Sun Chanthol
Moneakseka KhmerTranslated from Khmer by Anonymous
An official of the Ministry of Economy and Finance [MoE&F] said that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) gave Cambodia more than $40 million for repairing 950 kilometers of roads throughout the country. This road repair does not specify which roads will be repaired so long as they are roads throughout Cambodia estimated to be some 950 kilometers that need repairing. This length of damaged roads needing repair would require some $40 million in expenses that would be granted by the ADB.
A MoE&F official said that according to the agreement, the ADB has handed over this money to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport [MoPW&T] to handle. But in reality, the money is under the control of the Council of Ministers Cabinet. Before the MoPW&T spends the money, it has to get prior approval from the Council of Ministers or it would have no authority to spend this money.
Sun Chanthol, minister public works and transport who is a son-in-law of Khaou Chuly, owner of the K-Cement Company of Kampot province, is known to be ready to defect to the Cambodian People's Party [CPP]. Sun Chanthol is a former official of the FUNCINPEC [National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, and Peaceful Cambodia] Party and was state secretary for the MoE&F from the FUNCINPEC quota in the first government.
According to a senior FUNCINPEC Party that is on the verge of collapse, Sun Chanthol is not a former resistance fighter nor is he an activist of the FUNCINPEC Party. He joined FUNCINPEC during the first general elections. He just contributed some tee-shirts with the FUNCINPEC logos on them and, in return, he was awarded the post of state secretary for the MoE&F. After the 1997 coup d'etat Sun Chanthol disappeared from the public eyes for a while. Some FUNCINPEC officials said that he was waiting to see which direction the wind blew. Now his waiting paid off. After FUNCINPEC tumultuously expelled Prince Ranariddh, he turned to Nhiek Bun Chhay and has since been made minister of public works and transport.
The official at the MoE&F who asked to remain anonymous said that in a developing country like present-day Cambodia the MoPW&T is a very lucrative post because Cambodia needs to build roads and bridges and most of the foreign grants and loans are for building roads and bridges. However, because Sun Chanthol is not a CPP official, Hun Sen would not let him gobble all the money alone. He has transferred the bulk of the budget for the construction of roads and bridges to the engineering corps. Nowadays, the MoPW&T can build only a small number of roads and bridges while Hun Sen gives the rest to the engineering corps with Khvan Siem as commander to build.
The MoE&F official said that although the more than $40 million was the grant from the ADB, which was entrusted to the MoPW&T to control and manage, but this money was also under the supervision of the Council of Ministers Cabinet. Therefore, this money is not entirely handled by the MoPW&T. A large part of it is under the control of the engineering corps as well. However, although the engineering corps and the MoPW&T are the ones who build roads and bridges, the Council of Ministers still is going to get a big cut out of the construction budget. This is why the Council of Ministers is keeping the money.
The MoE&F official said that the projects to build roads, irrigation networks, bridges, and other facilities, if they are financed by the ADB, always have to go through biddings, meaning that it is a little bit difficult for government officials to lay their paws on this money. However, the money for repairing roads and bridges that are damaged in spots is not subject to biddings. Consequently, the corrupt officials have a chance to swallow it.
The MoE&F official further said that more than $40 million is a lot of money. If the aid donors do not control it or monitor it with care, it would not escape being embezzled by the corrupt officials. If the money falls into the hands of the corrupt officials it is not different from giving steroid injections in their arms. As for the Cambodian people, they will continue to be poor.
At every forum to inaugurate social constructions, Hun Sen always boasts about his achievements. However, most of the constructions are financed with foreign grants or foreign loans. The national budget accumulated by the government for national development is scarce. Therefore, if these corrupt officials steal from the national coffers, they should not steal from foreign aid, too, because the aid donors have declared that they want to aid the Cambodian people. Anyway, in the end, the foreign aid still ends up in the hands of corrupt officials.
