KI Media: “Opposition leader Sam Rainsy's visit to Berlin, Germany” plus 24 more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR8j4c73Y0g

Dear Beloved Countrymen,

Today is the sixth anniversary of the extension for legal control of Vietnam over Cambodia legalized by a group of traitorous leaders installed by the Vietnam in the 1980s, i.e. the Supplemental Treaty signed by Hun Sen on October 15, 2005 which in its spirit to validate the 1985 illegal treaty back to life.

It is the day that we must remember and witness as long as we live from generation to generation that our territorial integrity and sovereign are sold to another country by those leaders.

In fact, we should not legitimately recognize the present day leader, Hun Sen, as the real leader of Cambodia. Patriotically, he is just an unconstitutional leader, a traitor and an untruthful person who has risen to power constitutionally wrong started from the 1980s by Vietnam's installation-puppet, indirectly killed hundreds of thousand Cambodians by K5 policy, in 1993 by threatening war after the lost of the national election, in 1997 gained power by coup, in 1998 by fraud and unfair election with hundreds of our beloved students, monks, and peasants killed and disappeared, and in 2003 by amending the national constitution for his greedy power by means of the packet vote after national election in 2003. With his unconstitutional Prime Ministership, he irresponsibly and authoritatively signed the illegal Supplemental Treaty on 15 October 2005 with Vietnam in order to validate the 1985 illegal treaty which violates the spirit of our national constitution and the 1991 Paris Peace Accord and with this he does undermine our national independency.

In order to get the public trust, Hun Sen keeps saying that all the treaties signed in the 1980s with Vietnam do not make Cambodia loses her lands, yet Cambodia will gain land from Vietnam through them because Vietnam is pity on us.

However, the reality is contradictory for many Cambodian people who live along the borders have claimed that they have lost their lands to Vietnam every year where the border post installations are carried out. For instance, one of the hottest cases with clear evidence is the case of MP Sam Rainsy's involvement in the uprooting six demarcation poles  on the Cambodia-Vietnam border  on Sunday  25 October 2009 after leading the Kathen festival procession to the Ang Rumdenh pagoda in Svay Rieng province's Sam Raung commune, Chantrea district. (Please check  it here).

We, Cambodians who value the spirit of Paris Peace Accord 1991 and the constitution of Cambodia, strongly object the validity and existence of the 2005 treaty signed by Hun Sen as the negotiate instrument for border demarcation of the two countries. We also preserve our rights for re-verification of the border post installations with Vietnam by using all the illegal treaties signed in 1980s and the 2005 supplemental treaty  during Hun Sen's administration in the future.

Let's mourn together and condemn this act of Hun Sen!

Pang Sokheoun

15 October 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEOUL — A South Korean has been arrested for arranging sham marriages between homeless men and visa-seeking Vietnamese women, an immigration official said Friday.

The 40-year-old man was held Wednesday by a special immigration investigation team for arranging the fake marriages, an official at Seoul's immigration office said.

Three other alleged marriage brokers are being investigated by prosecutors.

The brokers contacted homeless men at Seoul railway stations and promised them a free trip to Vietnam and up to three million won ($2,535) if they agreed to the fake marriages, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Vietnamese brides, who were seeking the right to live and work in South Korea, paid between $18,000-20,000.

The homeless men were flown to Vietnam to marry, and the supposed couples then returned to South Korea for another wedding ceremony before the brides parted company with their spouses and disappeared.

Investigators have booked 34 Korean men and 16 Vietnamese women for questioning, have deported 20 Vietnamese already, and are trying to trace another 120 people for suspected involvement in the scam, the official said.

"Brokers in the past have used their acquaintances for sham marriages but paying homeless men is rare," another official told Yonhap agency.

In late September, South Korea temporarily stopped accepting new migrant workers from Vietnam because about 2,000 Vietnamese had failed to leave after their work visas expired.

The ministry estimated that about 160,000 foreigners of all nationalities were staying in South Korea illegally after their work or tourist visas expired.

CEDAC is proposing three specific actions to be taken by stakeholders to help Cambodian farmers cope with/after the flood.

For more detail, please refer to attached press release in Khmer.

