angrily. “They did not allow me to repair it, they just gave me $200 as compensation to get rid of me.”

Furthermore, several residents were angry at the pro-CPP TV station Bayon (owned by Hun Mana, Hun Sen’s daughter) which claimed on 24-25 February that “more than 70%” of the residents accepted the offer made by the Shukaku company, however, in reality, only 820 families out of a total of 4,250 families accepted to leave their homes based on the conditions imposed by the Shukaku company.

According to the residents, the “70%” claim was attributed to Lav Van, the brother of the CPP tycoon-senator Lao Meng Khin, the owner of the Shukaku company.

In fact, the compensation amount is not very clear: even though $8,500 was promised to residents with small homes on the lake, for the other residents, they claim that they do not know what if the exact term of the compensation to be provided by Lao Meng Khin’s Shukaku.

The residents announced that they will gather on 25 or 26 March at a “public forum.”

New report warns of Boeung Kak flooding

A young boy plays in the abandoned, partially submerged house of his former neighbour in one of the Boeung Kak communities worst affected by the filling-in of the lake. Since local developer Shukaku Inc began pumping sand into the lake late last year, hundreds of families have been forced to abandon their homes. (Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG)

THURSDAY, 12 MARCH 2009
Written by Sam Rith and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

Group calls for municipality to take action to mitigate coming loss of natural catchment areas caused by lake's filling.

THE reclamation of Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak lake will increase the level and frequency of wet season flooding in areas in the city's north, according to a technical report released Wednesday.

The Boeung Kak Area Drainage and Flooding Assessment report, prepared by a team of Australian drainage and flooding engineers in 2008, found the filling of the lake for a 133-hectare commercial and housing project would eliminate a major rain catchment area, leading to
"significant impacts on property" in areas adjacent to the lake.

"While the lake is a closed system with little catchment contribution beyond the lake itself, the proposed development area is large enough to generate large volumes of run-off," the report stated.

"The anticipated increase in peak flood levels and flood frequency that would result without mitigation is considered unacceptable."

The team of engineers, commissioned by local housing rights group Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), conducted hydraulic modelling of the
Boeung Kak area, concluding that the rain runoff from the proposed development would overwhelm the current poor drainage infrastructure in Russey Keo district to the north.

"The areas of greatest impact are immediately to the north of the Boeung Kak area on both the east and west sides of the railway embankment, and approximately 1.5 kilometres to the north," the report said, adding that significant increases could also stretch as far afield as the proposed Camko City development in Russey Keo.

‘Vague' assessments

The drainage assessment report claims the August 2008 Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) completed by project developer Shukaku Inc "did not appear to be based on sound engineering", and that it included only "vague" plans for the construction of a 20-square-metre canal to mitigate the increased runoff.

It also states that City Hall's 2020 Phnom Penh Master Plan had not conducted the detailed hydraulic modelling needed to predict the drainage impacts of the city's expansion.

STT adviser Hallam Goad said the results were unsurprising to anyone who witnessed the chronic flooding in Russey Keo during last year's wet season.

"This report confirms what many have suspected - that the development at Boeung Kak is being undertaken without full regard to the environmental impacts," he said in a statement Wednesday.

Lao Meng Khin, the president of Shukaku Inc, could no be reached for comment Wednesday, but Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun rejected criticisms that the municipality's approach to the issue was insufficient.

He described the ESIA as an "inter-ministry" effort, which included input from the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, among others.

"The Boeung Kak development plan will not have any impacts such as flooding," he told the Post Wednesday.

But Be Pharom, 56, a representative from Boeung Kak's Village 22, agreed with the study, saying that more and more villagers were losing their homes as the lake's reclamation continued to drive up water levels.

"The study is right. Other observers have also said that pumping sand to fill in the lake has created floods," she said.

"And during the rainy season, it not only floods around the lake, but also in other areas such as Phnom Penh Thmey, Russey Keo [and] Tuol Sangke."

Goad said he hoped the conclusions of the report - technically more detailed than anything released by the municipality - would force decision-makers to take action to mitigate the effects of flooding resulting from the Boeung Kak project.

"My impression is that the municipality is just not open for business when it comes to Boeung Kak," he said by phone.

