CAMBODIA: US to resume aid for government projects
Connect Asia Program
Radio Australia
Australian Boradcasting Corporation
The United States has announced it will resume direct aid to support Cambodian government projects. The US cut off direct funding in 1997, after Prime Minister Hun Sen took power in a coup.
Presenter - Linda LoPresti,
Speaker - Joseph Mussomeli, US ambassador to Cambodia; Heav Veasna, Coalition for Transparency Cambodia
LOPRESTI: The U-S Ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph Mussomeli, has issued a written statement announcing Washington's resumption of aid to Phnom Penh. He says President George W. Bush has signed a congressional appropriation's resolution for the 2007 fiscal year, which contains no restrictions on direct US government funding of Cambodian Government activities.
The very same ambassador has in the past been outspoken and up front about the rampant political corruption which exists in Cambodia.
MUSSOMELI: Corruption is central to everything at all levels. I don't know of any case of where a corrupt official has really gone to jail here, certainly not from the Ruling Party.
LOPRESTI: The ambassador's concern has been steadfast and in step with donors who have also strongly criticised the Cambodian Government for doing little to tackle rampant corruption. The underlying message is that the government can't be trusted to spend aid money wisely and, that it can't be guaranteed that the Greenback won't be lining the pockets of some government officials.
For the last ten years, Washington's aid to Cambodia has mostly been channelled to projects implemented by non-governmental organisations.
Last year alone, the US provided 54 million US dollars to the NGO's.
Heav Veasna, from the Coalition for Transparency Cambodia, says the United States has been strictly monitoring how the money is being used.
VEASNA: I think that this is a quite a concern regarding aid directly to the Cambodian Government. But, however, in term of the corruption issue, the money from the US government has been stricty monitored in terms of grants provided for the Cambodian government or even in terms for the auditing.
LOPRESTI: In recent years, relations between the two governments has improved. Last month, an American warship paid a visit to a Cambodian sea port for the first time in more than 30 years. And, even when the U-S ban was still in place, there were exceptions that allowed U-S funding to assist the Cambodian Government in certain areas, especially in health projects.
But, even the U-S ambassador, Joseph Mussomeli, has acknowledged that corruption is a rampant and seemingly unending problem.
MUSSOMELI: There's too many rich people, greedy people or greedy companies and if they want to maintain political stability here, the political parties, especially the parties in control right now have to do more to redress this issue.
LOPRESTI: Aid agencies say they hope their renewed American funding will be audited. Phnom Penh badly needs the money for its people, the very people who were told by the World Bank last May that millions of dollars of funds had to be suspended after the bank uncovered a misuse of funds and irregularities in seven projects worth more than 64 million US dollars.
Presenter - Linda LoPresti,
Speaker - Joseph Mussomeli, US ambassador to Cambodia; Heav Veasna, Coalition for Transparency Cambodia
LOPRESTI: The U-S Ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph Mussomeli, has issued a written statement announcing Washington's resumption of aid to Phnom Penh. He says President George W. Bush has signed a congressional appropriation's resolution for the 2007 fiscal year, which contains no restrictions on direct US government funding of Cambodian Government activities.
The very same ambassador has in the past been outspoken and up front about the rampant political corruption which exists in Cambodia.
MUSSOMELI: Corruption is central to everything at all levels. I don't know of any case of where a corrupt official has really gone to jail here, certainly not from the Ruling Party.
LOPRESTI: The ambassador's concern has been steadfast and in step with donors who have also strongly criticised the Cambodian Government for doing little to tackle rampant corruption. The underlying message is that the government can't be trusted to spend aid money wisely and, that it can't be guaranteed that the Greenback won't be lining the pockets of some government officials.
For the last ten years, Washington's aid to Cambodia has mostly been channelled to projects implemented by non-governmental organisations.
Last year alone, the US provided 54 million US dollars to the NGO's.
Heav Veasna, from the Coalition for Transparency Cambodia, says the United States has been strictly monitoring how the money is being used.
VEASNA: I think that this is a quite a concern regarding aid directly to the Cambodian Government. But, however, in term of the corruption issue, the money from the US government has been stricty monitored in terms of grants provided for the Cambodian government or even in terms for the auditing.
LOPRESTI: In recent years, relations between the two governments has improved. Last month, an American warship paid a visit to a Cambodian sea port for the first time in more than 30 years. And, even when the U-S ban was still in place, there were exceptions that allowed U-S funding to assist the Cambodian Government in certain areas, especially in health projects.
But, even the U-S ambassador, Joseph Mussomeli, has acknowledged that corruption is a rampant and seemingly unending problem.
MUSSOMELI: There's too many rich people, greedy people or greedy companies and if they want to maintain political stability here, the political parties, especially the parties in control right now have to do more to redress this issue.
LOPRESTI: Aid agencies say they hope their renewed American funding will be audited. Phnom Penh badly needs the money for its people, the very people who were told by the World Bank last May that millions of dollars of funds had to be suspended after the bank uncovered a misuse of funds and irregularities in seven projects worth more than 64 million US dollars.
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