Barging in uninvited

A capsized barge that had been used for transporting sand lies rusting in the Kampong Bay estuary on Saturday. Three barges lie partly submerged in the estuary. WILL BAXTER

Workers use a crane to dredge sand from the bottom of the Kampong Bay estuary, in Kampot province, on Friday. Will Baxter

Fishermen Ham Math (centre) and Y Seu (right), from Kampong Kreng commune in Teuk Chhou district, say dredging is affecting the local environment. will baxter

Monday, 13 February 2012
David Boyle and Phak Seangly
The Phnom Penh Post

A sorry sight pierces the pristine waters of the Kampong Bay estuary, in Kampot province: the rusty hull of a sand-dredging barge that has capsized and been abandoned in the middle of the waterway.

The rusting hulk is one of three upside-down, partly submerged barges that Kampot residents will not be adding to the area’s long list of tourist attractions.

The barges that remain upright are busy plundering the estuary of sand in yet another dredging operation being recklessly conducted on one of Cambodia’s picturesque waterways.

Now, yet another segment of the country’s population find themselves dismayed as the fish stocks they rely on dwindle, seafood prices rise and tourists gaze uncomfortably at the giant eyesores spoiling the serenity.

Ham Math, 60, from Kampong Kreng commune’s Mak Brang fishing village, says most people in his community wouldn’t dare raise their concerns about the dredging because the company is too politically connected.

“Our villagers are afraid of Yuon [a derogatory term for Vietnamese people] and do not dare to blame them. Their boss has power,” he says.

Sand dredging deja vu

Sand merchant and "Blood sugar" seller, CPP Ly Yong Phat (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

A boat dredges sand from the bottom of the Tatai River in Koh Kong province last week. Photo Supplied

Sand dredging boats on the Tatai River in Koh Kong province last week. Photo Supplied

Tuesday, 27 December 2011
May Titthara and David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

They thought the days of scenic sunsets ruined by the noise and pollution of dredgers on the Tatai River were over, but villagers and business owners in the popular tourism destination now say they were duped in a promise from ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat.

In October, the Post reported that Ly Yong Phat’s LYP Group had respected an agreement to stop sand dredging on the Tatai River in Koh Kong province by mid-October, to the relief of business owners and villagers in the area who had long campaigned against the dredging.

But Janet Newman, owner of the Rainbow Lodge ecotourism resort, said yesterday that rather than respect the written agreement from July 16, Ly Yong Phat had simply subcontracted out to another company.

When she confronted the new company, which began dredging alarmingly close to the bank late last month and on one occasion actually tied their boats to her property, she was told they were from International Rainbow Company Ltd.

“This company in my view has been sold a complete dud by Ly Yong Phat, because there simply is no sand in the river, so they are having to break the law and come right next to the bank,” she said. LYP Group’s response was that if she, other business owners and villagers wanted International Rainbow Company Ltd to stop its noisy and destructive machinery from sand mining in the area, they would have to reimburse the company for the licence, Newman said.

Building Boom Causes Asian Sand Smugglers to Expand

This Aug. 2, 2011 photo shows a sand depot just outside the provincial capital of Koh Kong in southwestern Cambodia. It is owned by Ly Yong Phat, one of the country's biggest tycoons who is being criticized for the environmental damage his sand mining operations inflict on the Cambodian coast. Most of the sand is destined for Singapore. (Photo: AP)

Monday, 19 September 2011
Luke Hunt, VOA | Kuala Lumpur

"I have seen houses perched along the bankside, just waiting to sink into the rivers."

Singapore's decades-long effort to reclaim land from the ocean has expanded the nation's coastline and fueled its building boom. But it has also depleted its supply of sand. In recent years, the massive sand shortage has been worsened by export bans by neighboring countries, driving up the price and encouraging the smuggling of useable land-fill.

It used to be that sand dredgers had only to travel to nearby Indonesia to get sand for use in Singapore construction projects. But the Indonesian government banned exports after activists and locals complained about disappearing islands and ruined riverbeds. Vietnam and Malaysia have enacted similar curbs on the practice. In Cambodia, officials have curtailed dredging and suspended sales as they assess the environmental damage caused by sand mining.

Svay Rieng dredging destroying farmland

Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Sen David
The Phnom Penh Post

DREDGING operations are causing whole sections of farmland along Svay Rieng’s Toek Vel River to collapse, villagers said in a petition thumb printed by more than 300 affected families.