Veuillez voir l'invitation de Fête de Katheun 2011 qui aura lieu les 15, 16 octobre 2011, à la pagode THAMMIKARAM, 12181, blv. de la Rivière-des-Prairies, Montréal. Téléphone: 514-494-9470. Pour plus de détails vous pouvez également contacter notre Président, M. Phang Iem Sreng au 514-217-9827

Floodwaters in central Thailand have inundated industrial parks and manufacturing centers, adding to the mounting economic costs of the disaster. Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos are also continuing to tally the cost of heavy flooding that has claimed hundreds of lives.

Economists fear Thailand's most severe floods in decades may cost the country $5 billion and reduce its gross domestic product by about one percent.

The economic toll is already being felt in the country's industrial heartland, where floods breached the walls of major industrial estates. The damage has shut Honda and Toyota automobile assembly plants that account for about seven percent of their combined global production.

More water is expected in the country's manufacturing center as well as the capital, Bangkok. Together the industrial areas produce nearly one-half of Thailand's national output.

Bhichit Rattakul is executive director of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. Bhichit says floods may take up to two months to disperse, with the main body of water still to reach outer Bangkok.

"It's not easily over," said Bhichit. "[It could last] at least another 50 days because the volume of the water is still up in the north; it's not even at Ayutthaya or Bangkok yet. I mean at Ayutthaya we don't see any piece of land at all now; all we see is the water. It's all submerged. The main part of the water is still in Nakhon Sawan area. So you need some time to drain it out."

Officials from the Thai Industry Ministry say up to eight industrial estates and parks that employ over 200,000 highly skilled workers are under threat from floods.

Economists warn Thailand's growth rate will be hit, especially in the fourth quarter of 2011. Thanomsri Fongarunrung, a senior economist with Phatra Securities, says the impact on industrial production is a key concern for the economic outlook.

"Our concern is that the major area in the central area that is mainly the manufacturing of automobile, electronics, right now that is under flood and the major threat is that is comes through to Bangkok," said Fongarunrung.

While authorities warn Bangkok is at risk for flooding in the coming days, much of the damage so far has been in rural and agricultural areas in Southeast Asia.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said the flooding across countries bound by the Mekong River system - Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos - had led to the loss of over 550 lives. In Cambodia, efforts to assist communities had been hampered by high waters and dangerous road conditions.

Peter Brimble, a senior economist for the Asian Development Bank in Phnom Penh, said the damage has been devastating for poorer communities that have been building local infrastructure using government assistance.

"They've been using these small amounts of money - maybe $10,000 or $20,000 a year - to gradually build up some of the small roads and things around the village and their commune - and now they're all washed away," said Brimble.

In Vietnam, flooding hit the Mekong Delta region claiming over a dozen lives including children while storms also hit the north central coastal region leaving 60,000 homes submerged and damaged. In Laos, where floods have affected almost half a million people, the waters have damaged more than 60,000 hectares of farmland damaged as well as local infrastructure.

JAKARTA (Xinhua) - ASEAN member countries are making efforts to provide relief aids to flood-affected countries in the region.

ASEAN ministers have met and communicated to determine what kind of assistance to be channeled to the victims of the floods in the region, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday.

Floods have hit Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines since months ago, killing more than 500 people and damaging houses and infrastructures facilities.

"As the chairman of ASEAN, Indonesia has taken an initiative step. Our foreign minister has met with foreign ministers from ASEAN countries to formulate a collective step to help our friendly countries in settling the impact of the disaster," said Yudhoyono.

The member countries of ASEAN expressed their deep sympathy and condolence to the governments and peoples of Southeast Asian countries for the loss of lives and environmental assets caused by floods from heavy incessant rains, said a statement from the government of Indonesia.

"They believe that the governments and peoples of the affected countries will rise from this disaster with strong spirit and resilience to resume normal life and to rebuild their communities, " it said.

In this regard, the ASEAN member states also expressed their readiness to lend the affected countries support and assistance in a timely manner and in appropriate ways in accordance with the spirit of ASEAN solidarity, it said.

ASEAN member countries had also showed their solidarity during the tsunami in December 2004, which killed more than 230,000 people and damaged massive infrastructure facilities.

