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WEDNESDAY, mAY 28, 2014 Successful People Read The Post 4000
RIEL
Issu
e N
uM
BeR
1934
NatioNal [page 3]labouriNg over law
busiNess [page 7]bet oN bavet
health [page 18]butt out
Independent unions object to the governments additions to a
draft law
Australian company buys a casino on the Vietnam border
To mark World No Tobacco Day, a few tips to help quit
smoking
Kevin Ponniah and Mom Kunthear
TWO years after she was walked out of the city in the middle of
the night to a quiet life of retirement on the out-skirts of the
capital, Sambo, Phnom Penhs iconic and much-beloved ele-phant,
might soon be back at work entertaining tourists.
With funding for her recently con-cluded rehabilitation program
now gone, her owner is insisting he has little choice but to begin
showcasing her once more at Wat Phnom, a deci-sion contested by the
elephant rescue organisation that bankrolled her two-year
sabbatical.
Sin Sorn, who owns Sambo, says that as the pair are no longer
sup-ported by the Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival foundation
(EARS), he cannot afford to pay for her food and medical care
without the steady income he earned for the more than 20 years that
she was a tourist attrac-tion at the temple.
The decades that 54-year-old Sam-bo spent walking on hard
concrete and gravel while giving rides resulted in a painful
abscess on a foot,
Short-livedretirement for Sambo?
Vong Sokheng and Daniel Pye
PRIME Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that his government will
work with the Thai junta that came to power in a coup
last week, and quashed speculation that the ousted Shinawatra
clan may be allowed to set up a government in exile in
Cambodia.
In a speech to about 3,000 univer-sity graduates from the Royal
Univer-sity of Phnom Penh at the Koh Pich Exhibition Center, Hun
Sen said Cam-bodias constitution and its member-ship in the
Association of Southeast
Asian Nations prevented it from inter-fering in the internal
affairs of coun-tries in the region.
Cambodia has considered the situ-ation in Thailand, which is the
inter-nal affairs of Thailand, and Cambodia will not interfere with
its internal affairs, he said. Now, a military gov-ernment has been
approved by the Thai king, and I hope that former prime ministers
Thaksin and Yingluck [Shinawatra] . . . will understand Cam-bodias
stance.
The Thai military coup followed six months of political deadlock
and vio-lent street protests that left at least 28 people dead.
Hun Sens remarks came days after a statement from Thaksins
lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, saying that a number of foreign
governments have already expressed their willingness to host such a
government in exile under internationally established rules and
practice, prompting speculation that Cambodia had been
approached.
While two senior government offi-cials said earlier this week
that the government in exile would not be allowed, ruling Cambodian
Peoples Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap on Sun-day told the Post that
although the constitution prohibited such a move, the final
decision would be down to the prime minister.
But Hun Sen yesterday said that despite his close personal
relationship with Thaksin he welcomed the oust-ed prime minister in
2009 as an eco-nomic adviser, triggering a diplomatic
PM ends exile govt talkContinues on page 2
Continues on page 2
Hopes Shinawatras will understand
Tran Thi Minh Ha
VIETNAM yesterday accused a Chi-nese ship of ramming and sinking
one of its fishing boats, further fan-ning territorial tensions
over Bei-jings deployment of an oil rig in contested waters.
The incident, which Chinas rival Japan described as extremely
dan-gerous, comes during an ongoing tense confrontation between the
communist neighbours in the South China Sea that has triggered
interna-tional alarm.
Vietnam summoned a representa-tive of Beijings embassy to
formally protest the incident, which it said fol-lowed recent cases
of damage to its fishing boats and assault of its fisher-men by
Chinese forces.
The crew of the sunken vessel, who were rescued by other
Vietnamese ships after the Monday afternoon incident, said their
boat was encir-cled by 40 Chinese vessels before being rammed, the
official Vietnam News Agency reported.
Once again, Vietnam demands China to end inhumane acts that
seriously infringed on the life, prop-erties and legitimate
interests of Vietnamese fishermen, Hanois Foreign Ministry
spokesman Le Hai Binh said.
The 10 fishermen on board were all safe, according to a second
Vietnam-ese official, who said the sinking occurred about 12
nautical miles southwest of the oil rig.
Beijing blamed the Vietnamese ves-sel, saying it had forcefully
intruded into the area of the oil rig and cap-sized after colliding
with a Chinese fishing boat.
I want to stress that the direct cause of this incident is that
the Viet-namese side insisted on disturbing the normal work of the
Chinese side, Beijings Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang
said.
Some countries fantasise that [China] will sit idly by while its
inter-ests and sovereignty are damaged,
Vietnam: Chinese sank boat
Continues on page 12
Sambo the elephant gets hosed down by one of her caretakers
yesterday on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Sambo retired two years
ago after spending more than 20 years as a tourist attraction at
Phnom Penhs Wat Phnom. VIREAK MAI
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Continued from page 1
overgrown toenails and a host of other issues, causing her to
limp.
After a veterinarian retained by EARS warned in 2012 that a
further deterioration in her painfully lame condition could lead
Sambo to collapse on the citys streets, Sorn agreed to move her to
a plot of land for rest and medical treatment.
That contract expired in March, leaving EARS and Sorn at
loggerheads about what happens next.
I do not have money to sup-port her anymore. I will bring her
back to Wat Phnom, but I will not allow people to ride her while
she walks like in the past, Sorn said yesterday at the sandy Phnom
Penh Thmey com-pound where Sambo has lived since February 2012, as
the elephant shovelled sugar cane into its mouth behind him.
I spend $15 a day just on Sambos food . . . [In the city], she
will just stand in one place and tourists or people can touch her,
take photos with her or buy fruits that I will sell to feed
her.
EARS has spent $45,000 over the two-year period paying for
Sambos medical care and a monthly compensation pack-age for Sorn to
help fund an assistant caregiver, food, elec-tricity, water and to
cover his loss of earnings.
Sambos feet are in a far better condition than before, but EARS
founder and CEO Louise Rogerson says sending her back to the city
would be the worst possible decision for the elephants welfare.
Shes never going to fully recover 100 per cent, but what weve
done is given her an intensive medical program over the last two
years, she said.
It has been a very slow reha-bilitation process, there is
absolutely no way she can go back to the city. It would be
impossible for her to walk on hot tarmac roads . . . It would
basically be animal cruelty.
EARS has offered to fund Sam-bos retirement at the Phnom Tamao
Wildlife Rescue Centre in Takeo province or at the Elephant Valley
Project in Mondulkiri province instead, but Sorn has rejected these
options.
He says he would prefer to move her to a piece of land in
Kampong Speu province that his son has said he will pur-chase if
donors help with her upkeep and medical costs. EARS has rejected
that land as unsuitable for the elephants long-term retirement.
I want to appeal to everyone in Cambodia and overseas and other
organisations to help my Sambo. But not EARS. I want those who love
elephants to
help my elephant directly through me, because I am the owner of
the elephant and I am taking care of her every day, Sorn said.
He declined to explain why he no longer wanted any support from
EARS, citing personal issues with the organisation.
Sorn also brushed off con-cerns about Sambos health and any
doubts of his commitment to care for her in the city.
Sambo has lived with me since she was 8 years old and I consider
her my daughter. So I want to stay with Sambo until I die.
Rogerson is clear, however, that Sambo deserves a better life
after 30 years of standing in the city.
Hes pleading poverty and that he cant afford to feed her, but
thats not the case. We can continue on an agreement if he wants to
consider his elephant first and return her to her natural habitat
with other elephants, she said.
Wildlife protection officials from the forestry administra-tion
will visit Sambo this week to evaluate her health and determine
whether the ele-phant can return to the city, Phnom Tamao sanctuary
direc-tor Rattanak Pich said.
The Ministry of Information has also offered its compound on
Monivong Boulevard as a possible sleeping place for Sam-bo if she
returns to the city, Min-ister Khieu Kanharith said.
Retirement short-lived for Sambo?
National2 THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
Hun Sen ends talk of Thai exile govtContinued from page 1 row
with the Thais to host such a government in exile would be
unconstitutional.
Id like to stress that Cambo-dia is not the location for any
country or group, even Thak-sins group, to form a govern-ment in
exile, he said. Cam-bodias constitution does not permit any
foreigners to use its territory as a base to create armed forces to
attack the gov-ernment of another country.
He added that, as Cam-bodia shares a border with Thailand, it is
important to continue to maintain good relations and cooperation
de-spite the military takeover.
There is no other choice, because Thailand has a mil-itary-ruled
government now, so it is inevitable that we have to work with the
military gov-ernment, he said.
More than 100 Thai opposi-tion figures, activists, academ-ics
and journalists have been summoned to report to the military
authorities in Bangkok since the coup. Many of those who went to
the military vol-untarily have been detained.
Analysts yesterday wel-comed Hun Sens comments.
Political commentator Kem Ley agreed that to allow such a
government in exile would be unconstitutional.
I appreciate his speech. Cambodias constitution says clearly
that Cambodia is inde-pendent, neutral and sovereign. It does not
allow any group or country to cooperate against another. Within the
ASEAN charter, it clearly declares no country can interfere in the
political and internal affairs [of member states], he said.
We [also] learned that [the late King Norodom] Sihanouk lost
because he fought against South Vietnam and we learned a terrible
history from this. And right now, Cambodian people are concerned
about the high tension between Chi-na and Vietnam.
