Not a grain of courage to debate Global Witness as he boasted: Hor 5 Bora

Hor 5 Bora will not debate Global Witness

22 May 2010
Pin Sisovann, VOA
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On 19 May 2010, Global Witness issued a reply letter to the invitation made by the Cambodian embassy in the UK to hold a public debate on the destruction of natural resources in Cambodia.

The Cambodian embassy in the UK issued a communiqué in English on 30 April 2010 in which it quoted Hor 5 Bora as stating: “Global Witness is in danger of losing all credibility as it continues to pursue a ferocious politically-motivated campaign against the Cambodian government.”

In the same communiqué, Hor 5 Bora stressed: “It’s time Global Witness was stopped in its tracks and forced to explain and justify its campaign of smear and hatred against the Cambodian Government and the Cambodian People.” In that communiqué, he invited Global Witness to debate in London or anywhere else. Following the positive reply from Global Witness to the debate challenge, which Global Witness set the date to 17 June 2010, the Cambodian embassy in London issued a letter dated 21 May 2010, rejecting the public debate, stating that Global Witness is politically motivated and that it has a hidden agenda to destroy the legal government of PM Hun Xen. He also indicated that Global Witness is losing its honor and that it serves as a political tool to the opposition party in Cambodia. The letters indicated that, because Global Witness’ leaders and attackers are affected by “chhkuot chrouk” (crazy like a pig) and mental problems, thus, it is a good thing that Cambodian officials and representatives do not participate in this debate.

Global Witness is an organization that protects the environment all over the world and it focused its works in numerous countries. International researchers consider Global Witness as an organization that widely understands about the environment and what it is undertaking. Global Witness does not just criticize Hun Xen’s government alone, any government or companies in the world that affects the environment come under its criticisms also. For example, on 20 May, Global Witness issued a report exposing Goldman Sachs bank backing oil deals in Angola by the US company Cobalt International Ebergy, in spite of the fact that Goldman Sachs knows that its partner’s action could face corruption charge in the US.

Mam Sambath, President of the Revenue Transparency Alliance who is currently traveling to the US to participate in Chevron’s yearly meeting, said that he strongly supports the idea of holding a public debate on the destruction of natural resources in Cambodia, because such debate could help bring transparency in the administration of the country’s natural resources. He indicated that he regrets to see the debate being cancelled. He added: “I believe that if this debate can be held, it would be very good because it will show the information that we have not received yet, and it will be wide open to the public. If we look at information posted on the Internet about revenues from oil and gas, from mining to the ministry of Economy and Finance, there is no indication on revenues from sand dredging even though the sand trade already took place in Koh Kong that led to the export to Singapore. Therefore, if such mining operation takes place, the government should receive income from sand dredging in Koh Kong province, and the ministry of Economy and Finance should post this information on its website.”

At the beginning of May, Global Witness issued a report on the export of several millions of tons of sand from Koh Kong to sell in Singapore that will seriously damage the environment. Global Witness reported that while the government issued a ban on sand export, cronies of the regime received license to export sand to Singapore. Global Witness estimates that the sale of sand from Koh Kong province alone brings in US$248 million per year based on the sand price in Singapore. However, the Cambodian embassy in the UK rejected the Global Witness report, calling it cheap and rubbish, devoid of truth, and that it was aimed at dishonoring Hun Xen’s regime.