"But if the report creates some discussion, they might have to do something about it."

Two more concessions for the Vietnamese Sokha Hotel Group

18 Feb 2009
By Kang Kallyan
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the article in French

The Sokha Hotel Group, whose CEO is also the chairman of the Sokimex oil company, has obtained from the government the approval for two concession contracts: one for the development of the Bokor national park, and the second one for the development of the Kirirom national park.

The official signing of the contract took place this morning, on 18 Feb, during the groundbreaking inauguration of the construction site for a 5-star hotel at the top of Bokor. The Sokha Hotel Group, just as it was engaged to do last year, had already undertaken the renovation of the road leading to the top of the mountain. Villas, restaurants and casinos will see the daylight soon with a total investment amounting to several billions of dollars.

The history of the Bokor park goes all the way back to the French protectorate era. Created in 1922, it became a popular tourist resort for people who came here for the casino gambling. After the war, it was destroyed and the site was completely abandoned while the infrastructures were left in ruin.

Mobitel office cordoned off by police: Between rumors and official version

Phnom Penh (Cambodia) – 05 February 2009. A dozen of military police were deployed in front of the Mobitel headquarters located on Sihanouk Boulevard (Photo: John Vink/Magnum)

05 Feb 2009
By Duong Sokha
Ka-set (Our apologies to K-7 for the previous source attribution to CSH)
Unofficial translation by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French
Click here to read the article in Khmer

On Thursday 05 February, customers of the Mobitel telephone company were surprised by a sudden interruption of its services at the company headquarters in Phnom Penh. In fact, a dozen of military police officers were deployed in front of its offices, preventing all employees from entering the premises. It was impossible to obtain any information on the spot. The company customer service phone numbers (812 and 012 812 812) did not work all morning long.

Rumors started to spread in which the company would owe debts toward the state, or that there would be an internal conflict within the company management.

In the middle of the afternoon, a company employee who was in charge of providing answers to customers explained over the phone that the morning incident was caused by “the visit of VIPs who came to observe the working of the company” … when no employees were actually at work. “That’s why we had to suspend all our activities…”

Refusing to reveal the identity of these VIPs, she added that “the police deployment was aimed at protecting the security of these people, the same way high-ranking government officials are protected by cars blaring sirens used to open their convoy.” She indicated that rumors swirling about the incident were baseless while adding that the company resumed normal service on the same day at 1PM.

Mobitel, the phone company which counts the largest customer base in Cambodia, belongs to Oknha Kith Meng, the powerful president of the Royal Group (which includes Mobitel and the ANZ Royal bank in which it is a partner), and also president of the Phnom Penh business chamber. He is considered as a man close to prime minister Hun Sen. He could not be reached on Thursday.

Sok Kong's Sokimex in line for big rewards from Hun Sen regime

Sok Kong, the owner of Sokimex, a crony of Hun Sen
Sokimex gas station in Cambodia (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Sokimex in line for black rewards

Feb 6, 2009
By Geoffrey Cain
Asia Times (Hong Kong)

PHNOM PENH - If Cambodia's much touted oil and gas finds in the past few years comes to fruition, Sokimex Group, the country's largest business conglomerate, is expected to be one of the bigger local winners. With top level political connections and a firm grip on local oil and gas distribution, the historically opaque and often controversial company will also face more pressure to publicly disclose its accounts and practices.

The World Bank earlier estimated the fuel find, made and managed by US oil giant Chevron, could entail 2 billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Chevron has remained tightlipped about its in-house estimates and plans, and some industry analysts have deflated earlier high-end estimates, contending the fuel actually lies in hard-to-reach and scattered pockets rather than in one concentrated area.

Exploitation is nonetheless expected to commence in either 2010 or 2011, though a recent tax dispute between the government and Chevron could delay drilling indefinitely, one analyst says. It's also unclear how the collapse in global oil prices - from a high of US$147 per barrel in July last year to its current level of around $41 - might have impacted on the project's economics and projected profitability.

None of that has so far dampened Sokimex's outlook. One Sokimex representative, who spoke with Asia Times Online and requested anonymity, said the company expects to benefit from a proposed scheme to export and re-import oil from the find. He said Sokimex also had plans to build an oil refinery to process the fuel. The representative would not divulge any further details about those plans and its not clear if the government is pressuring Chevron to process the fuel in Cambodia rather than at established modern refineries in Thailand or Singapore.