Analyst Chea Vannath agreed, saying: It is a perfect position
for the government, so it will not interfere in the internal
affairs of other coun-tries. Cambodia can maintain its political
stability.
Sambo the elephant takes a dip as Sin Sorn watches over her on
the outskirts of Phnom Penh yesterday. VIREAK MAI
Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures during a speech at a graduation
ceremony on Koh Pich yesterday. phA LINA
It is inevitable that we have to work with the military
government
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Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
WHILE trade union laws are typically written to expand organised
labour rights, la-bour leaders said yesterday
that they oppose portions of a new draft union law they believe
will stifle their ability to organise.
Amid meetings they are having with the Ministry of Labour and
industry officials today and Thursday, several union lead-ers said
they oppose new additions to the draft law, a previous version of
which was tabled in November 2011.
It seems to lock many out from creating unions, Pav Sina,
president of the Collec-tive Union of Movement of Workers,
said.
If passed into law as written, the draft leg-islation would
require at least 20 per cent of employees at a workplace to join a
union for it to operate there. It also stipulates that only one
union may exist per workplace.
Unions do not currently require a mini-mum number of members to
set up in a single workplace, and there are no limits on the number
of unions.
The rule could lead to wide-scale domi-nance of government-loyal
unions and seriously hamper those that are inde-pendent, Cambodian
Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun said.
I will demand that they change some points, he said
yesterday.
Ministry of Labour officials began work-ing with the
International Labour Organi-zation on the proposed laws current
ver-sion in December, ministry spokesman Heng Sour said.
I think [the draft law] first protects the rights of the workers
and protects the in-terest of the economy and the nation, he said.
It also impedes anarchy and ex-ploitation of freedom, he added.
While unfamiliar with the exact lan-guage in the latest draft,
Dave Welsh, country director of labour rights group Solidarity
Center, said the idea of passing a law that reduced rights ran
contrary to international norms. If that is the objec-tive of the
Cambodian law, it is unique around the world, but for the wrong
rea-sons, Welsh said.
Despite Sinas opposition to several points, he said one section
that lowers the minimum age for a union member to
be allowed to become president from 25 to 18 could mean better
representation of young workers, who make up a great deal of
Cambodias workforce.
Draft law talks follow recent unrest in the garment industry,
including workers being fatally shot, unionists arrested, freedom
of association being targeted and business groups challenging
workers right to strike.
Yesterday, six members of the Khmer Worker Power Federation
Union were released on bail from a Kampong Speu prison, according
to Chey Sovann, the unions president.
The six were accused of incitement during a strike at the Wing
Star Shoes fac-tory on May 6.
National3THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
Meas Sokchea
CAMBODIA National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy yesterday
called on residents in the northeast provinces to defend their land
lest the area be turned into a Viet-namese colony.
Rainsys comments were quickly condemned by both the Cambodian
and Vietnam-ese governments.
Speaking to hundreds of people in Mondulkiri and Ra-tanakkiri
provinces yesterday as part of a wide-ranging tour to meet
supporters, Rainsy said the government has granted thousands of
hectares of land to private companies that are Khmer in name only
and really belong to Vietnam.
In rhetoric that is now fa-miliar, the opposition leader warned
that the companies will allow floods of Vietnam-ese people into the
region, ef-fectively colonising the land.
This is not immigration. Immigration is different from
colonialism. An immigrant is a foreigner who enters each country to
find an occasion to live for himself. But a colonist is not a
normal immigrant, a colonist does not go back. A colonist serves a
political plan
to take the neighbouring terri-tory, Rainsy said.
He added that the Vietnam-ese can then vote to secede from
Cambodia and become part of Vietnam. He also urged people to defend
their forests, fields and farms, but did not specify the means.
Council of Ministers spokes-man Phay Siphan said Rainsy
misunderstood the nature of investment. Cambodia does not
discriminate against any country that wants to invest in the
country, he said, and more-over, Cambodia will not be controlled by
another country.
We do not let our country be a slave of any country, he said.
Excellency Sam Rain-sys language is just an allega-tion for
political popularity, Siphan said.
Tran Van Thong, a Vietnam-ese Embassy spokesman in Phnom Penh,
said Rainsys ac-cusation is groundless.
Vietnamese companies that invest in Cambodia have respected
Cambodian law, in-ternational law and Vietnam-ese law. So for his
accusation, I dont know about his idea. Vietnam does not have this
idea, [Vietnam] has the idea of friendship and cooperation, he
said.
Northeast primed for colonisation: Rainsy
Independent union president Ath Thorn speaks to the media in
front of Phnom Penh Municipal Court last month. Thorn is facing
incitement charges over a strike last year. hENG ChIVOAN
New law will stifle us: unions
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National4 THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT(Re-advertisement)
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501(c)(3) non-prot organization focused on reducing fatalities and
injuries from road crashes. AIP Foundation works to achieve its
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as children; public awareness education; global and legislative
advocacy; helmet production; and research, monitoring, and
evaluation.
Since 2006, AIP Foundation has been actively engaged in
preventing road crash fatalities and injuries in Cambodia. We work
with a broad range of stakeholders and implement initiatives to
improve local road safety conditions. Learn more about our
programs, activities and achievements at www.asiainjury.org and
www.saferoads.org.kh.
AIP Foundation, Cambodia ofce is currently seeking qualied
candidates for the following four positions, which will be based in
Phnom Penh with some travel to provinces. Qualied candidates will
demonstrate commitment to high professional ethical standards and a
diverse workplace.
Candidates with experience overseeing or assisting with the
implementation of large grant projects will be preferred; in
particular, those with experience with U.S. federal grants
administered internationally through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) will be an asset to the
organization.
Enabling Environment Campaign Manager1.
The Enabling Environment Campaign Manager will be responsible
for arranging key stakeholder and advocacy activities, including
developing policy briefs; arranging national, provincial, and
district level stakeholder workshops; and supporting the
development of action plans.
Key Duties:Coordinate all Enabling Environment program
activities, including event arrangement, workshops, action plans
and policy recommendation development, and advocacy;Identify road
safety policy gaps and issues and develop advocacy strategies,
plans, and tools to address these issues; Manage relationships with
stakeholders in government, civil society, private sector, media,
and other road safety NGOs;
Key Skills Event coordination and organizational skills
Experience in program or project planning, implementation,
monitoring, evaluation, and report writingFluent in verbal and
written Khmer and English languages
Qualications and Requirements:Cambodian national Bachelors
degree in development, law, journalism or a related eldMinimum 4
years of experience working with an NGO, preferably in
evidence-based advocacy campaign with media relations as well as
project monitoring and evaluation responsibilities
2. Behavior Change Campaign Assistant
The Campaign Assistant will support the program activities for
the Behavior Change Campaign. Position responsibilities include
providing assistance to arrange workshops and trainings, develop
and implement public awareness campaigns, oversee stakeholder and
media relationships, and manage project reporting.
Key Duties:Assist Campaign Manager in conducting and
coordinating all program activities;Supervise ongoing development
and maintenance of campaign website;Maintain good working
relationships with key stakeholders Support program planning and
implementation with a focus on research, monitoring, and
evaluation.
Key SkillsFlexible and adaptable with strong interpersonal
skills Excellent organizational skills Experience with project
management, planning, and monitoringFluent in verbal and written
Khmer and English languages
Qualications and Requirements:Cambodian national Bachelors
degree in marketing, management, or a relevant eldMinimum 2 years
working experience, within the NGO sector and with a similar
role
3. Operations Ofcer
The Operations Ofcer will be responsible for ensuring that the
Accounting Units requests are resolved and communicated in a timely
manner, assisting with compiling grant reports, managing the
organizations human resources, and supporting the development of
organizational and program budgets.
Key Duties:Support annual budgeting and planning process for the
organization with the Country Director and Finance
Assistant;Provide support to the program team through coordination
of project reports and event/logistics arrangement;Manage support
services (HR, IT, and Finance) in collaboration with headquarters
ofce; continuously support improvements to each of these support
service functions;
Key SkillsHigh level organizational skills, including experience
in managing travel arrangements, VIP visits, and project events
Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Ofce SuiteFluent in
verbal and written Khmer and English languages
Qualications Requirements:Cambodian national Bachelor degree in
Business or a related eld Minimum 2 years work experience in a
similar role Experience with nancial duties, including budget
development and oversightKnowledge of tax and other compliance
implications of non-prot status
4. Enabling Environment Campaign Assistant
The Campaign Assistant will support the program activities for
Enabling Environment Campaign. Position responsibilities include
providing assistance to arrange workshops and trainings, develop
and implement public awareness campaigns, oversee stakeholder and
media relationships, and manage project reporting.
Key Duties:Assist Campaign Manager in conducting and
coordinating all program activities;Maintain good working
relationships with key stakeholders Support program planning and
implementation with a focus on research, monitoring, evaluation,
and action plan development.
Key SkillsFlexible and adaptable with strong interpersonal
skills Experience with project management, planning, monitoring and
report writingFluent in verbal and written Khmer and English
languages
Qualications Requirements:Cambodian national Bachelors degree in
law, journalism, or a related eldsMinimum 2 years working
experience, within the NGO sector and with a similar role
For more job details, please contact us via e-mail at
[email protected] or telephone at 023 996 519.