Ros Mov, a chief of Romeas Hek Samiky Land Community, said yesterday 389 families from four communes in Romeas Hek district – Koki, Doung, Ampil and Kampong Trach – were worried their farmland would be washed away.

“We are alarmed that our farmland on the river bank has been collapsing since Vietnamese boats began dredging on the Toek Vel River,” she said, adding that they had filed their complaint to the provincial hall.

“If the authorities do not intervene, the loss of our farmland will continue and it will affect other communes in the future.”

Negative impact of sand dredging in Koh Kong province - Blame it on CPP sand thief Ly Yong Phat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwx1ssV1CuA

Pirates steal sand from Cambodia

Editor's Note: The following text is from GlobalPost, which provides excellent coverage of world news – important, moving and just odd.

August 24th, 2011

By Patrick Winn, GlobalPost

Where once there was seabed, hotels, a casino and airport rise off Singapore's coast.

But as the tiny island city-state dumps sand on its shores, expanding its territory already by one-fifth, there are increasing claims that Singapore is illegally buying up soil through corrupt channels in Cambodia.

The latest to push these claims is the Associated Press, which reports that foreign vessels were spotted dredging up Cambodian sand for apparent export. The dredging, largely banned in 2009 for eating up Cambodian territory, appears to persist.

An AP reporter tracked or spotted vessels registered in Hong Kong, Vietnam and China dredging in Cambodia. Locals in one coastal province "joked about going to Singapore and planting a Cambodian flag there," according to the report.

Sand pirates in Cambodia

Tons of sand illegally dredged out to expand wealthier nations' coastlines

August 23, 2011
Patrick Winn
Global Post

Where once there was seabed, hotels, a casino and airport rise off Singapore's coast.

But as the tiny island city-state dumps sand on its shores, expanding its territory already by one-fifth, there are increasing claims that Singapore is illegally buying up soil through corrupt channels in Cambodia.

The latest to push these claims is the Associated Press, which reports that foreign vessels were spotted dredging up Cambodian sand for apparent export. The dredging, largely banned in 2009 for eating up Cambodian territory, appears to persist.

An AP reporter tracked or spotted vessels registered in Hong Kong, Vietnam and China dredging in Cambodia. Locals in one coastal province "joked about going to Singapore and planting a Cambodian flag there," according to the report.

CPP-Thief Ly Yong Phat defies Hun Xen's order to halt sand dredging on the Tatai River in Koh Kong

CPP Ly Yong Phat: The "King" Kong of Koh Kong

Tycoon’s dredging tests local’s patience

Aug 10th, 2011
David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

Ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat has defied an order endorsed by the Prime Minster to halt his controversial sand dredging activities on the Tatai river in Koh Kong, prompting authorities to request intervention, documents obtained by The Post reveal.

The dredging operation on the Tatai river has stirred up serious concern from tourism operators and villagers in the area, who have said it is destroying the local environment and driving customers away.

Government officials appear at loggerheads over the tycoon’s operations.

The Water Resources Minister has insisted in a letter that the so-called “King of Koh Kong” cease violating the ban, but provincial authorities have denied that dredging was even taking place. The Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy, meanwhile, has extended the LYP Group’s dredging licence by a year.

The "King Kong" of "Koh Kong" ordered to stop ravaging the Tatai River thru sand dredging ... we'll see how long it will last

Ly Yong Phat, dubbed the CPP "King Kong" aka King of Koh Kong (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Cambodia: Officials Order LYP Group to Stop Tatai River Sand Dredging

Jul 22nd, 2011
By David Boyle and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

The “King of Koh Kong”, ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat, has been ordered to stop his company’s massive sand dredging operation on the Tatai river amid concerns it is decimating the waterway and ruining the tourist trade.

LYP Group has a permit to dredge at seven different sites on the Tatai river, totaling more than 32 square kilometres. Business owners and villagers, however, have complained the operations have reduced local fish stocks, released foul-smelling gasses and driven away tourists from the emerging ecotourism hot spot since May.

A letter ordering the temporary halt, signed by Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology, Lim Kean Hor, and obtained by The Post yesterday, identified several errors LYP Group had made, including pumping sand in the wrong locations and using excessively large equipment at the Koh Kong province operation.