Yet the lack of disclosure is par for Sokimex's course: the company, which spans businesses as diverse as energy, tourism, aviation and property development, does not publicly release annual profit and loss statements. The homegrown company was founded in 1990 by rubber baron and ethnic Chinese entrepreneur Sok Kong, coinciding with the country's transition towards a free-market economy in line with the United Nations-sponsored Paris Peace Accords.

Sok Kong laid the foundations for the company in 1980s, when he supplied rubber tires to the Vietnamese army after Hanoi seized power over the country. He also exported the product throughout that era. Yet the domestic deals have sparked allegations the company remains close to perceived Vietnamese allies in the government, including Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Sokimex entered the petroleum business in May 1996 through its purchase of state-owned oil company, Compagnie Kampuchea des Carburants, which was then tasked with the import, storage and distribution of petroleum in Cambodia. The deal was part of the government's market-oriented privatization program, but raised further speculation of Sok Kong's close ties to Hun Sen's now dominant Cambodian People's Party.

According to the company's website, Sokimex is Cambodia's largest petroleum company with a market share of 40%. It boasts a US$15 million oil jetty with the capacity to handle oil carriers of up to 46,000 tons, five storage terminals, 184 petrol stations and a complex petroleum transport system that serves as the country's power "lifeline".

The site also says that "the main success venture that propelled Sokimex ... is petroleum" and that "Sok Kong's visionary mind coupled with his optimistic courage led him to dive into the petroleum industry without much hesitation." The site, however, fails to disclose Sokimex's recent profits, losses or average return on investments nor those of its various subsidiaries.

Privileged position

With its money-spinning oil assets and top government contacts, Sokimex has reached into a wide range of businesses, including garments, hotels, property development and even an exclusive contract to supply the Cambodian military with clothing and fuel. Sokimex is among Cambodia's big five oil and gas distributors, alongside international oil giants Total, Shell, and Caltex, as well as the country's other main local distributor, Tela Petroleum Group.

Industry analysts note that Sokimex has a proven knack for securing lucrative government contracts and believe that based on that track record the company could receive special treatment if and when the spoils of the Chevron oil find are realized.

Critics point in particular to the murky circumstances surrounding the concession Sokimex won to manage ticket sales to Angkor Wat, one of the preeminent tourist destinations in Southeast Asia, and its comparative ease in starting new businesses while foreign investors often have their new ventures ensnared in bureaucratic tape. The company also won government permission in 2006 to launch a domestic airline, Sarika Air.

Sokimex's lack of transparency, some contend, could ground future fund raising, particularly if the conglomerate does not substantially change its practices before listing shares on the country's new stock exchange, which is scheduled to commence trading in December despite the global economic downturn. Cambodia's economy is losing steam after years of breakneck growth, with gross domestic product projected to expand just 4.75% this year, the lowest level since 1998.

Sokimex representatives declined to provide this correspondent with basic revenue and profit figures for its oil and gas operations. Company executives who previously agreed to meet requested later that questions be sent via e-mail but failed to respond to queries. Follow-up inquiries made by telephone were met with one-word "yes", "no", or "I don't know" replies.

Cambodia's general lack of disclosure has raised concerns the country could go the way of Venezuela, Nigeria and Iraq, where major fuel resources have been squandered and pilfered by corrupt governments. The World Bank recently ranked Cambodia in the bottom 15% of countries on commitment to the rule of law and the bottom 10% for overall control of corruption. Transparency International downgraded Cambodia further in its 2008 Corruption Perception Index, ranking it the 14th most corrupt.

It's unclear, analysts say, if the government is trying to convince Chevron to process all or part of the fuel find in-country to help build up Sokimex's capabilities. The same analysts question Sokimex's ability to handle an energy bonanza, given that it has never run a refinery, lacks a pool of home-grown energy experts, and has no prior experience working with a find of this magnitude.

"The crude will probably be shipped to Singapore to be refined," said Michael McWalter, the Asian Development Bank's oil and gas adviser to the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority. "Any attempt to build pipelines, a refinery, or sell the oil in Cambodia will probably mean local companies will gouge prices."