Interested applicants submit expression of interest, resume, and
a list of three references with current email addresses and
telephone numbers using this webform. [email protected]
All applications will be carefully reviewed, including both
working history and references. Application deadline is 30th May
2014 at 5.30 PM.
Only short listed applicants will be notied. Interviews will
take place in Phnom Penh. Work contracts will commence in July
2014.
The water level runs low at a reservoir in Koh Kong last week.
The province, which has been gripped by drought, may have as little
as a weeks supply of water. photo SUppLIED
Villagers await water Khouth Sophak Chakrya
HUNDREDS of fami-lies in Koh Kong province have since early May
been
affected by drought and a lack of clean water, which is
sup-posed to be provided by ty-coon and ruling party senator Ly
Yong Phat.
Due to the annual drought in the province, two reservoirs
operated by Yong Phats LYP Group have run dry, and locals complain
of itchy skin and ad-ditional expenses for clean drinking
water.
LYP Group said in a letter to the provincial water authority on
Thursday that it had sus-pended operations until the water level in
the reservoirs climbs, in order to produce
clean water normally again.Poy Seurn, a village chief in
Smach Meanchey districts Dang Tong commune, said yesterday that,
over the past two weeks, the supply of treat-ed water has not been
able to match the demand.
Children in my village, in-cluding my children, got itchy skin
after using the water. We additionally need to spend 2,000 riel per
day for 20 litres of clean water to drink and cook, he said.
Lem Uy, a villager from Dang Tongs Khemarak Phomen town, said
provincial water shortages happen every year, but few if any
measures seem to have been taken.
If the company extends the size of the reservoirs, this problem
will not occur. The
company seems to be ig-norant of this problem. The provincial
authorities and all involved departments should review the companys
capa-bilities and try to find another partner in order to guarantee
the clean water supply for the whole province, he said.
Klem Koki, provincial direc-tor of the Ministry of Industry and
Handicrafts, said he had identified a new water source, which could
solve the prob-lem if exploited.
According to experts per-sonal inspection, the water in the
reservoirs will dry out in a week if the hot climate keeps lasting,
he added.
Chhum Ratanak, director of Koh Kongs water authority, declined
to comment, and LYP Group could not be reached.
Remains bound for NGO
Criticism of judicial law grows
Meas Sokchea
THE opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party said yesterday
that charred human remains retrieved by a local party member in
Kampong Speu province on Saturday would be handed over to human
rights organisations for examination.
Despite a seeming lack of evidence or investi-gation, opposition
activists have speculated that the remains belong to 16-year-old
Khim Saphath, who went missing amid a deadly crackdown on garment
worker protests on January 3.
CNRP spokesman Yem Ponharith said yester-day that the remains
would be sent to Adhoc or fellow rights group Licadho.
We are sending the remains to civil society so that they can
examine them, he said.
But when reached late yesterday afternoon, representatives from
both organisations said that they had yet to receive the
remains.
If we receive them, we will consider doing a
DNA test, and the DNA test must be done in Thailand to find out
the reality. Otherwise, we cannot guess, Ny Chakrya, head of human
rights and legal aid at Adhoc, said.
Both groups said authorities should be inves-tigating the
case.
Som Samoeun, Kampong Speu deputy police chief, said that
yesterday morning the military, a court prosecutor and police
officers went to examine the area where the remains were found.
They were accompanied by Mao Touch, a local villager who first
found the remains and has been summoned for questioning.
Samoeun said police found no evidence that anyone burned a body
at the location where the remains were discovered.
We think that whoever spread this informa-tion did so in order
to fight the authority or the government; however, we do not know
who cre-ated this and told the journalists. ADDItIoNAL REpoRtING BY
KhoUth SophAK ChAKRYA
Stuart White
SURYA Subedi, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in
Cambodia, added his voice yesterday to the growing chorus of
criticism aimed at three draft laws on Cambo-dias judiciary that
sailed through the National Assembly last week.
Subedi who had previously championed the laws as having the
potential to enact deep reform said in a statement yesterday that
he very much regretted the opacity with which the laws were
drafted,
and echoed observers deep concerns that the new laws would
jeopardise the inde-pendence of the courts.
I had previously recom-mended that the law clearly prohibit
judges and prosecu-tors from being active mem-bers of any political
party, Subedi said, noting the lack of such an explicit prohibition
in the relevant law.
I am also deeply concerned about the fact that the Ministry of
Justice has been given a number of powers over the judiciary, he
continued, not-ing that any involvement of the
executive branch in the judici-ary was unacceptable.
The special rapporteur went on to say that the laws seem to fall
short of the international standards of judicial independence, and
called on the Senate and Con-stitutional Council to bring them into
line with Cambodias obligations under internation-al
conventions.
A government spokesman could not be reached for comment
yesterday. Officials have repeatedly refused to acknowledge any
flaws in the three bills.
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National5THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
Dam slammed Groups urge construction be stopped
OPPONENTS of the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in Stung Treng
province have called on the companies and the Chinese government to
halt construction at the site.
Fifteen civil society groups and lawyers wrote to the Chinese
government and the companies on Monday warning of social and
environmental impacts that the dam will have on communities across
the Mekong river basin.
The groups also demanded more accountability from all par-ties
involved in the $816 million project, a joint venture between
Cambodias Royal Group and China Huaneng Group.
The letters follow a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and
Cao Peixi, chairman of China Huaneng Group, where he report-edly
called on the company to minimise the projects impacts.
Communities are reporting problems at the dam site which raise
questions about legal com-pliance, such as logging outside of the
reservoir area, unlawful fish-ing activities, use of child labour
and deteriorating water quality downstream, said Meach Mean,
coordinator of the 3S Rivers Pro-tection Network. DANIEL PYE
Two tried for allegedly dressing as policemenButh Reaksmey
Kongkea
THE Phnom Penh Municipal Court heard the case yesterday of a
former security guard for HNK Company and a friend who were charged
with impersonat-ing an officer of the law.
Touch Ravuth, 32, and his co-defendant Sroeng Sopheap, 25, were
pulled over in the early hours of January 4 in Sen Sok district.
Ravuth was wearing a national police uniform with a plastic pistol
tucked into his waistband, said district Police Chief Mak Hong.
Another pas-senger on the moto escaped.
Ravuth said he was only dressed as a policeman because he was
attending a birthday party, and asked the court for a reduced
sentence. Sopheap asked that all charges be dropped as he wasnt
wearing a uniform at all and was only catching a ride back from the
party.
Police searched Ravuths rent-al home in Teuk Thla commune a day
after the arrests and claimed to have found knives, a pair of
military shoes and other similar clothing. A verdict is due on June
4.
Institute land not leased: govtChhay Channyda
RESPONDING to re-ported fears among staff that the de-struction
of a wall at
Phnom Penhs Buddhist Insti-tute could herald the piece-meal sale
of the grounds to adjacent casino operator Na-gaCorp, the
government yes-terday chalked the alarm up to a simple
misunderstanding.
According to the Ministry of Cult and Religion, the govern-ment
hasnt sold or leased any of the institutes land, and is only
allowing NagaCorp to as-sist government construction of a
substation on the insti-tutes grounds. The substation will be used
to power a new addition to the casino across the street from the
institute.
Ministry spokesman Seng Somony yesterday invited reporters to a
news confer-ence about the casino devel-opment, during which press
packets containing an esti-mated $100 were offered to the assembled
media, though the Post declined.
Somony also told reporters that the ministry itself plans to
relocate to a new building it will erect on the Buddhist
In-stitutes remaining grounds.
The government plans to
construct a seven- or eight-storey building for the Minis-try of
Cult and Religion on the Buddhist Institute land, he said, adding
that the ministrys site at the Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist
University would be repurposed by the university.
There were no such reas-surances, however, for work-ers at the
National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and
Malaria Control on Monivong Boulevard this week, who found out
that they are mov-ing to Sen Sok district after the centres sale as
part of a land swap to an undisclosed pri-vate company.
On Monday morning, cen-tre director Chor Meng Chuor called a
meeting to inform employees that the building had been sold and
they would
have to clear out immediately. He declined to provide further
information, but said each staffer would be given $500 for the
proceeds of the sale, ac-cording to an employee who asked not to be
identified.
We cannot successfully pro-test the decision, so we have to move
unhappily thanks to the pressure from management, the employee
said.
