As Tonle Sap Fish Dwindle, Illegal Catches Persist

A Japanese oil company, has been granted a rights by Cambodia Tuesday, May 4, 2010, to study a survey for possible oil onshore at the basin of Tonle Sap lake (AP file photo).

Meanwhile, local officials from the Ministry of Agriculture’s fisheries administration denied such corruption takes place.

31 August 2012

Say Mony, VOA Khmer

BATTAMBANG Province - Despite a government cancellation of commercial fishing lot permission across the expansive Tonle Sap lake, fishing communities here say bribery of corrupt local officials have meant the illegal practice is actually increasing.

The ban was meant to decrease the rapid overfishing of the lake, a major source of food for much of the country, which has seen its stocks dwindle in recent years.

Mao Penh, the head of a fishing community at the floating village of Preak Tol, in Koh Chiveng commune, Battambang provnce, told VOA Khmer that law enforcement officials are “colluding” with illegal fishing operations.

“One side takes money and closes its eyes, while the other goes illegally fishing,” he said, speaking from his floating home on the lake. “It’s fifty-fifty. That’s what’s happening in my village nowadays.”

Keat Chhon's confession: Hun Sen's gov't unable to lower fuel costs ... Time for a gov't change?

Minister: Gov't 'Unable' to Lower Fuel Costs

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 November 2007

Cambodia's government cannot immediately bring down the high costs of fuel, despite calls from the opposition and threatened mass demonstrations, a senior official said Thursday.

In an exclusive interview with VOA Khmer, Finance Minister Keat Chhon said Thursday the government was "unable to decrease the price of gasoline."

Opposition calls for mass demonstrations over the rising price of fuel was a "political trick," he said, adding that the government had used "silent" tactics like duty reduction and arrests of smugglers to allay some of the price rise.

Fuel prices have tripled in Cambodia this year, putting a heavy squeeze on some of the country's poorest. A liter of gas in Phnom Penh cost 4,350 riel Thursday, as the international price of oil neared $100 a barrel.

"We're helping to curb the price of gas by means of tax reduction," Keat Chhon said. "In September alone, we took a loss of $15 million. And for the past nine months, the losses reached $125 million."

In another effort to keep prices low, the government had taken measures to stop the transport of fuel by smugglers, Keat Chhon said, "and we're not going to show them any mercy."

Human Rights Party Vice President Keo Remy said Thursday fuel prices in Laos were lower than Cambodia and repeated claims that inept governance was to blame.

The Human Rights and Norodom Ranariddh parties have each called on the government to bring down the cost of fuel or suffer mass demonstrations.