Cambodia urged to stop sand dredging operations [on the Tatai River by CPP thief Ly Yong Phat]

July 1, 2011
ABC Radio Australia

Conservation groups and eco-tourism operators in Cambodia's Koh Kong province are urging the government to stop sand dredging operations they say are decimating fish stocks and destroying businesses.

They are working together to oppose the dredging on the Tatai river which is being carried out by ruling party Senator and business tycoon Ly Yong Phat.

Presenter: Clara Tran

Speaker: Janet Newman, Rainbow Lodge; Leslie Perlman, program manager, Wildlife Alliance; Mao Hak, director of rivers at Ministry of Water Resources Cambodia

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

TRAN: Englishwoman Janet Newman has been running her eco-tourism resort, the Rainbow Lodge, on the Tatai river for the past three and a half years.

One morning in May, she awoke to find the beauty and tranquility of her home shattered by an influx of sand dredging barges.

NEWMAN: It was just chaos. they worked all night. We were not able to sleep. In the morning even more boats turned up and it was literally like a traffic jam on the river.

TRAN: The sand is being dreged out of Cambodia's estuaries and shipped to Singapore to help expand their territory.

Cambodia: Scale of Tatai River Dredging Permit Revealed

CPP Thief Ly Yong Phat

Jun 24th, 2011
David Boyle and Phak Seangly (phnompenhpost)
DredgingToday.com

“The consequences are two fold. Damage being done to the river can have an effect on the aquatic populations and sedimentation. On the other side these are eco-tourism sites and these are places that they are tying to make people to come and sustain the beauty and to use the river to generate income. Anything that makes this more difficult is not something that we can be pleased with” - John Maloy, spokesman for Wildlife Alliance

The scale of a dredging permit given to ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat was revealed yesterday, one day after Koh Kong businesses complained that fish stocks and eco-tourism projects were suffering due to large-scale sand extraction in the Tatai river.

A copy of the permit obtained by The Post yesterday shows that a concession given to the senator’s LYP Group covers seven separate sites along the Tatai river, totaling 32 square Kilometres. The sites are dotted at roughly equidistant points in a 25-kilometre stretch of river.

In 2009, Prime Minister Hun Sen imposed a total ban on marine dredging for export, except where sand gathered and replenished itself naturally or where build-ups were obstructing waterways.

Cambodia: Tatai River Sand Dredging Operations Cause Problems [-Country for Sale by CPP LY YONG PHAT]

CPP thief Ly Yong Phat, a Hun Xen crony, is also known as Thai citizen Pad Supapa

Jun 23rd, 2011
By David Boyle and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

A sand dredging operation of “unprecedented scale” on the Tatai river, in Koh Kong province, had decimated fish stocks, ruined eco-tourism projects and released foul-smelling gases into the air since it began in May, business owners said yesterday.

Ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat’s company, LYP Group, had been granted sole rights to dredge sand in the area for export after applying for a licence late last year, Mao Hak, director of river works at the Ministry of Water Resources, said.

Janet Newman, owner of the Rainbow Lodge resort on the Tatai river, said yesterday the dredging operation had begun on May 17 and was destroying her business.

Four cranes were now pumping sand 15 metres from the resort, sometimes for 24 hours at a time, she said.

Koh Kong dredging resumes

Dredging boats unload sand into a bulk carrier for export to Singapore, around 10 kilometres off the coast of Koh Kong province, in February 2009. (Photo by: Sebastian Strangio)

Monday, 10 January 2011
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
The Phnom Penh Post

Large-scale sand dredging has resumed in coastal areas of Koh Kong province following a three-month halt in the controversial operations late last year, officials said yesterday.

The dredging, which began in Koh Kong in 2008, has long drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, who claim it is causing environmental damage and impacting on the livelihoods of local fishermen.

Pech Siyon, director of the provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, said yesterday that dredging recommenced in early November after the last licensed company wound down operations in August citing a lack of demand in Singapore.

New Year, Same Old Story: Sand dredging operation in full swing near Phnom Penh

Sand Dredging along the Mekong 5km from the Phnom Penh (Photo taken on Jan 9, 2011)

Tour Boat, Small Fishing Boat and the Giant Sand Dredging Boat (Photo taken on the Mekong River near Phnom Penh on Jan 9, 2011)

Sand dredging at the heart of the Koh Kong City

The following photos show proof of sand dredging in Koh Kong by a Chinese firm brokered by CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat. The destination of the dredged sand is Singapore.

