French Socfin involved in human rights abuses and coercive land acquisition practices in Cambodia ... with the help of Khaou Chuly

A New Report Exposes French Tycoon's Land Grab in Sierra Leone

In Cambodia, the World Rainforest Movement and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) have documented human rights abuses and details of coercive land acquisition practices that have led to protests by the ethnic minority Bunong, who have lost their historical land and their livelihoods without fair compensation.

In yet another exposé of exploitative practices associated with large-scale land acquisitions, the Oakland Institute examines Socfin Agricultural Corporation Sierra Leone (Socfin), controlled by the powerful French corporate titan Vincent Bolloré

Oakland, Calif.--(ENEWSPF)--April 2 - In a new land deal brief released today, Socfin Land Investment in Sierra Leone, the Oakland Institute details a pattern of coercion, lack of consultation, and failure to fairly compensate Sierra Leonean landowners who have been pressured into ceding their land to the corporate giant.

"In 2011, Socfin secured 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) and they are running roughshod over the rights of local landowners," said Frederic Mousseau, Oakland Institute's policy director and author of the brief. "Bolloré Group, ranked among the top 500 companies in the world, and its subsidiaries, have gained a reputation for descending powerfully on developing countries and setting up plantations for palm oil and rubber trees. In Cambodia, Liberia, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone, the group has a reputation for leaving communities disfranchised as they acquire land cheaply through questionable processes and act with little regard for existing owners," he continued.

New twist in murder plot [-Peal Si Peal?]

Seng Chenda (centre) enters the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh in September 2011. (Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post)

Khaou Chuly

Sun Chanthol

Monday, 16 January 2012
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
The Phnom Penh Post

Senior Minister Sun Chanthol has lodged a criminal complaint with Phnom Penh Municipal Court against his father-in-law, his brother-in-law and wife, and his father-in-law’s stepdaughter for masterminding a plot to rape and murder his wife and nine-year-old daughter in 2010, government lawyers said yesterday.

The criminal complaint is the latest twist in the high-profile dispute amongst prominent businessman Okhna Khaou Chuly’s family.

“My client, Sun Chanthol, has directly submitted his criminal lawsuit against [his in-laws] to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court,” lawyer Pal Chandara told the Post by telephone yesterday. “He has sued them for masterminding the attempted murders and rapes of his wife and his nine-year-old-daughter in 2010.”

Cambodia: Land cleared for rubber & Rights bulldozed

The impact of rubber plantations by Socfin-KCD on indigenous communities in Bousra, Mondulkiri

Socfin-KCD: who is behind the joint venture?

Socfin-KCD is a joint venture registered as a company in Cambodia and owned 80% by Socfinasia and 20%77 by KCD (Khaou Chuly Development). Socfinasia is a holding company created in 1972 and headquartered in Luxembourg. Socfinasia’s main activity is to manage portfolio holdings focused on the exploitation of over 50 000 ha of tropical palm and rubber plantations located in South-East Asia. Socfinasia has 12000 employees and had a turnover of 280 million euros in 2010. 55% of Socfinasia is owned by Socfin (Societé Financière des Caoutchoucs), previously Société Financière Luxembourgeoise (Socfinal).

Socfin is a company created in 1959 and headquartered in Luxembourg. Both Socfin and Socfinasia are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Some of the group’s holdings in Africa have been targeted for alleged human rights abuses on plantations. The table below indicates Socfin’s shareholders. Amongst them, Bolloré Group (France) holds 38,75%, in addition to Belgian families Fabri and de Ribes. The Fabri family owns one third of what is referred to as the “Empire Rivaud”, a financial power which owns millions of hectares in plantations in Africa and Asia and which is led by Jean de Beaumont and Edouard de Ribes (the latter being on Socfinasia and Socfin’s boards of directors).

In addition to Socfin SA (53,96%), Bolloré Group (France) holds 21,75% of Socfinasia SA. Other shareholders (24,29% unidentified shareholders) are front companies located in tax havens which would be linked to the Fabri and Ribes families, themselves sitting on the board of Bolloré Group. Listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, Bolloré is a French investment and industrial holding group headquartered in Puteaux, France, and its principal activities are in sectors such as logistics, energy distribution, plantation, and media and communications.