Workers demolish a section of wall at the Buddhist Institute in
Phnom Penh on Monday. The Ministry of Cult and Religion has
dismissed rumours that land of the Buddhist Institute was being
sold or leased. hENG ChIVOAN
-
After violence, revenge always seemed in cards REVENGE was a
dish best served with a bamboo stick in Battambangs Sampov Loun
district on Sunday. According to police, a man was riding a moto
when another man blocked his way and struck him several times in
the head with the aforementioned stick. Police quickly arrested a
sus-pect who said he himself had been attacked by the victim during
a card game the week before. The victims family demanded $500 for
the bam-boo beating, but the suspect could only afford $130. Police
sent him to court. NokoRwAT
Crew busted learning ropes at den of iniquityFoUR students were
matricu-lated into the school of hard knocks in kampot town on
Monday. Police said one 19-year-old had been seen frequenting a
rental home believed to be a drug den. Cops raided the house,
alleg-edly nabbing the teen and three others with a couple grams of
yama. Three sus-pects reportedly maintained that they were only
novice drug addicts, while the 19-year-old alleged drug deliverer
refused to name his hook-up. Police sent all four to court. koh
SANTEPhEAP Thiefs getaway turnsinto a big smackdownFLEEING on foot
quickly became lying on back for an alleged thief in the capitals
Daun Penh district on Tues-day. Police said the suspect was on the
run on the river-side after snatching the phone of a strolling
tourist who was in hot pursuit when bystand-ers stepped into his
path and knocked him flat before he made it 100 metres. Cops
promptly arrived and the man was arrested. koh SANTEPhEAP
Extra clothes in this heat rightly suspicious Two alleged cat
burglars may be spending some time in a cage after allegedly making
off with about 1,000 items of clothing from a kampong Speu garment
factory early this month. Police said the two used wire cutters to
remove an exhaust fan on the factorys roof, then slipped inside,
hauled the garments into a car and high-tailed it. Unluckily for
them, however, the security camera saw it all, and police arrested
them on Sunday. koh SANTEPhEAP
Villagers chase down hit-and-run driverTwo men on a motorbike
were badly injured in a seem-ing attempted hit-and-run in Phnom
Penhs Russey keo district on Monday. According to police, the men
were riding to work when a truck attempt-ed to pass them. The
truck, however, was forced to swerve back into their lane by an
oncoming car, and smashed into their moto, badly injuring the pair.
The truck sped up, but was corralled by bystand-ers, who made a
citizens arrest. RASMEI kAMPUChEA
Translated by Phak Seangly
PolicebloTTer
National6 THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
App aims to report bribesStuart White
CAMBODIANS may soon find it easier than ever to report official
corruption, and not just to the authorities or their friends and
neighbours, but to the whole world, thanks to the impending launch
of a Khmer-language version of the graft-reporting smartphone app
Bribespot.
Already popular in Thailand with 194 reports, mostly since the
launch of a Thai ver-sion last August the tool allows users to
pin-point a spot on a map where they have been a victim of
corruption, usually bribe-taking, and to post a short description.
The apps founder, Lithuanian-born developer Artas Bartas, said
yesterday that the Khmer-language version of the app should be
finished by next week.
Speaking at a Phnom Penh workshop intro-ducing the tool
yesterday, Transparency Inter-national Cambodia executive director
Preap Kol said that the app gave people another platform to solve
social problems, particu-larly corruption.
Often times, people say, to fight corruption, you need political
will . . . but in Cambodia, its difficult to imagine [politicians]
having real political will, he said. If leaders dont have political
will, fine. We will find the people who have the will.
Bribespot has yet to reach a critical mass of
posters; as of yesterday afternoon, there were about 320 reports
displayed on the site world-wide. By comparison, a similar but
older project called I Paid a Bribe has recorded more than 19,000
allegations in India alone.
Bartas, the apps founder, acknowledged at yesterdays event that
whatever success weve had has been grassroots, but added that word
of mouth and encouragement from local part-ners would help make the
app part of the wid-er public discourse.
There has been discussion in forums, expat
communities, because foreign corruption is very frustrating . .
. and some locals have embraced it too, Bartas said. But to get to
the point where we influence policy makers, we need to work with
local partners.
Indeed, Cambodia has already seen some early adopters, with 19
reports detailing every-thing from a $2 informal payment for a visa
photo to a $5,000 bribe reported for illegal luxury wood
trading.
In brief Drug bust nabs police officer and two othersThREE
suspects including a police officer were arrested on Monday for
alleged drug trafficking in Preah Sihanouk province. Sok Dien, a
35-year-old penal police officer with the Sihanouk town police, was
arrested at his house along with Em Vannoeun, a 26-year-old
teacher, and Vannoeuns wife, Yen Sam Neang, 27, according to heng
Bunty, commander of the Preah Sihanouk provincial military police.
Bunty said that during the arrest, military police seized seven
packages of methamphetamine amounting to more than a kilogram, two
drug scales, one pistol with 11 bullets and one Ak rifle with 30
bullets. [we] spent four months investigating and researching them
before we could . . . arrest them, he said. The suspects are still
being detained for questioning at the provincial military police
headquarters, and are expected to be sent to the provincial court
for charges today. The suspects could not be reached for comment
yesterday. BUTh REAkSMEY koNGkEA
Raid fails to reveal any illegal wildlife in homeA 21-YEAR-oLD
man was arrested yesterday for obstructing justice after he refused
wildlife officials entry into his home to investigate claims he was
illegally keeping wild animals. Last month, eight officials from
wild Aid got a court order to search Phal Teng Tes house in koh
kongs Sre Ambel district, but he refused to let them in, according
to investigating judge kham Sophary. Te was summonsed to court
yesterday, where he was questioned and arrested. At last, the group
of wild Aid and the court did not find any illegal wild animals in
his house. But some forestry fruits were seized, kong Chet, a
Licadho provincial coordinator, said. SEN DAVID
Maxines owner a local legendDavid boyle
IAN Snowy Woodford, a painter and raconteur whose expatriate
years in Phnom Penh, marked
by his stewardship of the now defunct Maxines bar, still elic-it
nostalgic memories from those who knew him, died on Friday in
Sydney. He was 57. The death occurred during an operation for one
of his mul-tiple ailments.
Woodford, who took his moniker from the Snowy Mountains in New
South Wales where he grew up, moved to the capital from Australia
in 1993 to work on a dangerous assignment retrieving vehicles from
Khmer Rouge strong-holds for the United Nations.
He fell in love with Cambodia and stayed for almost 20 years,
racking up a library of tales. In
the early days, Snow as every-one addressed him worked any kind
of job. Once, he was paid to watch TV, and drink beer, by a foreign
government concerned about the content of news coverage in the
coun-try a job he excelled in.
But most people remember his tenure as the proprietor of
Maxines, which he opened in 2005. The bar sat precariously on the
eastern bank of the Tonle Sap river in Chroy Chang Var, constantly
threatening to topple into the water with its uniquely slanted
veranda.
Wendy Lucas, co-owner of The Lost Room restaurant, and one of
Snows many longtime Phnom Penh friends, recalled his universal
popularity.
He was basically an insti-tution of Phnom Penh, and I dont think
I ever heard any-one say anything bad about
him, everyone just loved the guy, she said yesterday.
He named his bar after the person he loved the most, his now
teenage daughter Maxine.
He enjoyed music and paint-ing, and cultivated an alluring style
of rendering striking im-ages from Cambodian folklore through a
modified indig-enous Australian dot painting technique. These
paintings, as
well as Cambodian artefacts and photos that he collected,
decorated Maxines.
For residents in Phnom Penh, Maxines became a place to escape to
and watch the sunset while Snow regaled his customers with whatever
mus-ings he had to offer that day.
In 2002, Snow reached new heights of expatriate fame when he
played a raving Australian lunatic in a brothel in Matt Dil-lons
film City of Ghosts.
After being evicted from his bar in 2011 to make way for the
Sokha hotel, he returned to Australia with his daughter.
But the bar lived on. A fan bought the wooden saloon and
transported it to the banks of the Kampot river, where it stands
today inside the Green-house resort.
Woodford is survived by his daughter.
Ian Snowy Woodford at Kandal House Cafe in 2013. SAMPhoN
SoCh
Dolphin foundA dead 70-kilogram dolphin lies on the shore after
being discovered in Sihanoukville on Sunday. Fishermen found the
animal in the Gulf of Thai-land wrapped in a fishing net. It was
brought ashore and buried to ward off spirits, said Nhel Sokhom,
chief of Kam Penh commune. PhoTo SUPPLIED
If leaders dont have political will, fine. We will find the
people who have
the will
-
Eddie Morton
AustrAliAn listed, Cell Aquaculture (CAQ) a onetime a marine
technology
company has purchased a casino on the Cambodia-Vietnam border in
a bid to generate much needed reve-nue after nearing bankruptcy in
2013.
On May 26, CAQ announced in a statement to the Austra-lian stock
Exchange that it had hosted a soft opening for the roxy Casino,
which is located 200 metres from the Vietnam border crossing, in
Bavet town, after a full reno-vation and refurbishment of the once
defunct operation.
richard soo, director of CAQ said the renovation had cost the
firm us$1.2 million thus far.
We have had a team here since early January, build-ing. then,
with furnishing and hiring of more person-nel, we have incurred
another us$250,000 cost. the costs are in line with our budgeted
plans of us$1.5 million to us$2 million, he added.
soo, who also has interests in Malaysian playing-card maker
leisurematics, said he anticipates making up the ini-tial
investment in roxy within the first six months of its op-erations,
following a grand opening slated for August.
As per the requirements of the AsX, CAQ will adhere to full
disclosure of the casinos financial operations, he said.
According to the AsX filing, the new roxy Casino will oper-ate
24 hours a day, with 15 tra-ditional gaming tables, eight online
gaming tables, sports betting and 20 hotel rooms.
CAQ was placed into ad-ministration and suspended from trading
on the AsX in november 2012 after posting a A$3.5 million (us$3.2
mil-
lion) loss for the 2012 finan-cial year. in an effort regain its
position, CAQ in July last year issued an additional 250 million
new shares, which in turn generated A$300 million for the company.