Many of ASEAN countries, particularly those lying along the Indian Ocean, had got relief aids after the tsunami, such as medical and logistic assistance, from ASEAN member countries.

Similarly with Indonesia, over 170,000 people were killed in the northern tip of Sumatra island of Aceh province. Foreign aids flew into the tsunami-hit area. Similar assistance were also received years later when other strong quakes and tsunamis hit other parts of Indonesia.

"Of course Indonesia is going to give aids to the neighboring countries, similar with the assistance given by them when Indonesia was hit by catastrophes (in the past)," said Yudhoyono.

Going forward, to help reduce the suffering of the victims of disasters, a regional disaster management training and logistics center is going to be built in West Sumatra of Indonesia in December while a full-scale tsunami warning system installed after the tsunami in December 2004 was tested on Wednesday, officials said.

The center will train regional disaster response managers and provide emergency supplies to enable quick disaster response.

Many of ASEAN member countries are prone to floods and earthquake as they are on a vulnerable quake-hit area called "the Pacific Ring of Fire."

The government raised the national death toll from ongoing flooding to nearly 250 on Friday, as Cambodia continues to grapple with its worst flooding in a decade.

More than 30,000 families have been pushed out of their homes in flooding that began in August. About 390,000 hectares of rice crop have been damaged, along with 2,700 kilometers of roadways in 17 provinces, according to government estimates.

The government has set aside more than $100 million to help repair damages, Hun Sen said Friday.

Relief efforts so far have included food and clothing deliveries to some 76,000 families, Hun Sen said. The Council of Ministers will provide more money to extend the relief efforts to another 40,000 families, he said.

International assistance has meanwhile started coming in, he said, with China providing $8 million for assistance, Japan $330,000 and the US $50,000.

However, some opposition officials have been critical of relief efforts so far.

"Some measures to rescue people seem slow up to now," said Nhem Ponharith, secretary-general of the Human Rights Party. "We really have concerns about the lack of food and medicine in the future."

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said the government must speed up its efforts. "Our people are increasingly suffering," he said.

Friday's new death toll comes on the heels of an emergency meeting Thursday, after which Hun Sen announced the cancelation of this year's annual Water Festival.

By canceling the festival, during which millions of Cambodians typically flock to the capital for three days of boat races and other events, Hun Sen said the government could use more resources to better help communities cope with the effects of the floods.

"The active forces must help repair the damages," he said. "The majority of the racing boats come from the flooded areas. The government has to pay for the water festival ceremonies."

He encouraged people to celebrate in their home provinces, "at Buddhist pagodas and in their communities."

The government typically pays $2,500 to the nation's 400 or so racing teams, a cost of about $1 million.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told reporters Thursday the money will instead be used to help flood victims this year. He encouraged other celebration events during the three-day holiday, including playing music in public venues.

"It's a national tradition," he said. The festival also attracts foreign tourists, he said. That revenue will be lost. "We get double interest from foreign tourists visiting Cambodia," he said.

A Cambodian draft law making registration of associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mandatory and banning unregistered groups, risks breaching an international treaty, a United Nations rights expert warned today, calling on the Government to review it.

"The current draft NGO law contains a set of problematic provisions, raising concerns over a potential negative impact on Cambodian citizens' democratic participation in furthering the development of their country," UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai said in a news release, noting that it could violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The mandatory nature of the draft law "constitutes a clear infringement of the right to freedom of association. Having a recognized legal status may confer rights and benefits to organizations such as the ability to open bank accounts, but legal status is not necessary for the enjoyment of the right to freedom of association," he added.

He welcomed a recent statement by Cambodia's ambassador to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council promising "further consultations" and called on the authorities to review the draft law in open and meaningful discussions with associations and NGOs.

By excluding refugees, stateless persons and other non-Cambodian residents from forming associations or domestic NGOs and limiting eligible founding members to Cambodian nationals, the draft further violates freedom of association, which should be enjoyed by all individuals within Cambodia's territory, he noted.

Other concerns include the high minimum membership requirement; lack of clarity of the criteria for registration, suspension or termination; and the overly cumbersome and bureaucratic registration process for foreign NGOs, which could limit the scope of their activities and hamper their independence.

