Ong Yentieng on GW's report "Country for Sale": "...broadcast that I said it is a crazy report"

Om Yentieng, Hun Sen’s senior advisor and chairman of the Cambodian government’s Human Rights commission (Photo: John Vink/Magnum)

Watchdog ‘the Worst Liar’: Top Adviser

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
11 February 2009

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer

[Editor’s note: The environmental watchdog Global Witness released a report this month claiming Cambodia’s potential oil and mineral wealth is set to benefit a small elite, including senior officials in the government and military. Om Yentieng, a senior adviser for Prime Minister Hun Sen, dismissed the report, “Country for Sale,” in a phone interview with VOA Khmer.]

Q. The recent Global Witness report claims some high-ranking government officials, such as Sen. Lao Meng Khin, Gen. Ouk Kosa, Gen. Pol Saroeun, Gen. Meas Sophea, and others, including yourself, were quietly allocated mining licenses. Is this true?

A. I think that if I have a mining license, I don’t know who doesn’t have one in Cambodia. Global Witness really likes to tell so many lies. I think Global Witness is the worst liar. I really want to laugh about that. Doesn’t Global Witness have other things to say, or what?

Q. The report claims that some Royal Cambodian Armed Forces officials protect mining companies, including yours. What do you think about that?

A. They have been speaking very badly about the Cambodian government for years. They have a lot of things to say, a lot of lies about Cambodia.

Q. The report claims that 45 percent of sate property was purchased by private companies. Your response?

A. I have nothing to say further, as I have already said that they have nothing to say but lies. If it is like Global Witness says, Cambodia is already like Hell, and you wouldn’t see that Cambodia has a lot of development like this at all. So that is enough. Don’t try to hurt Cambodia more on that.

You [Global Witness] have a sharp nose and white skin. Are you trying to rule everyone in the world, or what? You always speak about the respect of human rights, and respect of the truth, but you are betraying your own words. You are a liar, and you are the worst, and smell worse than anything else. It is like the doctor who tries to sell itchy medicine, but he can’t even treat his own itchy skin first.

Q. Regarding assets such as petroleum, iron and other minerals, how will the government manage those in the future? And how can this be done with transparency in the revenue?

A. Do you think Cambodian people are not human beings? Are we stupid about everything you say? You think we are too stupid to manage these resources? You know, the Khmers built Angkor Wat, so this is not so difficult. If we talk about petroleum mining, about Chevron, the US oil and gas company doing its research every day in Cambodia, maybe Om Yentieng sold his license to that company. Why doesn’t Global Witness also ask Chevron, how much did this company bribe the government to be able to drill Cambodia’s biggest offshore [block]?

Please don’t be so concerned with this matter. The Cambodian people, including the illiterate farmers, still know how to protect their country. Outsiders, who always have concern, have never helped protect Cambodian land even a meter, only Cambodians in the country have. Please, next time don’t be so interested with this crazy report. And broadcast that I said it is a crazy report.

The scrap of land on which our future lies [-Thailand is concerned over losing the overlapping seas belonging to Cambodia]

The implications of the Thai-Cambodian border dispute reach far beyond the 4.6 sq km of scrub around Preah Vihear

Tuesday July 29, 2008
Piyaporn Wongruang
Bangkok Post

The disputed area adjacent to Preah Vihear covers only 4.6 square kilometres - a very small area when compared to the total size of the countries of Thailand and Cambodia.

But neither of the countries can afford to lose any of this land.

This is not only because the area carries with it the issue of territorial sovereignty, which no modern state can bear to lose, but also because the final fate of the area could signify the future of other overlapping areas still to be demarcated, particularly those in the sea, military analysts say.

While a lot of people are concerned about the possible loss of territorial sovereignty over the disputed land to Cambodia, Vice-Admiral Pratheep Chuen-arom (retired) has been pondering what will happen to the disputed areas in the Gulf of Thailand, which cover about 20,000 square kilometres.

For months, the vice-admiral has reviewed the information to hand and applied the lessons he learned when commander of a patrol fleet in the Gulf. He has decided to make public his concerns.

"When we lost Preah Vihear temple, we lost spiritually," said Vice-Admiral Pratheep.

"But if we lose the claimed land again, there is very much more at stake to be lost."

Over a hundred years ago, Thailand was forced to demarcate its borders with two imperial powers, Britain (which ruled Burma and Malaya) and France, which had colonised Indo-China, including Cambodia.

Some maps helping define the borders between Thailand and states under protection of those imperial countries were drawn up. However, these were not officially accepted by Bangkok, especially those covering the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

While Cambodia continues to use the French maps, Thailand has its own versions and has used them as its border references. And because they use different maps, the two countries claim different borderlines.

Along the 800km territorial border between Thailand and Cambodia, there are at least 15 areas awaiting agreement from both sides.

But the issue does not stop there.

According to Vice-Admiral Pratheep, the border line was drawn down to the sea. From the 73rd kilometre territorial border peg in the district of Khlong Yai, in Trat province, France had drawn the boundary line cutting through part of Thailand's Kud island, while Thailand drew a different line close to Cambodia's Kong island.

This resulted in the different marine maps showing different sea boundaries. Typically, a marine border extends out 12 nautical miles, or about 22km, from a country's coastline.

The sea territorial boundaries play a crucial role in determining exclusive economic zones, where countries can claim natural resources, including those under the seabed.

Exclusive economic zones usually extend out to 200 nautical miles, Vice-Admiral Pratheep said. Because the two countries claim conflicting territorial boundaries, their claimed economic zones in the Gulf overlap by about 20,000 sq km.

Besides marine resources, those problematic zones also house huge petroleum deposits, which both countries thirst for, he said.

So, if the French-drawn maps were accepted, much of the area containing oil and gas deposits would go to Cambodia, Vice-Admiral Pratheep said.

"What is foreseeable is that the disputed territorial areas on land can be a model for the overlapping sea boundaries, because they are based on the same French mapping principle.

"The problem comes from the same root, which is mapping based on unequal treatment by powerful countries in the past," he said.

Over the past few weeks, Vice-Admiral Pratheep has teamed up with other senior officers, including Gen Pathompong Kesornsuk, to awaken the public to the implications that the loss of the 4.6 sq km of overlapping land near Preah Vihear would have on the overlapping sea territory.

Gen Pathompong, who is a chief adviser to the Supreme Command, previously raised his concerns about the ramifications of the French maps, writing letters to high-ranking military officials, as well as Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda.

The general cited the lack of continuity and integration of work by Thai officials, from policymakers to officials at implementation levels.

Thailand and Cambodia formed the Joint Technical Committee in 2001 to work on the matter, but little information has been released, triggering suspicions of conflicts of interest by the politicians involved.

According to Vice-Admiral Pratheep and reports from Cambodia, the Cambodian government has already granted permission to some US oil companies to explore petroleum resources in the disputed waters.

In November 8 last year, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is chairman of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA), declared a "breakthrough" regarding the petroleum exploration by Chevron Overseas Petroleum (Cambodia) Ltd, which obtained permission from Cambodia to explore petroleum resources in 2002.

The speech delivered by Mr Sok An that day noted that Chevron had drilled up to 15 wells in Block A, which covers about 6,200 sq km and is around 200km off the coast of Cambodia.

The company has found some evidence of oil deposits.

The CNPA now has other petroleum agreements signed with various companies for six offshore blocks.

Mr Sok An's speech further noted, "We remain committed to resolving the matter of the Overlapping Claims Area in the Gulf of Thailand with the Royal Government of Thailand.

'The overlapping area covers around 27,000 sq km that is thought to be highly prospective for petroleum accumulations."