CAQ was reinstated to the AsX on sep-tember 20, 2013.
When the companys own-ers realised current opera-tions were no
longer feasible or viable, they decided to look for a new direction
for the firm. And with our China operations only 46 per cent
complete so far, the company
needed a more immediate source of income, soo said.
in March, CAQ agreed to purchase the roxy Casino along with the
rights to a free-trade zone in China for A$83 million, to be paid
in the form of 553 million CAQ shares. the deal is expected to be
finalised by July.
But the Australian compa-nys casino venture may not be the
quick-fix, they set out for.
Hor Chenda, deputy head of Bavet international Border Gate, said
yesterday that the roxy Casino had gone bank-
rupt prior to CAQs purchase of the property due to slump-ing
gambler numbers cross-ing the Vietnam border.
i have observed that the number of gamblers arriving here
[Bavet] has declined and as a result a few casinos have been faced
with shutting down operations, Chenda told the Post, adding that
there are cur-rently 10 casinos still operating in the border
town.
Most gamblers come from Vietnam. Historically, as a share of the
number of Viet-namese crossing the border,
around 40 per cent come for gambling. But that has de-clined
noticeably recently.
Along with the roxy Casi-no project and as part of the March
agreement, CAQ pur-chased the rights to Haikou Free trade Zone on
Hainan island, in southern China.
CAQ stock spiked mid-March following the firms ca-sino and
Haikou Project an-nouncement reaching $0.129 per share. At
yesterdays AsX close, CAQs share price was stable, trading at
$0.115 cents per share.
7THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
Business
By 2020, $9 billion needed for road funding: Master PlanHor
Kimsay
CAMBOdiA needs $9 billion to be invested into 850 kilometres of
road-ways by 2020, according to a study by Henan Provincial
Communica-tions Planning survey and design institute.
From the Chinese province of Hen-an, officials from the
state-owned engineering institute went to great lengths yesterday
to explain that sci-entific analysis was behind their Cambodia
Expressway development Master Plan, a report delivered to the
Ministry of Public Works and trans-port in Phnom Penh.
to build and improve a modern transport network, covering the
whole
nation, connecting every province and city, sEZs,
resource-exploitation areas, tourist regions, essential ports,
docks, airports and other areas, at first there shall be a
scientific development and a reasonable plan, said li Qiang, chief
engineer at the Henan Provincial Communications Planning survey and
design institute.
the study went beyond the 2020 deadline to reveal that by 2040,
Cam-bodia would need 2,230 kilometres of roads costing up to $26
billion, including a ring road around Phnom Penh and six
expressways connecting provinces. And though much empha-sis was put
the scientific methods used to arrive at the infrastructure
requirements, no data were present-
ed to support the plan.speaking to reporters after the cer-
emony to receive the expressway report Minister of Public Works
and transportation tram iv tek said there was no funding in place
to ful-
fil the entire proposed Master Plan, but the government was
looking to partner with the private sector to help support its
future road infra-structure needs.
it is the right time to begin con-sidering this [expressway
project],
he said. We need to start thinking from now to prepare for the
master plan so that we know what we should do first and after, he
said.
iv tek added that two highway projects had already received
fund-ing; one connecting Phnom Penh to sihanoukville province with
funding from a Chinese company and the other an expressway that
would con-nect Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam with
funding from the Japanese international Coop-eration Agency (
JiCA). iv tek declined to give any further details on the company
investing or build-ing the road linking the capital to
sihanoukville.
JiCA announced its plans for a $2.2
billion Phnom Penh to Bavet town toll road last month. A
feasibility study is to begin next year with the Phnom Penh to neak
loeng section expected be open in the early 2020s. the entire
highway is expected to be completed in 2030.
Egami Masahiko, JiCAs representa-tive, told the Post yesterday
that the road would help support Cambodias shift to high-value
industries such as auto parts and electronics which require stable
transportation.
Many Asian countries started development of expressway when
their GdP per capita were less than $500. Cambodia now is $1,000
and it is time to start development of an expressway network, he
said.
Cassava fuel plant study now one year inChan Muyhong
JAPAnEsE petroleum company, idemitsu Oil & Gas, is
consider-ing building a biomass plant in Battambang province to use
cas-sava to produce fuel, a Cambo-dia Mine Action Centre (CMAC)
official says.
leng Chreang, director of mine risk education at CMAC said the
Japanese firm is one year into a three-year study looking at
whether farmers in Battambang province an area littered with
unexploded mines can supply the amount of cassava needed to power
such a plant.
idemitsu has been doing contract farming covering more than 100
hectares land since 2013. if the first year trial is a success, the
company will expand the contract farm-ing area to 2,000 hectares
and beyond to study more the fea-sibility of cassava production for
such a plant, Chreang said, adding that the price of building such
a facility remains uncertain.
Chreang said cassava produc-tion from at least 15,000 hectares
will be needed to supply the facility. He said the plant could be
operational by 2017, provided the study is successful.
Chhim Vichara, director of agriculture department at Bat-tambang
province, said the plant will provide a sustainable market for
local farmers.
Battambang has great poten-tial for cassava production. Farmers
here produce a total of nearly 2 million tonnes of cas-sava
annually on 60,000 hectares of land, he said.
More processing plants means farmers will be less wor-ried about
having a market for their products.
An advertisement sit in front of casino in Bavet in 2010. An
announcement on Monday suggested that one casino in Bavet has been
bought by an Australian company. Sovan phILonG
Australian firm bets on Bavet
USD / JPY
101.92
USD / SGD
1.2529
USD /CNY
6.2368
USD / HKD
7.7533
USD / THB
32.59
AUD / USD
0.9235
NZD / USD
0.8535
EUR / USD
1.362
GBP / USD
1.6835
Indicative Exchange Rates as of 26/5/2014. Please contact ANZ
Royal Global Markets on 023 999 910 for real time rates.
USD / KHR
4,038
Cambodia now is $1,000 [GDP per capita] and it is
time to start development of an expressway network
-
Beijing targets IBM in an apparent retaliationCHINA is pushing
domestic banks to remove high-end servers made by IBM Corp and
replace them with a local brand, according to people familiar with
the matter, in an escalation of a row with the US over spying
claims. State agencies, including the Peoples Bank of China and the
Ministry of Finance, are reviewing whether Chinese commercial banks
reliance on IBM servers compromises the countrys financial
security, said the sources. The review fits a broader pattern of
retaliation after American prosecutors indicted five Chinese
military officers for allegedly hacking into US firms and stealing
secrets. BlooMBerg
Aussie state eyes $14B China-backed casinosTHe government of
Australias Queensland state will study proposals for two new
casinos backed by Chinese and Hong Kong investors, challenging echo
entertainment group ltds hold on the local gambling market. Hit by
falling prices for its largest export, coal, Queensland state is
considering a bet on the A$15.65 billion (US$14 billion) casinos to
lure Asian gamblers whove fuelled investment in new resorts in
Macau and Singapore. BlooMBerg
Thai tourist timing
Calls to push back curfew to midnight
THAI tourism operators have called on the Na-tional Council for
Peace and Order (NCPO) to push back the curfew from 10pm until
midnight in some popular tourism destinations.
The extra two hours would benefit tourism in destinations far
from political conflict such as Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui and Hua
Hin, Association of Thai Travel Agents chief Sisdi-vachr
Cheewarattanaporn said.
Last Thursday, the NCPO imposed a curfew from 10pm-5am
nationwide.
I strongly believe major tourism operators can adjust to deal
with sluggish tourism sentiment after the curfew imposition.
However, it will be better and more convenient for foreign tourists
who want to go out to party and hang out, Sisdivachr said.
Staff at many hotels have to stay overnight at their premi-ses
due to the curfew.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is pinning its hopes on
domestic tourism after the lengthy political turmoil has deterred
foreign tourists. BANgKoK PoST
Business8 THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
Japan farms reap energy, too JAPANS campaign to boost renewable
power supplies since the Fuku-shima nuclear disaster is producing
some unlikely win-ners: vegetable farmers.
Makoto Takazawa and his fa-ther Yukio earned 1.7 million
($16,700) last fiscal year selling electricity from solar panels
that hang in a giant canopy above their farm east of To-kyo. The
cash was almost nine times more than they made from the crops
growing in the soil below.
Harvesting dual incomes from sunlight was a godsend to the
Takazawas. Theyre among the majority of Japa-nese farmers who
depend on a combination of outside work, pension payments and
gov-ernment subsidies to make a living. The easing of land-use
rules and mandates for utili-ties including Tokyo Electric Power Co
to buy clean energy at premium prices is poised to fuel the spread
of panels to more farms.
I was racking my brain to figure out what to do on this land
that Ill take over from my father one day, because grow-ing rice
and vegetables doesnt bring in much money, Taka-zawa said. Then I
heard about solar sharing for farmland.
The government is disman-tling a subsidy system thats supported
Japans rice pro-duction for four decades. The country is under
increasing pressure from trading partners to roll back import
tariffs of 778 per cent for the grain, along with levies of more
than 300 per cent on sugar and butter.
Takazawa, 51, still works full time in machinery sales while his
retired father, 78, tends the farm in Chiba prefecture most days.