Ou Virak, an economist by training and activist by profession, said: "They say they're planning to build a refinery in Cambodia, but they lack all expertise to do so unless they can hire expensive foreign advisors. It's political connections that keep them afloat, as they've demonstrated in their previous contracts that have operated without regard for the market."

Others see signs that Hun Sen's government, particularly after it consolidated power at last year's general elections, has started to put more pressure on Cambodian companies, including Sokimex, to operate with more transparency. They point in particular to Hun Sen's recent call to Sokimex and other oil distributors to sharply lower their prices in line with global trends or be summoned to a personal meeting at his offices.

Those concerns are widely shared. The United Nations Development Program held a petroleum conference last year to address how the government should best manage expected future oil and gas revenues. Delegates from the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, Supreme National Economic Council, and Norwegian Petroleum Directorate discussed the possibility of establishing a sovereign fund to manage future oil revenues ethically and transparently for the national interest.

They also discussed the possibility of creating a professional, market-oriented national oil company, potentially modeled after Malaysia's Petronas. One year later, with questions and criticisms still swirling about the company's accounts and technical capabilities, it's not clear to most that Sokimex will emerge any time soon as an outward-looking and modern regional energy player.

Geoffrey Cain is based in Phnom Penh and a contributor to the Far Eastern Economic Review and Integrated Regional Information Networks, a United Nations-run news wire service. He may be reached at geoffrey.cain@gmail.com.

CPP Pig Baron Mong Reththy at work

Mong Reththy receiving his medal from Hun Sen

Oknha Mong Reththy: introducing Cambodian pork meat in Cambodia

26-01-2009
By Ros Dina
Ka-Set in English

The small scale of pig farms, high pig-food prices, the often steep fees charged by slaughterhouses, smuggling of pigs from Vietnam undermining competition or the prices of pork meat, volatile and unpredictable as a consequence. Reasons for the weakness in the Cambodian pig industry are aplenty, as the country currently has to import the majority of pigs intended for domestic consumption. Mong Reththy, the Cambodian food industry tycoon, also a Senator affiliated to the prime Minister's CPP, aims at shifting the balance. For this process, he initiated an ambitious pig breeding project, the first specimen of which come straight from England.

A large-scale farm
The first requirement was to build a vast farming complex, which oknha Mong Reththy presents as modern and in accordance with international standards (we were not allowed to visit it for health and safety reasons), established on a 30ha piece of land he owns on the provincial border between Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong, next to his palm oil plantation. The second thing was to gradually fill the premises with quality breeding pigs, which he found in England following the settling of a deal with an English commercial partner, the ACMC company. At the end of December 2008, 150 animals arrived in Cambodia. This first shipment will be followed by another at the end of January (300 pigs), and a final one with 150 animals a month later.

With this 600-head porcine livestock, the businessman, also vice-president of the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce, did the maths and gave his predictions – by the end of the company's second year of activity, there will be a total of 6,200 pigs on the farm, and by the end of the third one, it should host 18,000... And in eight years' time, a million animals, i.e. the limit set by Mong Reththy, a limit which should be maintained and, according to the businessman, will satisfy 50% of domestic demand. For the first year of exploitation, investments amount to USD5 million, and should reach USD130 million in the tenth year.

“Some wonder: 'Why import pigs for this farm?' This is because there are not enough of them in farms in the country. Satisfying the needs of the country requires 2.4 million animals per year. Phnom Penh alone almost consumes 2,000 pigs every day!”, Mong Reththy explains, stressing that local farming is faced with higher costs than those found in neighbouring countries. “Pork sells at 1.80 to 2 dollars per kilo, when it's only 1.3 dollar per kilo in Thailand. Therefore, sellers prefer importing!”

For his breeding pigs imported from Yorkshire, Mong Reththy spend USD3,000 per sow and USD4,000 per boar - and this is without transportation expenses - when a pig imported from Thailand costs USD300. This is down to a difference in size, he points out. Sows from Thailand only give birth once, whereas the breed he chose to import can reproduce 4 years in a row.