Dredging in Sre Ambel, Koh Kong (Photo taken on Dec 28, 2010)

Dredging at the heart of the Koh Kong city (Photo taken on Dec 30, 2010)

Sand dredgers back in Koh Kong [-Global Witness report was right on the money!]

A barge laden with sand plies the Koh Pao River upstream from Koh Kong town last November. Dredging operations have allegedly increased in the province after a downturn last year. (Photo by: Matt Jacobson)

Wednesday, 09 June 2010
Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Ships have reportedly bolstered operations in area, and there are also concerns on the Mekong

SAND-DREDGERS have resumed large-scale operations in Koh Kong province’s salt-water estuaries since June 2 after a drop-off in dredging activities as a result of a sand-export ban last year, local fishermen said Tuesday.

Matt Sen, a 47-year-old fisherman from Village 4 in Smach Meanchey district’s Dong Tung commune, said Tuesday that about 10 transport ships are now waiting in the ocean to transport sand offshore.

He added that fishermen were using around 8 litres of gasoline per day in order to access deepwater areas where the fish are still plentiful, and blamed the dredgers for fish declines in shallow areas.

“I don’t know about the environmental impact. I only know that when there are sand-dredging companies in the sea there are no fish,” he said.

Last month, London-based watchdog Global Witness released a report on Cambodia’s sand trade that said that up to 796,000 tonnes of sand was being removed from Koh Kong each month.

The group estimates that the annual value of these shipments is US$28.7 million in Cambodia and $248 million once the sand reaches Singapore, and that the trade is being conducted with little regard for international standards or local laws.

Last month, fishermen and local officials told the Post that dredging – including one large-scale operation run jointly by Hong Kong’s Winton Enterprises and the local LYP Group – had stopped in the area following the sand-export ban, which was announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen in May and July of last year.

Pech Siyon, director of the Koh Kong provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, also said last month that only one company, Udom Seima Trading, was dredging in the area. He added that the LYP/Winton operation had shut down pending the renewal of its sand-export licence.

When contacted Tuesday, he denied the fishermen’s claims that dredging had increased, saying the situation remained unchanged.

“I have no information about whether the company will have its licence for export renewed or not, but the sand-dredging companies are still operating as normal,” he said.

Fresh dredging concerns have also been raised by villagers living along the Mekong River in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district.

On Sunday, around 200 villagers from Chong Koh village protested against operations that they say are eroding riverbanks and threatening farmland.

Khsach Kandal Governor Kong Sophon said an unnamed sand company had received a dredging licence from the government, but that some of its operations had been undertaken in areas where dredging was not permitted

“Our local authorities, village representatives and the company will meet tomorrow to resolve the complaints filed by the villagers,” he said.

Hun Xen and Global Witness: Who’s the real thief ringleader?

Who's the thief ringleader: Global Witness or Hun Xen?

27 May 2010
By Pech Bandol
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The shameful thug (Neak Leng) language echoed from PM Hun Xen’s mouth yesterday morning when he harshly attacked a London-based environmental protection group, calling it the “thief ringleader.”

Hun Xen declared, during a 2-day mining meeting which started Wednesday, in front of more than 300 national and international officials: “They are thieves and thief ringleaders, they know how to be thieves, that’s why they gave us advises.” The prime minister also demanded that the international community stop lecturing him on the use of funding for various programs.

Hun Xen said: “It turns out that I am a thief, they look at me like a thief, it’s time to stop the accusation and the finger pointing, because with one finger pointing at me, you are pointing the other 4 at yourself.”

Hun Xen’s reaction takes place after Global Witness issued a report indicating that all the funding that the Cambodian government collected from mining companies, which is alleged to be preserved for social funds, is simply not true. Global Witness said that based on its review of bank ledgers, no such fund exists.

In Cambodia, Global Witness is not the only organization that criticized national corruption, deforestation and destruction of the environment, even the various donor countries themselves directly criticized the abject corruption in the country.

Last year, US Ambassador Carol Rodley publicly criticized the Cambodian government for losing $350 to $500 million in revenue to corruption each year. Following this criticism, the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a diplomatic note last month, forbidding foreign ambassadors stationed in Cambodia from interfering in Cambodian internal affairs.