With the exception of Mr. Luc Boedt and Mr. André Balot (on Socfin’s board), Mr. Hubert Fabri, Mr. Vincent Bolloré, Mr. Robert de Tehux de Meylandt et Montjardin (represented by Mr. Cédric de Bailliencourt), Mr. Eoudard de Ribes, and Mr. Philippe de Traux de Wardin all sit on both Socfin’s and Socfinasia’s boards of directors.

In addition, Mr. Hubert Fabri is President of Palmeraies de Mopoli (owning 4,49% of Socfin) and also represent TwoSun Fin Establishment (owning 11, 24% of Socfin) on Socfin’s board of directors. Edouard de Ribes has the authority to represent Geselfina (owning 23,05% of Socfin) as well as holdings and companies pertaining to Bolloré’s group on Socfin’s board.

In 2010, Socfinasia realized a net profit of 137,28 million euros (on a turnover of 280 million euros).

Due to the complex and multi-layered structure of holding companies owning 80% of Socfin-KCD’s joint venture, it is difficult to assess the degree of control exercised by Bolloré’s group on Socfin-KCD. However, available information tend to confirm that the company is exercising significant operational (Vincent Bolloré, Chief Executive Officer of Bolloré Group sits on both Socfin and Socfinasia’s boards) and financial control over the joint venture (Bolloré’s group directly detain 21,75% of Socfinasia and owns 54% of Socfin, in turn detained at nearly 40% by Bolloré’s group. See table above on the shareholders’ structure).

Khaou Chuly Group is registered in Cambodia and is said to be the largest Cambodian construction company. Founded in 1955, Khaou Chuly Company was, after the Khmer Rouges regime, rebuilt after the Khmer Rouges regime under the name of Khaou Chuly MKK, in partnership with the Japanese company MAEDA. According to the company’s website, “many of the company’s current projects are internationally funded by overseas agencies including the EU, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), SCA, US Agency for International Development (USAID), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), etc.” The activities of the group include construction (engineering, buildings and public work, schools, universities, railways, dams, airports..), holdings (in agribusiness, consulting strategy, building materials, cement factory and fashion and accessories through Dhammarangsi Holding), surveillance services and pool construction and maintenance (with French company Piscines Desjoyaux). Mr. Khaou Chuly, a Sino-Cambodian tycoon, is the Chairman of Khaou Chuly Group and also a private adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen. His son, Khaou Phallaboth is co-founder and President of the Group. Khaou Phallaboth and his relatives maintain close relationships with governmental figures. Khaou Phallaboth is also the former son-in-law of Chea Xim, brother-in-law of CPP minister Sun Chanthol.

The Khaou Chuly connection map (Chart by KI-Media)

In 2007, Khaou Chuly Group and Socfin announced a joint venture representing US$20 million. In February 2009, the operational management was transferred from KCD to Socfin. This was confirmed by the mission team during its mission.

http://www.box.net/shared/kttb1urvym0mhcxktg1q

Trial and tribulation of corrupt CPP stalwarts and their extended family: Sun Chanthol and Khaou Chuly's dirty laundry in public display

Khaou Chuly, Sun Chanthol's father-in-law

Sun Chanthol, currently a CPP stalwart

Murder trial twist puts tycoon behind the plot

Friday, 09 September 2011
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

He wanted to make his wife happy so he wanted to kill Sun Sotha

In A bizarre turn of events in one of the most publicised cases in recent memory, tycoon Khaou Chuly was accused of masterminding a plot to kill his daughter during testimony at his wife’s Appeal Court hearing yesterday.

In February, Khaou Chuly’s wife Seng Chenda was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for masterminding a murder plot that targeted Sun Sotha, Khaou Chuly’s daughter from a previous marriage.

Chan Sokha, a maid found guilty of attempted murder along with Seng Chenda in February, claimed yesterday during the appeal hearing that she had overheard discussions between Khaou Chuly and his son, Khaou Phalabot, about a plot to murder Sun Sotha.