Jobs for farmers
His huge farm in south Cambodia will only employ some fifty people, but in fact, will give a job to many more, according to Mong Reththy, who heads an important company named after him. First, he will meet farmers to buy products needed to feed pigs, as feeding represent ¾ of all expenses in pig breeding. Regarding this issue, he digressed on the nonsense of exporting unhusked rice: In Cambodia, if growers sold husked rice, in addition to the value-added they would give to their product, they could also make business with rice-bran, which is part of pigs' diet.

Then, pigs will be sold to local farmers, either professional or inexperienced, provided they accept to attend a short training session on pig breeding at his farm (the techniques used were introduced by the ACMC company) and sell adult pigs to his slaughterhouse. Already, he makes the promise that pork meat prices coming from his slaughterhouse will be brought into line with prices charged in Thailand, in order to reduce the volume of import.

Putting an end to importations in the long run
Mong Reththy boasts about his being the only one daring to embark on such enterprises, seen as risky. “Banks do not lend money to the farming sector in Cambodia, it is seen as high-risk. But look, we thought that the property sector was more viable, and today it is experiencing crisis! In the end, I had to use my own personal funds.”

The importation of pigs is currently split between five companies in Cambodia. Two months ago, Mong Reththy obtained the assurance that the imported pigs would be examined by his own veterinaries on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, so as to prevent the potential introduction of contagious diseases such as the foot and mouth disease, and make sure that importation papers are in order. But do these companies show worry in front of the arrival on the market of this massive entrepreneur? Mong Reththy says he contacted their representatives via the Ministry of Agriculture to explain his project. Since then, the market has been regulated and each company was granted a maximum quota of imported pigs, with an overall limit coming altogether to an equivalent of 800 animals per day.

“I do not want any misunderstanding here. I am doing this to relieve them, not to make their companies die...” And when his entrepreneurial approach sparks off discontent , the head of Mong Reththy Group reminds that the renovation of road 271 by his company, which surrounds the south-west area of Phnom Penh, generated much opposition. Back then, roadworks had forced inhabitants to cut part of their houses and even to move house, and disturbed road traffic. “Today, we have a nice road and residents understood the interest of the works, and they thank me...”

In the long run, Mong Reththy's goal is to export Cambodian pork meat, which would require the opening of another large-scale breeding farm in the country. Would Mong Reththy be ready to invest in a second farm? “We will see, it all depends on financial matters. But if a bank comes to back me up, then why not?”. He noted that Maybank showed a certain interest in his project. The investor would like to see this support turned into subventions for his company.

Regulation of the market
The pig import company Tho Kim Sreang have worked with Thailand since 2003. Its representative, Yuok Rothmony, chose that activity after noticing the failure of pig industry in Cambodia, burdened by excessive pig food prices. “The day Cambodia stops importing pigs, if local demand is fully satisfied, then it will not be a problem for me. It is the open-market policy”, the representative says, content with his situation.

Yuok Rothmony confirms the enforcement of a quota policy a few months ago by the Ministry of Agriculture. His company was granted the right to import 203 animals per day, when the average was 250 before the policy was enforced. However, not unpleased with the quotas, he claims he is rather happy that the market is now regulated and that pig import companies are not subject to illegal competition any more.

The fifth and latest pig import company to date, Oud Cambodia, benefited from a quota of 150 heads per day and claims not to be aware of Mong Reththy's project.

Turning pig industry into a more professional sector
Yang Saing Koma, president of the CEDAC (The Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture) acknowledges that techniques and mindsets in the agricultural sector need a revolutionary change. “If Cambodia imports that many farming products, it is because firstly, there is a problem with local competences, they are insufficient. The majority of farmers practise family agriculture intended for their own subsistence and do not think about marketing their produce. Little by little, often with some stimulus initiated by NGOs involved in agricultural and development issues, some realise that there are a few seizable opportunities. Then, the problem of final products adds up: their cost price is higher than that of imported products. And yet another issue: the fact that farmers are faced with a lack of finances. They do not have a basic capital and generally cannot get any help for investment.”

As for Mong Reththy's project, he sees in it “a good investment, which will bring income to the state”. However, he warns against the risk that English pigs might not stand the tropical climate and local food. But this breed of pigs, reportedly genetically-advanced, should be looked after in the best possible way, Mong Reththy says.