Regarding this issue, the Cambodian people, the civil society and the opposition parties are all wondering who, between Hun Xen and Global Witness, is really the thief ringleader?

CPP Tycoon-senator Mon Reththy on sand export to Singapore: Deny! Deny! Deny!

Mong Reththy (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Tycoon Senator Denies Selling Sand to Singapore

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C Friday, 14 May 2010

"I didn’t say “we.” I don’t know about other businessmen. I denied the allegation against myself. I didn’t export sand to Singapore as alleged, because Singapore denied the sand for its poor quality, which failed on quality check and specifications."

Editor’s note: Agriculture business tycoon and ruling Cambodian People’s Party Senator Mong Reththy was recently named in a Global Witness report as having received a government license “behind closed doors” for the extraction of sand, a lucrative industry the group claims is worth millions of dollars but is endangering Cambodia’s coast. In its report, “Shifting Sands,” Global Witness claims Mong Reththy, along with another CPP senator, has been “implicated in dubious land deals and forced evictions. He was also criticized for “sponsoring units of Cambodia’s armed forces.” Mong Reththy spoke to VOA Khmer from Phnom Penh in response to the charges.

The Global Witness report says sand dredging has negative impacts on the environment. Was your licensing the work of businessmen or did governments get involved?

First of all, thank you. Firstly, let me tell you that Khmers should have the right to sail Cambodia and manage the future of the country themselves. Secondly, because I received permission to build a seaport [in Koh Kong province], I have dredged sand to rehabilitate the Chloung River from 2003 until now. But I have never exported dredged sand because the sand failed on inspection. Media reported that I exported millions of tons of dredged sand. They lied or were blind. It was true that an agreement was signed for the export of sand, but in fact no export was made. They denied the sand because of its poor quality and it failed on quality inspection.

So Singapore has not bought sand from Cambodia? The report is not true? Groundless? There was no investigation?

I didn’t say “we.” I don’t know about other businessmen. I denied the allegation against myself. I didn’t export sand to Singapore as alleged, because Singapore denied the sand for its poor quality, which failed on quality check and specifications.

Where did this poor-quality sand come from? From where did you dredge it?

I only had permission to dredge sand to open the way for ships coming to dock at the seaport. I didn’t dredge sand anywhere else. I dredged sand in the sea to open the way for ships to land. The undersea canal is called Chhker Pruos. I have been dredging to open the undersea canal since 2003—not recently. The plan is to open the way for ships to come to port. The dredging is to the depth of one and a half meters only. The reports accusing me of exporting sand are groundless blather.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen put a ban on dredging in May 2009. But Global Witness reports that you and Senator Ly Yong Phat were still permitted to hold licenses. Why is that and how?

In my case, the fact is that the government gave me permission to build the seaport. Because the sea in that area is shallow… the government gave me permission to dredge the sand. Given that I was getting sand from the dredging, I requested a license from the government to export it and pay royalties to the state. However, I haven’t exported the sand since getting permission. This is a fact. Let me call to your attention the fact that there are customs agencies, CamControl and many other law enforcement agencies. No one can export anything out of sight of these law enforcement agencies, and not one export can be undertaken without paying royalties to the state. I don’t know about the other businessmen, but for me, I didn’t export any sand.

Will you take any action on the Global Witness report?

I don’t need to. Not only against Global Witness, but also [Voice of America] and [Radio Free Asia]. They reported recently that I bulldozed the rice fields of villagers in Dum Kralor commune. Not a word was true. I didn’t react. How could I, because I don’t have a radio station. There were no rice fields in Dum Kralor, were there? I leveled the land and built houses for people to live in. They didn’t report it, but on the contrary, they reported that I bulldozed villagers’ rice fields.

I can check the reports, but I doubt that VOA reported that.

Check it yourself. Don’t carelessly air anything just because you have the power of broadcast. Check for yourself who is helping the nation. You were born Khmer, weren’t you? Given that you are Khmer, you had better check, “Is it true?” Did I bulldoze villagers’ rice fields? No one helps people’s livings as I do. I’ve built hundreds of houses for people. Why don’t you broadcast that? I prepared a plot of land 50 meters by 50 meters for each family of villagers. Doing this, I didn’t bulldoze the villagers’ rice fields. Villagers didn’t farm rice in the area. No rice fields.

I don’t know what you are denying. The report by VOA or RFA?