Sixty-eight more farms across Japan have approval to follow in
their footsteps and set up solar panels, according to JA Group, the
countrys big-
gest agricultural organisation.The checkerboard of pan-
els hanging from stilts about 3 meters above the farm in Chiba
cut sunlight to the veg-etables by about 30 per cent without
harming growth, the younger Takazawa said. The government requires
solar-sharing farmers to maintain agricultural output.
The system, patented by Jap-anese engineer Akira Nagashi-ma,
covers an area about half the size of a football pitch and produces
enough electricity to power 10 households.
This dual-use concept does offer the potential for another
revenue source for the farming community, Tom OSullivan, founder
of Tokyo-based ener-gy consultancy Mathyos, said. Wind farms are
more popular on rural properties in other countries because they
take up less land, he said.
Japan has more than dou-bled solar capacity to about 13,500
megawatts since begin-ning a clean energy incentive program in July
2012 in the wake of the atomic meltdown, according to data from the
trade ministry through Febru-ary this year.
Nagashimas system oper-ates on the assumption that too much
sunlight can some-times be a bad thing. The canopy is arranged to
allow in enough to maximise growth, but no more.
The Takazawas, who grow taro, sweet potato, pumpkin, blueberry
and leafy vegetables, said yields for some of the plants increased
under the shelter of the panels because the soil re-tained more
moisture.
Farming communities have plenty of unused resources for clean
energy, said Masahide Sugimoto, an assistant direc-tor in the
ministrys renewable energy policy division.
We want people to use them. BlooMBerg
Yukio Takazawa (left) speaks to the media during a tour to the
Kazusa-Tsurumai power station in Chiba prefectures Ichihara city.
BlooMBerg
-
Markets9THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
Business
May Kunmakara
CIMB Bank, Malaysias sec-ond-largest, has entered the insurance
market via a part-nership agreement signed yesterday with Cambodia
Life Insurance Company (CLIC).
In Meatra, director general of CLIC, said that under the
part-nership, CIMB had received full access to offer their
insur-ance products to customers.
CIMB will be our sale agent because they have wide busi-ness
coverage and they can help us more, he said.
CIMB will offer two separate insurance products on behalf of
CLIC one covering indi-viduals loan repayments and the other to
relieve financial burden in case of unforeseen circumstances such
as loss of income due to illness, accord-ing to a joint
statement.
It is the second banking firm CLIC has partnered with after
signing a similar agreement with Foreign Trade Bank ear-lier this
year.
Meatra said the Foreign Trade Bank agreement had assisted in
bringing the insur-ance providers customer base to more than
600.
CIMB the latest to add local insurer
Banks back Thai rice payoutsWichit Chantanusornsiri and Phusadee
Arunmas
THAILANDS banks have given assurances that they are prepared to
lend 90 billion baht
to the Finance Ministry to pay off the long-overdue debt owed to
rice farmers, a senior ministry official has said.
Deputy Finance Secretary Pongpanu Svetarundra said the ministry
had sent a letter to all 32 commercial and state-owned banks
inviting them to participate in loans for the first batch of 50
billion baht in advance payments to farmers who pledged their paddy
un-der the rice-pledging scheme for the 2013-14 main crop.
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) on the weekend
gave approval to the Finance Ministry to bor-row and guarantee bond
issu-ance by the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultur-al
Cooperatives (BAAC) worth a combined 92.4 billion baht to pay
858,000 rice farmers.
All farmers are expected to receive their payments by next
month.
The military junta has au-thority to borrow fresh funds to pay
farmers who have
been waiting for their money for months.
Somchart Soithong, director-general of the Internal Trade
Department, recently said that the BAAC had already set aside 40
billion baht to pay the farm-ers, and the remainder would be
acquired through loans from other financial institu-tions as soon
as possible.
The rice-pledging scheme was the key populist policy initiated
by the former Ying-luck Shinawatra government with the aim of
boosting farm-ers incomes and raising the market price of rice.
But the scheme backfired due to hefty losses when the pledging
price was set 40-50 per cent above market prices.
Moreover, the former govern-ments caretaker status lim-ited its
ability to borrow to pay farmers, while the Commerce Ministrys
sales could not generate sufficient revenue to settle the debt.
Moreover, the former gov-ernments caretaker status limited its
ability to borrow to pay farmers, while the Com-
merce Ministrys sales could not generate sufficient rev-enue to
settle the debt.
In the 2013-14 main crop, 11.6 million tonnes of paddy worth 190
billion baht were pledged under the scheme. Farmers who pledged
6.29 million tonnes of paddy worth 103 billion baht were paid.
Out of that total, 75 billion baht came from rice sold to the
market by the Commerce Ministry, 1.05 billion baht from the Farmers
Aid Fund and another 20 billion baht from the governments cen-tral
budget.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry has denied a report alleging
that more than 3 mil-lion tonnes of rice disappeared from state
warehouses.
Commerce chief Srirat Ra-stapana said the ministry would suspend
sales of rice in the stockpile to traders for at least a couple of
days to allow intensive stock checks.
Delivery of rice under gov-ernment-to-government con-tracts will
continue.
A report by an investigation subcommittee set up by the Finance
Ministry showed that the Commerce Ministry could not locate as much
as 3 million tonnes of rice. bangkok post
Workers prepare sacks for storing rice in a warehouse at the O
Karnkaset rice mill in Nong Kham, Suphan Buri province, Thailand.
bloomberg
-
Business10 THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
S Africa contracts for first time since 2009S
OUTH Africas econo-my shrank in the first quarter of the year,
in the worst performance
recorded since the global re-cession five years ago, official
data showed yesterday.
Statistics South Africa re-ported the economy contract-ed by 0.6
per cent quarter on quarter, a stunning reversal for Africas most
advanced economy amid a rapid boom elsewhere in the continent.
The worse-than-expected data comes during the first full day on
the job for South African Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene.
The 55-year-old was sworn in as South Africas first black
finance minister on Monday, tasked with overseeing radi-cal social
and economic reforms in President Jacob Zumas new five-year
term.
Shortly after the release of yesterdays data the rand fell
almost 1 per cent against the US dollar.
The possibility of a reces-sion, two consecutive quar-ters of
negative growth, is not being ruled out.
This makes for grim read-
ing, said Razia Khan, Africas regional head of research for
Standard Chartered Bank.
The first quarter contrac-tion which is annualised and adjusted
for seasonal varia-tions was blamed largely
on a slump in the mining sector and a significant drop in
manufacturing.
Khan said the figures showed an end to a crippling a platinum
strike, now in its fifth month, and serious eco-nomic reforms were
even more of an imperative.
In their absence, growth might continue to languish at these
weak levels.
With unemployment above 25 per cent and inflation ris-ing,
policymakers will worry that unrest in the mining sector is
spilling over and hurting confidence across the economy.
Predictably, the weakness mainly came from a sharp plunge in
mining produc-tion, analysts at Nedbank said. But the economys
fra-gility was on display in most other sectors too.
Weaker growth could pose significant problems for Nene, bringing
weaker government revenues as he struggles to balance the fiscal
books amid the threat of a further credit rating downgrade.
The shrinking economy will also pose serious prob-lems for the
South African Reserve Bank, which has seen efforts to curb
inflation through higher interest rates held back.
The weak growth perfor-mance was the primary rea-son why the SA
Reserve Bank kept rates on hold in last
weeks [monetary policy com-mittee] meeting, Nazmeera Moola,
economist and strate-gist at Investec Asset Manage-ment, said.
A quick rate hike could throw growth further into re-verse. In
the last quarter of 2013 the economy grew 3.8 per cent. afp
Striking miners march in Marikana, in the South African platinum
belt, earlier this month. afp
Pfizer foiled
AstraZeneca drops after buyout fails
SHARES in AstraZeneca slid yesterday, one day after US drugmaker
Pfizer scrapped its controver-sial takeover bid for the British
pharmaceuticals giant.
AstraZenecas share price dropped 1.79 per cent to 42.50 ($71.50)
in midday deals on Londons FTSE 100 index, which rose 0.51 per cent
to 6,850.73 points.
Pfizer announced on Monday that it had decided to walk away
after making a final friendly $117 billion takeover offer.
The London stock market was closed on Monday for a public
holiday.
The improved and final bid, pitched at 55 per share, was
rejected last week by AstraZenecas management, who were asking for
an offer of at least 58.85.
Pfizers announcement on Monday put an end to a long-running saga
that drew widespread attention over fears that British jobs and
re-search capability would be lost and accusations that the tie-up
was a cynical ploy by Pfizer to pay less tax. afp
Kiev balks at EU gas compromiseUKRAINE said yesterday that it
was unhappy with the terms of an EU-brokered compromise with Russia
that could save Europe from seeing a large chunk of its gas
supplies cut as early as next week.
What we are hearing now is you pay and then we talk, Ukrainian
Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said a day after Europes energy
commissioner reported that there was a good chance a compromise
could be reached within days.
This does not suit us, Shlapak said.The two neighbours launched
their third
gas war in less than a decade after the ouster of a
Kremlin-backed president in February and Ukraines decision to seek
closer economic ties with EU states.
Russia retaliated by hiking Ukraines gas price by 81 per cent to
$485.50 per 1,000 cubic metres the highest of any of its European
clients and demanding a pay-ment by next Monday of $5.17 billion
for debts and June deliveries.
Ukraine refused to pay anything and branded the price increase a
form of eco-nomic aggression.