CCHR to Monitor Trial of Wife of Prominent Businessman

CCHR to Monitor Trial of Wife of Prominent Businessman

On Wednesday 5 January 2011, Trial Monitors from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) will attend and monitor the trial of Seng Chenda, wife of prominent businessman Khaou Chuly, and four accomplices; Chan Sokha, Neang Sinath, Khorn Lak and Yin Sophearith, at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The defendants have been charged with the attempted murder of Seng Chenda’s step-daughter, Suv Chantha, wife of Sun Chanthol, vice chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia and former minister of public works and transport. If found guilty, they could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The CCHR will monitor the trial to assess its fairness against international and Cambodian fair trial standards. For example, allegations by one of the accused during a hearing on 28 December 2010 that statements and testimonies she had made to police officers had been made under duress are particularly concerning when held up against international and Cambodian fair trial standards.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Monika Mang, Senior Trial Monitor
Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Tel: +855 16 92 72 79
Email: monika.mang@cchrcambodia.org

Dirty laundy of the rich and filthy CPP-affiliated tycoon and CPP minister's family

Tycoon requests bail for jailed wife

Thursday, 15 July 2010
Chrann Chamroeun
The Phnom Penh Post

LAWYERS for the second wife of a prominent businessman who has been accused of attempted murder have requested that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court release her on bail.

The court last week charged Seng Chanda in connection with an alleged plot against Sun Chantha, the daughter of Seng Chanda’s husband, Okhna Khaou Chuly.

Sun Chantha is also the wife of Sun Chanthol, the former minister of public works and transport.

Defence lawyer Lim Vanna said the defence team wrote to the court on Monday, requesting “higher consideration” for his client’s temporary release on bail.

“My client repeatedly told me that she didn’t commit any crime like those the court prosecutor has charged her with, and she suffers from physical illnesses such as heart problems and blood pressure which have been treated in France,” Lim Vanna said.

He added that her husband, Khaou Chuly, had offered his personal assets as a guarantee that his wife does not pose a flight risk.

Lim Vanna said he was unsure whether the court would approve the bail request, but that a response must be given within five days of the date of the request.

Meanwhile, relatives of Seng Chanda continue to protest her innocence regarding the charge of attempted murder.

Huy Sok Leap, her 20-year-old daughter, described the case against her mother as “a complete slander and fabrication”, and Khaou Phallaboth, Khaou Chuly’s son, earlier this week expressed regrets that a “small internal dispute in the family” had been made public.

“I firmly believe that my father’s wife would not do such a foolish thing as to order the rape and murder of my older sister,” he said.

Investigating Judge Te Sam Ang said yesterday that he had received the request from Seng Chanda’s lawyer but had not had time to consider it.

The Dy-NASTIES' saga continues: 81-yr-old patriarch needs 48-yr-old wife because he is lonely and too old at home

Khaou Chuly

Okhna to petition for wife’s release on bail

Monday, 12 July 2010
Chrann Chamroeun
The Phnom Penh Post

A PROMINENT businessman whose wife stands accused of masterminding a murder plot plans to petition government officials for her release on bail, his lawyer said yesterday.

The court last week charged Seng Chanda with attempted premeditated murder in connection with an alleged plot that targeted Sun Chantha, the daughter of Seng Chanda’s husband, Okhna Khaou Chuly. Suv Chantha is also the wife of Sun Chanthol, vice chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia and a former minister of public works and transport.

A complaint filed June 16 by Sun Chantha accuses two men and two women of attempting to rape and murder her and her daughter. According to the complaint, they approached the family’s house in Sen Sok district in the early morning hours of June 13 after drugging the family’s guard dogs. The complaint asserts that the plot was foiled after Sun Chantha woke up.

Lim Vanna, Khaou Chuly’s lawyer, said the request being drafted by his client would be sent to senior government officials and the municipal court.

“I know that Okhna has been writing personal letters to senior officials and the Phnom Penh Municipal Court seeking the release of his wife, because he is lonely and too old at home,” Lim Vanna said.

Judge Te Sam Ang ordered that Seng Chanda be placed in pretrial detention on Thursday morning, one day after charging her. He said yesterday that he could not comment on the prospect of her being released on bail because he had not seen any letter from Khaou Chuly.

Lim Vanna said the decision would rest solely with the investigating judge, despite the fact that government officials were also being petitioned.

“It is the judge’s right to make this decision whether or not to release her on bail,” he said, and added that the court would be kept informed of Seng Chanda’s whereabouts in the run-up to any trial.

Pol Chandara, a government lawyer representing Sun Chantha, declined to comment on the pending bail request in light of the fact that the case was still being investigated.

He said, though, that he believed it would be more appropriate to send a letter to the court than to government officials. “The government officials cannot interfere in the court’s affairs during the court’s investigation,” he said.