"A legal framework to ensure freedom of association should facilitate, rather than control, individuals' enjoyment of this right formally or informally," Mr. Kiai said. "It should also emerge from an open, transparent process that engenders goodwill and confidence."

Two other UN experts raised concerns over the effects of the draft law on human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, stressed that the draft could affect the defenders' ability to exercise such rights.

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya said the free and full exercise of the right to freedom of association places a duty on States to create a favourable environment for defenders to act freely.

"We urge the Cambodian authorities to fully take on board the legitimate concerns repeatedly raised by NGOs and associations during the announced further consultations," the two said, noting that the Government has reviewed and revised the draft law numerous times.

Last month, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, urged the Government to review the draft and not proceed with it in its present form.

Cambodian opposition leader and SRP President Sam Rainsy is today in London to attend the 187th Executive Committee of Liberal International which is expected to admit the SRP as a LI full member.

At the LI Conference under the theme "Responsibility to Protect: A Liberal Approach?" he will make a presentation on "Cambodia: Have the lessons from the past been learned?"

During his visit to London Sam Rainsy will meet with Members of Parliament and Government officials and attend a Special Address by Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg, UK Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of Liberal Democrats. http://tinyurl.com/5vylfyd

Next week, Sam Rainsy will be in Berlin where he will meet with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Members of Parliament from all political parties. A meeting is being scheduled with Bundestag President Dr. Norbert Lammert.

Later this month and early next month, Sam Rainsy will flight to Bern (Switzerland), Geneva and Rome.

Workers striking for a second day at a garment factory in suburban Phnom Penh succeeded yesterday in having one of their eight demands met, as Taiwanese-owned Meroson Cambodia Co Ltd agreed to reinstate three employees allegedly fired for joining a union, a union official said yesterday.

The agreement to reinstate the three workers followed an all-day meeting between company executives, workers' representatives and officials from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, said Un Dara, vice-president of the Cambodian National Confederation for Labourers Protection.

However, the strike by about 500 of the 600 workers at the factory in Kouk Roka commune in Dangkor district will continue, he said, until the company agreed to the rest of the workers' demands. These include paying overtime for work on Sundays, not forcing workers to work after 8:30pm, allowing sick leave, complying with legally required maternity benefits and ending timed toilet breaks.

Currently, before they can go to the toilet, all employees must write their name and company ID number on a form, along with the time they leave, Un Dara said. If they take longer than 10 minutes to return they receive a warning from managers that they will be fired if they do so twice more, he said.

Garment worker Yan Savet said the company deducted payment from bonuses if workers took longer than five minutes to go to the toilet. She also said that if workers were sick they were given a medical drip rather than allowed to go to a clinic. Working conditions like these were what prompted the strike, Yan Savet said. "We could not stand it any longer. The factory uses workers like animals."

Yan Savet said the trigger for the strike was the firing of the three union representatives on October 3. Garment maker Phai Ra said workers wanted the union in the factory because they were under great pressure from management. The company routinely violated workers' rights by forcing them to work overtime and firing staff without just cause, she added.

Police and the female strikers had scuffled briefly yesterday and the day before, but no one was injured and no arrests were made, Un Dara said.

"The workers' spirits are high and they are fully committed to the strike. They are not afraid of police," he said.

Dangkor district deputy police chief Touch Phorn denied that police had scuffled with the female protesters.

Last night, workers began blocking the road entering the factory, to prevent goods from being transported out of it. They vowed to stay there overnight.

Staff at Meroson did not respond to requests for comment. Khieu Savuth, deputy director of the Labour Ministry's department of labor disputes, could not be reached for comment.

BANGKOK (AP) -- Fear and confusion gripped Bangkok on Friday as residents grappled with mixed messages over whether Thailand's worst floods in decades would overwhelm the intricate defenses of the low-lying metropolis of 9 million people.

The government sought to reassure residents that the Thai capital would be spared from the deluge that has submerged entire towns across the country's central plains, devastated rice crops and shuttered hundreds of factories, noting that much of Bangkok sat behind a sturdy flood wall that has been reinforced in recent days.

"I insist that the floods will only affect outer Bangkok and will not be widespread in other areas," Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Friday.