Europe imports 15 per cent of its gas through Ukraine and has
been keen to help find a compromise that could avert a repeat of
2006 and 2009 disruptions that damaged Russias reputation as a
reliable supplier and prompted Brussels to seek ways to diversify
supplies.
European Energy Commissioner Guen-
ther Oettinger on Monday reported rela-tively good progress at
talks in Berlin involving Russian Energy Minister Alexan-der Novak
and his Ukrainian counterpart Yuriy Prodan.
Oettinger said a deal under considera-tion would see Ukraine pay
Russias state energy giant Gazprom $2 billion by Thurs-day out of
money it received from the IMF and other world lenders in the past
few weeks. Russia would then be ready to rene-gotiate the price of
future deliveries.
Ukraine has threatened to sue Russia in an arbitration court in
Stockholm should no agreement between Gazprom and its Naftogaz
state energy company be reached by Thursday. afp
Call for ProposalsResearch on Social Protection and
Migration (Extension)
The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
(UN Women) is inviting rms/research organizations to submit
proposals to undertake a research study on social protection to
women migrant workers and their families. The detailed Request for
Proposal and ToR are available at:
http://asiapacic.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
Deadline for submissions: 09 June 2014 at 5 p.m. local
timePlease send your proposal to [email protected]
Any inquiries regarding the study proposal, please contact our
UN Women Country Ofce via e-mail at: [email protected].
Please note that this e-mail is only for enquiries. Only
proposals sent to [email protected] will be
accepted.
Nhlanhla Nene, South Africas first black finance minister.
bloomberg
-
Max Delany with Tanya Willmer
Ukraine said yes-terday that it had regained control of the
airport in the
eastern city of Donetsk after a day of punishing air strikes and
fierce fighting with pro-Moscow separatist gunmen left dozens of
people dead.
russian President Vladimir Putin immediately called on Ukraine
to end its punitive operation in the rebel-held east and for talks
between kiev and the insurgents.
The battle for the main transport hub in Ukraines in-dustrial
heartland erupted on Monday just hours after pres-ident-elect Petro
Poroshenko vowed to take a tough stand against the terrorists.
The airport is under our full control. The enemy suffered heavy
losses. We have none, interior Minister arsen avak-ov said. He
said, however, that the military was continuing its operation at
the airport and journalists reported hearing sporadic gunfire and
explo-sions during the morning.
The Organisation for Securi-ty and Cooperation in europe also
reported being unable to establish contact with a four-member
observer team based in the restive city since Mon-day evening.
Donetsk Mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko said two civilians and 38
combat-ants had died. rebel leaders suggested that the toll among
their ranks could be higher.
a correspondent reported seeing body parts and blood splattered
near a bullet-rid-dled truck on the airport road, where makeshift
blockades had been set up with dumper trucks and piles of
tyres.
Combat jets and helicopter gunships struck the airport terminal
on Monday after it was seized by scores of gun-men just a day after
Ukraines presidential election won by Poroshenko.
The strikes represented the most forceful action by kiev yet in
its battle to crush a bloody rebellion that has
raged in the coal and steel belt since early april and
threatened to tear the former Soviet state apart.
The military action has also revived tensions between kiev and
Moscow, which had initially said it was ready to work with the new
leader of its western neighbour.
in his first comments on Ukraine since Sundays elec-tion, Putin
called for an immediate end to the mili-tarys punitive operation in
southeastern regions and the establishment of peaceful dialogue
between kiev and regional representatives, the kremlin said.
Poroshenko, a 48-year-old pro-Western chocolate ty-coon, had
said he was ready to engage with the russian leadership and was
optimis-tic a meeting with Putin could be arranged soon.
Yesterday, however, russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lav-
rov who had initially said Moscow was open to prag-matic
dialogue with the new leader declared that a visit to Moscow by
Poroshenko was not being considered.
Sundays election had been viewed as crucial if Ukraine was able
to turn the page on months of turmoil that fol-lowed the February
ousting of kievs pro-kremlin leadership.
kiev and the West accuse russia of pulling the strings of the
insurgents who took up arms against the government in the wake of
the kremlins seizure of the Black Sea pen-insula Crimea in
March.
The US and its allies had warned of another round of sanctions
against Moscow if it meddled in Sundays elec-tion, which saw
Poroshenko declared the clear winner with 54 per cent of the
vote.
in the days before the poll, russia also announced it had
started withdrawing from
Ukraines border around 40,000 soldiers whose pres-ence had
raised Western sus-picions it could be planning to invade.
Poroshenko, a political vet-eran, said on Monday that the
military would press on with its offensive against the insurgents
who now con-trol about a dozen cities and towns in the east. and he
insisted there would be no talks with terrorists until they laid
down their arms.
The insurgency, which has now cost around 200 lives, thwarted
polling in much of the east and rebels have de-fiantly refused to
recognise Poroshenkos election.
But a 1,000-strong team of international monitors led by the
OSCe concluded that the election largely upheld dem-ocratic
commitments and provided Poroshenko leader with the legitimacy
needed to tackle the insurgency. The
OSCe said yesterday that it had lost contact with four members
of its Special Moni-toring Mission when it went out on a routine
patrol east of Donetsk on Monday.
it added that both the Ukra-nian government and re-gional
authorities had been informed of the situation.
Poroshenko also faces a daunting task in attempting to avert
economic collapse after years of Soviet-era mis-management and
rampant corruption.
The iMF, which is leading a $27 billion international bail-out
package to avert Ukraines bankruptcy, has forecast the economy will
shrink by at least 5 per cent this year.
Ukraine is also trying to ne-gotiate a deal to prevent russia
from cutting off gas supplies from next week if it fails to pay
more than $5 billion demand-ed for debts and prepayments for June
deliveries. AFP
12 THE PHNOM PENH POST MaY 28, 2014
WorldPark: family root cause of tragedySOUTH korean President
Park Geun-hye yesterday denounced fugitive members of the
ship-owning family linked to last months ferry dis-aster, calling
them the root cause of the tragedy that claimed around 300
lives.
The government has offered a $500,000 reward for informa-tion
leading to the arrest of Yoo Byung-eun, patriarch of the family
behind Chonghaejin Marine Co.
Chonghaejin owned and operated the 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry that
capsized and sank on april 16 with hundreds of high school students
on board.
Yoo and his eldest son have become the targets of a mas-sive
manhunt after they ignored prosecutors sum-mons to surrender
themselves for questioning. initial inves-tigations suggest that
lax safe-ty standards and negligent business practices may have
been a major contributor to the disaster.
The Yoo Byung-eun family, the root cause of the tragedy, is
flouting the law and causing public fury at a time when it should
repent in front of peo-ple and reveal the truth, Park told a
meeting of her cabinet.
Yoo has no direct stake in Chonghaejin, but his children and
close aides control it through a complex web of holding
companies.
Prosecutors had offered an initial reward of $50,000 for
information on Yoos wherea-bouts, but upped the figure to $500,000
on Monday after days of fruitless searching. a $100,000 reward was
offered for his eldest son Yoo Dae-kyun.
On Thursday, investigators raided a compound belonging to the
evangelical Baptist Church of korea, of which Yoo is a leading
member, but failed to find him. The church insist-ed it had no
connection with Yoo, but former followers who left the institution
described him as its leader who was wor-shipped as a demi-god.
in the wake of the Sewol trag-edy, President Park has had to
contend with widespread pub-lic criticism of the rescue effort and
lax regulatory oversight.
in a tearful address to the nation last week, she accepted
personal responsibility and announced she would dis-mantle the
coastguard in an overhaul of the national emer-gency response
system.
Park has been very outspo-ken in her own criticism of the ferrys
captain and surviving crew members, saying their decision to
abandon ship while hundreds were still trapped was tantamount to
murder.
The Sewols captain and three crew have been charged with
manslaughter through gross negligence. Five Chong-haejin officials
have already been arrested for possible criminal negligence.
AFP
Vietnam claims Chinese sank fishing boatContinued from page
1
he added. Qin said the rig had moved to a new location, but
Vietnamese state media said it was still within what Hanoi
considered its territory.
it was the first ship reported sunk since the dispute flared in
early May. The standoff has seen repeated skir-mishes between
dozens of Chinese and Vietnamese vessels, including many civilian
and fishing boats.
The confrontations have included reported rammings and the use
of water cannon.
a dozen Vietnamese fisheries surveil-lance officers have been
injured in rammings since the start of May, the
deputy commander of the Vietnam Marine Police, ngo ngoc Thu,
said.
relations between frequently testy neighbours Vietnam and China
have plummeted over the oil rigs presence, which has worsened an
increasingly heated dispute over territorial claims in the area.
The oil rig is positioned in the vicinity of the contested Paracel
islands. in Japan which has a thorny maritime territorial dispute
of its own with Beijing in the east China Sea government spokesman
Yoshihide Suga said if the report was true, it was an extremely
dangerous act.
its important that relevant coun-tries abstain from unilateral
actions that raise tensions and that the coun-
tries act cool-headedly, observing international laws, Suga
said.
Tensions over the oil rig sparked violent anti-Chinese riots in
Vietnam earlier this month. Beijing says four Chinese citizens died
in the unrest, while Vietnam says three Chinese died. Hundreds of
people have been detained over the riots and two Viet-namese men on
Sunday became the first sentenced to jail, receiving terms of one
and three years.