Okhna Khaou Phallaboth, the son of Khaou Chuly and younger brother of Sun Chantha, yesterday expressed regret that a “small internal dispute in the family” had ended up in court. He declined to describe the dispute’s origins.

“I firmly believe that my father’s wife would not do such a foolish thing as to order the rape and murder of my older sister,” he said.

Nom Benh Dy-Nasty: When life imitates US soap opera

Who's who in Nom Benh's own Dy-nasty-style opera

Khaou Chuly’s last wife involved in murder attempt of Khaou Chuly’s daughter and wife of CPP minister Sun Chanthol

Wednesday 07 July 2010
By Koh Ekareach
Koh Santepheap
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Phnom Penh – A surprise took place at 3:30PM on 07 July at an opulent villa located on No. 1 Street 136, Boeung Keng Kang 1 commune, Chamcar Mon district, Phnom Penh city, when cops accompanied by prosecutors from the Phnom Penh municipal court, including cops from the ministry of Interior (MoI), came to arrest the wife of Oknha (rich tycoon) Khaou Chuly and brought her to court. The arrested woman was 48-year-old Seng Chantha and she is the last wife of Khaou Chuly (the Free Press Magazine reported that she is of Taiwanese origin). Seng Chantha is accused by Chumteav Sun Sutha of hiring a group of men to attempt to rape and kill the chumteav and her children at her house, but the attempt failed (Sun Sutha is in fact Khaou Chuly’s daughter from a previous marriage).

Following the accusation from Sun Sutha, cops for the MoI crime department arrested 4 people – 2 men and 2 women – brought them to court and incarcerated them temporarily since last month. Some of the four arrested told the cops about the plan to kill Sun Sutha, the daughter of Khaou Chuly’s first wife, and they indicated that the mastermind was Chumteav Seng Chantha, the last wife of Oknha Khaou Chuly. Khaou Chuly is currently over 80-year-old.

Chumteav Sun Sutha is the daughter of Khaou Chuly and she is the wife of Sun Chanthol, the senior CPP minister in charge of special mission and former Funcinpec minister of Public Works and Transportation, therefore the arrested woman is no other than the stepmother of Sun Sutha herself. The MoI cops surrounded Khaou Chuly’s villa for two days already, trying to catch Seng Chantha when the latter get out of the house. However, it appeared that Seng Chantha knew about this situation and did not get out of the house, therefore the cops had to use the law to arrest the chumteav at her house on 07 July.

Nevertheless, Chumteav Seng Chantha had not been questioned according to the law yet, but the court ordered her to be incarcerated at the police station first until she will be questioned on 08 July. Nobody knows if she will face the same fate as the four arrested before her or not. It should be noted that on 22 June, cops from the MoI criminal department arrested 4 persons, 2 men and 2 women, and brought them to court as they were suspected of trying to rape and kill the wife of Sun Chanthol.

The four arrested are: 25-year-old Yean Sothearith, 30-year-old Sok Lat, 25-year-old Neang Sinath and 37-year-old Chan Sokha. The four were servants and house guards. The four were arrested based on Sun Sutha’s lawsuit brought up on 16 June, they were accused by Sun Sutha of trying to kill her at her villa located on No. 1B North Bridge Street, Teuk Thla commune, Sen Sok district.

In the lawsuit, Sun Sutha accused a group of unknown men who tried to enter her villa, but they did not steal anything in the house. A source indicated that at 4:30AM on 13 June, while Sun Chanthol was not at home, Sun Sutha was resting in a room with her daughter. Two men attempted to enter the room, but Sun Sutha saw them on time and the culprits escaped by jumping over the fence. But, Sun Sutha claimed that she can recognize some of the features of the two unknown men, and she brought the case to the MoI criminal cop department.

After research, on 20 June, 4 suspects were arrested, one of the men was a servant at Sun Sutha’s house. Following their arrest, some of the suspects said that they bought poison to feed the dog, while some said that they were not involved like they were accused of. Nevertheless, the MoI cops proceeded with the case in total secret and no information was even provided to the news media. The four arrested are charged with rape and murder attempt, just like the chumteav Sun Sutha accused them.

Private company Socfin-Khaou Chuly is the "wild-east" law in Mondulkiri?