You shouldn’t report lies. Just report the truth. And for balance, you should also report which Khmers help Khmers. Do not report only about foreigners helping Khmers. It is unfair to do so.

Thank you, Oknha. I will check any report.

Well I thank you too. But don’t forget to investigate the report about the sand. It was very crazy.

You won’t file a lawsuit against Global Witness for the report, will you?

Eh! Sue journalists? Sue VOA? Let me ask you, would I ever win?

I’m asking you about the Global Witness report, not VOA.

Not just Global Witness, not anyone. I won’t sue them. They have the right to broadcast. I have the right not to answer.

You said you didn’t dredge sand anywhere else other than the Mong seaport in Keo Phos, Sre Ambel district, Koh Kong province. You didn’t dredge sand in any other place, is that right?

I didn’t dredge sand anywhere else other than that place. But I was accused of such and such and they just blather and blather. The fact was that I only dredged the sand so that ships won’t get grounded coming to port. I only dredged to open Chhker Prous canal, where I had permission from the government to do so. Let me tell you that there was only mud and no sand in the sea just around the port. Don’t judge that. I did a feasibility study there. And Singapore wouldn’t buy it—sand of mud. Don’t just argue over nothing. It is a waste of time, I’m telling you.

Thank you, Oknha, for the interview.

Thanks. I wish you to live to be 100 years old.

Thanks. Goodbye.

Cambodia's Sand for Sale

Vietnamese boats used by a local company to dredge sand from a 42 hectare area in Teuk Chhou district.

Amid villagers' protests, MP Mu Sochua's requested clarification from the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy which authorized a local company to dredge sand to be sold outside of Cambodia, Kampot local authorities ordered a temporary suspension of the dredging operations. The company which used Vietnamese boats for its operations along the Kampot river, was allowed to dredge in a 42-hectare area despite the 2009 ban of exportation of sand by the Prime Minister.

The heavy dredging operations have caused visible collapse of the river bank and a threat to the villagers' live hoods and the growth of the famous chak or water palms of Kampot.

Government Praised for Ban on Sand Export

By VOA Khmer, Sothearith Im
Original report from Washington
15 May 2009

While the Cambodian government is often criticized for poor management of its natural resources, it earned praise this week for a ban on the export of sand.

Even Global Witness, an environmental watchdog that has been sharply critical of the government’s exploitation of timber and minerals, welcomed the ban.

Cambodia was exporting sand to Vietnam and Singapore, but the practice can have a devastating impact on coastal environments. Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive May 8 that would halt the export of sand, while allowing dredging for local demand.

More than 120 sand-dredging companies are estimated to be operating in Cambodia, removing thousands of tons of sand from coastal and river bottoms.

Global Witness spokeswoman Amy Barry said the ban was a good measure, but it was only the first step toward sustainable management of Cambodia’s natural resources, including forests, minerals and, potentially, oil.

“We want to make sure we call on the prime minister, Hun Sen, to ensure that his decree is implemented and to monitor the sand-dredging and export,” Barry said.

Cheam Yiep, a lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, said the ban followed complaints by citizens and a report from the Sand Resource Management Committee.

“That’s why recently [Hun Sen] issued a decree to stop sand-exporting operations,” he said.

The ban was imposed for three reasons, he said. First, sand export was not benefiting the government; second, it was damaging personal property; and third, it was harming rivers and marine areas that legally belong to the government.

Private companies violating the ban would be sued, he said.

“We already have a law,” he said. “When the prosecutor files a complaint, the investigative judge will make a decision accordingly.”

Chan Yutha, chief of cabinet for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said the ban was put into effect immediately following the order by Hun Sen. Now all sand-dredging will be re-examined, he said.

“I just want to clarify that sand-dredging operations have either positive or negative effects,” he said. “If they follow technical standards, it is a good impact, but if the technical standard is violated, it has a negative impact, such as the collapse of riverbanks.”

Dredgers in violation of the standards are warned or fined, their tools and equipment confiscated, he said.

Even with this ban in place, critics say law enforcement and policy implementation in Cambodia remain weak. The government has sold many of its assets in the past, including sand, beaches, and historical buildings, to private companies.

Global Witness has issued detailed reports on deforestation undertaken with impunity and the stripping of the country’s mineral resources. With potentially lucrative offshore oil deposits under exploration, the worry is that income from state resources will benefit only a handful of powerful elites.