Vietnamese Prime Minister nguyen Tan Dung said last week that
Chinas placement of the rig in the contested area had seriously
threatened peace.
China claims nearly all of the sea, even waters approaching the
coasts of
its neighbours, and has become increas-ingly assertive in
staking those claims.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia, as well as
Taiwan, have com-peting claims to parts of the sea.
in recent years China has begun aggressively patrolling
contested waters, using fishing bans and patrol boats to keep
foreign trawlers out, according to Vietnamese officials and
fishermen.
Hanoi says hundreds of fishing boat crews have been arrested by
Chinese authorities over the past few years.
Beijing for its part estimates that more than 11,000 Chinese
fishermen experienced attacks, robberies or detention by foreign
vessels between 1989 and 2010. AFP
Dozens dead in battle for airport
A pro-Russian fighter takes position behind a car as a truck
packed with comrades heads towards the battle during clashes
against Ukrainian forces near the airport in Donetsk on Monday.
AFP
-
World13THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
IndIAn Prime Minister na-rendra Modi held landmark talks with
his Pakistani coun-terpart and announced his new cabinet yesterday,
in a high-energy start to his term in office.
The morning after Modi and his slimmed-down team of ministers
were sworn in, the right-wing leader hosted Pakistans Prime
Minister nawaz Sharif in a bid to ease tensions between the
nucle-ar-armed neighbours.
The two leaders shook hands and smiled for the cameras on the
steps of a government building in central new delhi before heading
inside for almost an hourlong meeting that ran over its allotted
time.
Sharif was one of six regional leaders who attended Modis lavish
inauguration on Mon-day evening. Modi has an im-age as a
hard-liner, even within his own Hindu nationalist par-ty, and is
regarded with deep suspicion by many in Pakistan after deadly
anti-Muslim riots erupted in his western fiefdom a decade ago.
But in a surprise move that disarmed many of his critics, Modi
decided last week to in-vite Sharif to his inauguration
and then to join him for talks in a significant olive branch to
Indias Muslim neighbour.
Let us together dream of a strong, developed and inclu-sive
India that actively engages with the global community to strengthen
the cause of world peace and development, Modi said as he was sworn
in.
It is the first time an Indian prime minister has hosted a
Pakistani leader for official talks in delhi since the rup-ture in
relations that followed the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166
people.
The attacks were blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani militant
group which is now accused of being behind an attack by gunmen last
week on an Indian diplomatic mis-sion in western Afghanistan.
Modi raised trade between India and Pakistan in his talks with
Sharif, as well as secu-rity concerns over anti-India groups
operating from Paki-stani territory, analysts say.
In 1999, then-Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rode a
bus to the Pakistani city of Lahore to sign an accord with Sharif,
but three months later the neighbours nearly went to war over the
disputed region of Kashmir. AFP
new Indian PM Modi in talks with Pakistani rival
We know where missing girls are
nIgerIAS highest-ranking military officer on Monday gave a
glimmer of
hope to the families of more than 200 schoolgirls held by Boko
Haram militants, saying that the country had located the missing
teenagers.
But the defence staff chief, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh,
warned that any potential armed rescue operation was fraught with
danger as the 223 girls still held hostage could be caught in the
crossfire.
Boko Haram fighters kid-napped 276 girls from the remote
northeastern town of Chibok on April 14, leading to global
outrage.
The good news for the girls is that we know where they are but
we cannot tell you, Badeh said in the capital Abuja, as the
abduction crisis entered its seventh week.
nigerias government and military have been sharply criticised
for their slow re-sponse to the mass abduc-tion and were finally
forced to accept foreign help in the rescue effort.
US drones have been sur-veying northeast nigeria and
neighbouring Chad from the air while British, French and Israeli
teams have been on
the ground providing special-ist assistance.
The military has previously said that the search was cen-tred
around the Sambisa for-est area of Borno, in northeast nigeria,
where makeshift mil-itant camps have previously been found as well
as arms and ammunition caches.
Badeh earlier addressed demonstrators who had marched on defence
Head-quarters in Abuja in the lat-est in a series of protests that
have sought to maintain pressure on the government and keep the
disappearance in the spotlight.
The officer refused to di-vulge specific details, de-scribing
the operation as a military secret, but he add-ed: We are working.
We will get the girls back.
Addressing the protesters, Badeh said that the military was
faced with the dilemma of whether to send in ground troops, given
concerns of deaths and casualties among the hostages.
nobody should come and say the nigerian military does not know
what its do-ing. We know what we are do-ing. We cant go and kill
our girls in the name of trying to
get them back, he told the crowd. The United nations Security
Council last week designated Boko Haram an al-Qaeda-linked
organisa-tion, in a move designed to curb any overseas funding and
support, as well as re-strict its leaders movements.
However, analysts have questioned whether the sanc-tions would
have any effect on the ground, given the Isla-mists largely
localised cam-paign of murderous violence to create an Islamic
state in northern nigeria.
Badeh touched on possible foreign assistance to the mil-itants,
saying that weapons recovered during operations were very alien to
nigerian armed forces, which means there are people from out-side
fuelling this thing [the insurgency].
Mr President said we have al-Qaeda in west Africa. I be-lieve it
100 per cent because I know that people from out-side nigeria are
in this war. They are fighting us.
They want to destabilise our country and some people in this
country are standing with the forces of darkness. We know. We must
salvage our country. We must bring sanity back to our nation.
AFP
A screengrab taken on May 12 from a Boko Haram video shows girls
wearing full-length hijabs and praying in an undisclosed location.
AFP
-
Myanmar mulls curbs on religion conversionMyanMar is considering
restrictions on religious conversion, according to a draft bill
released in state media yesterday, the first of several
controversial proposals stemming from a rising tide of Buddhist
nationalism. The proposed legislation would require people who want
to change their faith to get approval from a specially created
local authority. Under the proposed law any violation could attract
a two-year prison sentence. The proposals on religious conversion
are part of a wider series of draft bills being considered by
government ministries and suggested by President Thein Sein after a
campaign by extremist monks. a highly controversial plan to impose
restrictions on interfaith marriage is also being considered but
details have yet to be revealed. aFP
Yingluck freed: junta ThailandS junta yesterday said former
prime minister yingluck Shinawatra had been released from military
detention and allowed to return home. yingluck was detained on May
23 after reporting to the army. [yingluck] has been released, junta
spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said, without specifying when she
was freed. aFP
Border tension
N Korea in warning of catastrophe
North Korea yesterday warned that recent provocative activities
by US troops at a truce village on the heavily fortified
inter-Korean border could lead to a catastrophic military
clash.
the warning came from the head of the North Korean forces
stationed in the frontier village of Panmun-jom where the
cease-fire agreement to end fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War was
signed. Panmunjom has hosted multiple inter-Korean talks over the
decades and is heavily guarded.
the North Korean military official, who was not named, said
recent activities by US troops threatened to destabi-lise the
sensitive area.
Given the military sensi-tivity of Panmunjom, where North and
South Korean border guards stand almost eyeball to eyeball, the
official said such activity was parti-cularly dangerous.
the slightest accidental mistake or undesirable behaviour could
lead to a catastrophic military clash, he said. aFP
World14 THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 28, 2014
Successful People Read The Post.
Job Announcement
The Phnom Penh Post is an independent media company in Cambodia
and is seeking qualied candidates to ll the position of reporter as
follows:
Lifestyle Sub-editor: 1 position
Job requirements:
Bachelors degree in journalism or an equivalent degree- At least
2 (two) years experience in Media- Knowledge of media law and
professional ethics- Those who specialize in certain area such as
tourism, travel, - entertainment and leisure news are highly
welcomed.Very good in Khmer and English, Speaking and Writing-
Computer literacy (must be able to type Khmer Unicode well)-
Available to work in a high pressure environment-
Interested candidates should submit their cover letter and CV to
the human resource ofce of The Phnom Penh Post at the below
address: Post Media Co. Ltd, #888, Floor 8, Building F, Phnom Penh
Center, Corner of Sothearos and Preah Sihanouk boulevards, Sangkat
Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh or through email address:
[email protected]; Tel: 023 214 311 or Fax: 023 214 318
Deadline: June 03, 2014
Note: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for
interview.
China: bomb material seizedP
oliCe in Chinas Xinjiang have seized 1.8 tonnes of bomb-making
material and
detained five people, authori-ties said yesterday, follow-ing a
string of deadly attacks blamed on militants from the Muslim Uighur
homeland.
China at the weekend vowed a year-long crackdown on terrorism,
with violence attributed to separatists from Xinjiang increasingly
target-ing civilians and spreading far outside the western region
in recent months.
last week, five suspects killed 39 people and wound-ed more than
90 in a car and bomb assault on a market in the regional capital
Urumqi, in an attack condemned as terrorism by both Beijing and
Washington. Four of the at-tackers also died.
officers in and around Hotan in southern Xinjiang destroyed two
explosive-making dens and seized 1.8 tonnes of raw material that
the gang planned to use to make explosive devices, along with a
large amount of partly finished explosive devices, a report on the
website of the regional Tianshan government said.
in recent days the group began making explosive de-
vices with the goal of driving into a crowded place, running
people over and setting off bombs in Hotan, it said.
The gang had watched videos promoti