Khao Chuly, the business tycoon that operates under any regime in Cambodia since the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, is also the father-in-law of CPP minister Sun Chanthol (himself, a former Funcinpec defector)

NGOs say rubber firm blocking public road

Monday, 25 January 2010
Sebastian Strangio and Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

RIGHTS groups have accused a rubber company in Mondulkiri province of blocking access to a public road after an employee of the company allegedly accosted rights workers on a field trip to the controversial plantation in Bou Sraa commune on Thursday.

In a statement issued Friday, the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) claimed a French-speaking employee of Socfin KCD prevented around 30 activists from travelling along the road.

“Since the company set up its office in the area, [it] has put up barricades to block people’s access in and out,” the statement said, noting that the road had previously been a public right of way and was used to access areas used by local people.

Socfin KCD, a joint venture between the Khaou Chuly Group and French rubber giant Socfin, has a 10,000-hectare concession in Bou Sraa commune.

Local Phnong villagers say, as well as displacing around 800 families, the plantation has intruded on traditional rotational farmland and spirit forests.

Bill Herod, an adviser with Village Focus Cambodia, confirmed the road, which allows access to Phnong sacred sites, was controlled by police employed by the company.

“Blocking access to this road is a serious issue for the Phnong,” he said.

Philippe Monnin, the general manager of Socfin KCD, declined to comment on Sunday. Provincial Deputy Governor Yim Lux claimed ignoranc of the incident because he was out of the province.

Samart builds Cambodian empire without Thaksin's help [-The sh_t hits the fan among Cambodia's corrupt officials?]

Sun Chanthol, a former Funcinpec minister, defected to join the CPP following Funcinpec's demise. He is now a minister without portfolio in Hun Xen's regime. What The Nation failed to mention is that Samart's Siam Cement plant is a joint venture with Cambodia's Khaou Chuly group and Khaou Chuly happens to be Sun Chanthol's father-in-law. (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

November 19, 2009
By Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation

While rumours fly that Samart's ties with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen are close enough to fake the arrest of its employee, an investigation by The Nation tells a different story.

Samart embarked on expansion into the neighbouring country through Charoenrath Vilailuck's personal connection to Cambodian politician-cum-businessman Sun Chanthol.

Chanthol, a Harvard University graduate, was known for his business smarts. He was the public-works and transport minister until last year.

Charoenrath is the older brother of Watchai, CEO of Samart.

Through the connection with Charoenrath, Cambodia handed the company a concession for the nascent mobile-phone market, and Cambodia Samart Communications was born in 1992.

The following year, Cambodia Shinawatra was set up as a subsidiary of Shin Satellite to penetrate the mobile-phone market in the neighbouring country.

Telecom insiders recall Chanthol was a close aide to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was prime minister before Hun Sen took power.

"The connection led to the air-traffic-control concession going to Samart in 2001," a source said. "Samart indeed entered the country before Thaksin."

In that year, Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS) was formed to run the 22-year concession. Thaksin was present at the ceremony when Cambodia extended the concession from 15 years to 22.

Back then, Shin Corp, Thaksin's family business, faced troubles in expanding there when the mobile-phone concession was shortened.

From CATS, Samart moved to building a power plant to support the Siam Cement Group's new plant there.

The Vilailuck family also won a 99-year concession to open a museum in Siem Reap, but it has performed badly financially, because visitors tend to flock to a South Korean museum nearby.

This explains why Watchai was in the hot seat and cried for help when his business was tampered with by the Cambodian government. Without any political involvement now, he is seeking to further distance Samart from politics.

Villagers curse Mondulkiri plantation

Khaou Chuly, the Sino-Cambodian tycoon cursed by ethnic Phnong

A Phnong woman attends a traditional ceremony Tuesday in Mondulkiri's Pouteut village to appease their ancestors and protect their land from a local rubber plantation. (Photo by: Bill Herod)

Friday, 19 June 2009
Written by Sam Rith and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

Ethnic Phnong community resorts to tradition in dispute with Franco-Cambodian rubber venture.

ETHNIC Phnong villagers in Mondulkiri's Bou Sra commune held traditional ceremonies Tuesday to appease ancestral spirits and curse a joint French-Cambodian rubber plantation they say has robbed them of large tracts of communal farmland, participants said.

The ceremony took place in Pouteut village, which lies inside a 10,000-hectare rubber concession granted to the Khaou Chuly Co and French rubber giant Socfin, they said.

"Residents sacrificed a buffalo, dedicating it to the spirits of our ancestors and the neak ta spirits who look after the forests, to help protect our remaining land," said a Phnong community representative who did not want to be named.

"According to our traditional beliefs, if the company continues clearing the land [it] will meet problems."

Bill Herod, an adviser for Village Focus Cambodia who works with Phnong youth, said the ceremony, which took place next to a large rubber company excavator, began with the beating of traditional gongs before the buffalo was sacrificed and its head placed on an altar.

After village elders drank ceremonial rice wine from earthen jars, the villagers then cooked and ate the meat, he added, sharing it with local police.

Pouteut village is one of seven villages in Bou Sra commune that claim to have been affected by the rubber companies, which were granted their first 2,500-hectare concession in late 2007 and began clearing forest early last year.

Tensions came to a head in December, when angry villagers, claiming the destruction of spirit forests and rotational farmland, torched and smashed machinery belonging to Khaou Chuly Co in the commune's Bou Sra village.

"If the company continues clearing the land [it] will have problems."

So far, the community representative said, Socfin has cleared about 200 hectares of rotational farmland in the vicinity of Pouteut village.

"We want to keep the farmland and forests not only for human beings, but also for wild animals.... We do not want to allow any company, whether Khaou Chuly or the French company, to clear the land and forest any further," he said.

Saving the situation
When contacted Wednesday, Socfin General Manager Philippe Monnin declined to comment on the situation.

But in an interview at Bou Sra in April, he told the Post the company was trying to enlist the support of international development agencies - including the French government's French Development Agency - to offset the negative impacts on local communities.

Mondulkiri Deputy Governor Yim Lux said Socfin was offering compensation to people who had lost farmland, but added that villagers were making confusing claims.

"We have already measured the land that belongs to them, but they are claiming more forest land that does not belong to them. For this, they have to adhere to the law," he said.

But Herod said that despite the relaxed atmosphere Tuesday, locals were still uncertain about the rubber plantation and what its long-term impact would be.

"[The Phnong] didn't know which way to turn. They are still unclear about exactly what's happening ... or where they're supposed to farm," he said.

"From the perspective of the [Phnong], the giant machines ploughing their forests, rice fields, gardens, graves and other spiritual sites are weapons of mass destruction."

Plantation highlights struggle of development and preservation

Khaou Pallaboth, former son-in-law of Chea Xim, brother-in-law of CPP minister Sun Chanthol and son of tycoon Khaou Chuly. Khoau Chuly is a businessman who has been wheeling and dealing with several regimes: Sihanouk's Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Lon Nol's Khmer republic, Hun Sen's regime.

Ethnic Phnong houses sit on recently cleared rubber plantation land in Mondulkiri's Bou Sra commune. (Photo by: SEBASTIAN STRANGIO)

Monday, 25 May 2009
Written by Christopher Shay and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

Ethnic minority community says a giant rubber conglomerate is destroying its traditional culture, as plantation officials insist that the company is bringing much-needed work to the area.

Mondulkiri Province

FIVE months after an angry mob smashed and burned machinery belonging to a local rubber company in Mondulkiri province's Bou Sra village, ethnic minority residents in the area say their culture and livelihoods remain in danger from new plantations that have displaced them from their ancestral farmlands.

"They've lost hope," said Bill Herod, an adviser for Village Focus Cambodia who works with Phnong youth in the provincial capital Sen Monorom.

"We in the West talk negatively about slash-and-burn, but this is slash-and-burn by the company."

According to an article in Science, the expansion of rubber plantations in Southeast Asia could double or triple by 2050, doing far more damage than traditional farming methods.

And while the Bou Sra plantation owners say they seek to balance their interests with those of the local communities, residents and advocates say the situation is symptomatic of the unrestrained development that is harming other indigenous populations.

Residents in Mondulkiri say more than 800 families in seven villages - the majority of them from the Phnong ethnic minority - have had plots of land taken by the rubber plantation, claiming there was no consultation prior to the granting of the concessions.

"They just came and took my land," said Umbarup Sherup, a Bou Sra village resident who said he received no compensation from the company.

"When we came to meet the company [they] said they would take the land whether we agreed to it or not."

Another resident, who declined to be named, said the villagers were not given a choice.

"When we came to meet the company, [they] said they would take the land whether we agreed to it or not," the resident said. "Now we have nothing."

In late 2007, government authorities granted 2,500 hectares in economic land concessions to a joint venture between the local Khaou Chuly Group and the French rubber conglomerate Socfin.

In early April, Khaou Chuly Group President Khaou Phallaboth signed an agreement with Minister of Agriculture Chan Sarun granting his company a further 2,705 hectares in the area.

"We hope to receive a total economic land concession of over 20,000 hectares from the government by 2010 to grow rubber trees," Khaou Phallaboth told the Post at the time.

After clearing began last year, village representatives travelled to Phnom Penh in June to deliver a personal plea to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The dispute came to a head in December, when a frustrated group of villagers destroyed machinery belonging to Khaou Chuly Group.

"No one is happy with them. They do whatever they want, and they don't care about the people," said one Phnong community representative, who declined to give her name for fear of reprisals. "In the future, the Phnong people will die out because we have no forests."

Chith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, said an investigation by his organisation found that the rubber project had led to the loss of traditional agricultural land, water supplies and spirit forests, and had impeded access to schooling for some village children.

"Socfin or Khaou Chuly [should] focus strongly on consultation with the community regarding environmental impacts and impacts on their livelihoods ... and find a solution with the community before they start their project implementation," he said by email.

When contacted by the Post, Kao Phallaboth declined to comment in detail, saying day-to-day management was in the hands of Socfin officials.
Reversing the damage

Socfin sources say that following the burning of the tractors, managerial control was assumed by their company, which says it has adopted a more conciliatory approach.

Socfin General Manager Philippe Monnin said the company was doing all it can to help the community and offset the impact of the plantations.

At Socfin's invitation, Monnin said Medicins du Monde, a French NGO, had helped construct a local hospital, and that the company hoped to bring in the French governmental development agency AFD to revitalise the community.

"Our plan is to get NGOs to work with us to take care of the community and ensure what we are doing is a model," Monnin said during an interview in Bou Sra village. "We want to do something proper, but it will not be easy."

He said that of the 10,000 hectares planned for the rubber plantation, 3,000 hectares would remain as spirit forests for the Phnong. He also added that Socfin was now conducting an environmental and social impact assessment of the plantation as part of its master plan, as well as sending an ethnologist and sociologist to study the situation.

He said the plantation would provide regular employment for Phnong. From May until August, he said, the company would double its daily manpower to 1,000 workers, who would earn 20,000 riels ($5) per day on the plantation.

Mondulkiri Deputy Governor Yim Lux told the Post that Socfin was paying US$15,000 a month in wages for local workers, and said it was providing "fair" compensation to the villagers affected by the plantation.

"The company agreed to compensate the people whose farmland was impacted, either with a plot of land or with cash," he said, but added that negotiations were still in progress.

Monnin said that Socfin, as a French company that needs to maintain a positive global image, was more vulnerable to criticism than other rubber companies in Cambodia.

"It [development] is inevitable.... If we were not here, it would be the Vietnamese, and then for the Phnong it would be the end," he said.

But many of the Phnong villagers said the Vietnamese state-owned Daklak Rubber Co, which has a plot adjacent to Socfin, has treated the Phnong more equitably.

"If people disagree with the Vietnamese company, they don't destroy the land. When the Vietnamese company does [harvest] the land, they give half [the profits] to us," one villager said.

Officials at Daklak's Mondulkiri headquarters declined to comment in detail about their rubber operations.

Too little too late

Critics of Socfin say the company's actions come too late and that irreparable damage has been done.

"Mistakes have been made by all key partners involved, including the Cambodian government and the company. ... Forest was destroyed, a Phnong graveyard was bulldozed, and [these] can't be undone," Herod said.

According to Cambodian environmental law, Herod said, an impact study should have been completed before the concession was awarded. He also noted an increase in drunkenness and other disorders related to social disintegration among the underemployed Phnong.

But despite indigenous land protections existing under the country's 2001 Land Law, villagers insist the Phnong community was not consulted.

While there is intermittent work on the plantations, the Phnong representative said the loss of rotational farmland forests meant that local communities faced an uncertain future.

"Now that the company has come here, they are very strict and will not allow the Phnong to cut wood on company land," she said. "Before they had the freedom to cut the forests and grow crops. Now they say the land is French; the sky is French."