Authorities have for days been warning that the flooding has reached crisis levels and that waters rushing from the north could combine with rains and high tides in the next few days to flood the capital. Some have said the rush of water would be so strong that authorities would be left with little choice but to watch the city drown.

But the message hasn't always been clear, with some agencies, departments and officials contradicting others, sometimes in the same news conference.

Erroneous reports Thursday said flood waters had broken through one key flood gate, leading one government minister to order residents in the area to urgently evacuate. The government later apologized for the "misinformation," saying the evacuation order had been reversed and that damage to the gate had been overestimated.

The conflicting information has left many residents of Bangkok scratching their heads and wondering whether their neighborhoods are truly at risk -- and if so how best to prepare. Many have been stocking up on bottled water, rice, instant noodles, medicine and other essentials, leading to shortages in some areas. Others have moved their cars to higher ground in parking garages in the city's malls.

Buildings in many areas of the capital have stockpiled sandbags, while others have built protective walls from cement and cinderblocks. The city's subway system was rushing to install steel flood barriers.

"To be frank, I don't really know what's going to happen to Bangkok," said 26-year-old Kuealapat Atsawasiramanee, whose family home is about a half mile from the Chao Phraya River, which snakes its way through the city. "Is it going to be flooded or not, I'm not really sure. There are many pieces of information and news out there and I just don't know what to believe."

"If it's going to flood, the government simply needs to say so. Don't conceal the truth, because that will only lead to more panic."

The confusion hasn't been limited to Bangkok.

A Japanese trade organization on Friday blasted the government for allegedly failing to provide timely and accurate information about the situation in the central province of Ayutthaya, where hundreds of factories have been devastated.

Seiya Sukegawa of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Thailand said much of the information released by the government before floodwaters hit the area was late, contradictory or difficult to understand because it was not in English.

"Japanese companies didn't know what was happening or which information was true or not," he said. "They received warnings but not enough information and not enough time to decide the next step."

He said more than 300 Japanese-owned factories -- including electronics makers and automotive parts suppliers -- were damaged or destroyed by flooding.

Sukegawa also complained that the Thai government was doing nothing to help companies reach their factories to salvage whatever equipment and technology remained undamaged.

Not just factories and humans were affected in Ayutthaya, an ancient capital. About 100 elephants were forced to flee to higher ground and are facing food shortages as well as possible foot diseases because of the wet conditions.

Chusit Apirumanekul, a hydrologist at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, sympathized with the difficulties facing the government, saying the unpredictable nature of weather makes it impossible to forecast the flood threat with certainty.

"I think this is quite normal in every country when you have this kind of warning, forecasting, you cannot say that it will happen or it will not happen 100 percent," he said.

Yingluck said Friday that her government would adjust its methods of informing the public and that official information would only be released by the director of the Flood Relief Center.

Near the northern edge of Bangkok's city limits, Somjai Tpientong wondered whether the nearby sandbag wall protecting her community of Rangsit -- one link in the perimeter around Bangkok -- would hold up.

"If the water comes I'll have to let it happen. There's no way I can block it. For me, I'll move to an upper floor," she said. "I feel sorry for the people in lower-lying areas."

Some 8.2 million people in 61 out of Thailand's 77 provinces have been affected by the flooding, which has killed at least 283 people since late July.

Tokyo - Cambodia needs more than an estimated US$13 billion in infrastructure works by 2020 if the country intends to continue attracting foreign investment, a joint survey by some of the world's top financial institution indicated on Wednesday.

During a conference held by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the International Monetary Fund, experts from the two institutions urged Asia's 16 low-income countries – which need some $358 billion in infrastructure projects by 2020 – to adopt public-private partnerships as a source of infrastructure investment and bank stability. Investment in the Kingdom's roads, bridges and power facilities will create prime conditions for continued high-level foreign direct investment, experts said. The survey – which drew from JICA, IMF, Asian Development Bank and World Bank data – called for $1.2 billion in infrastructure spending per year in Cambodia, with about half going to new projects and the other half to maintenance.

Ministry of Economy and Finance secretary general Vongsey Vissoth said public-private partnerships will play a key role in the country's financial and infrastructure development.

"We're hoping for private-sector [investment], which includes public-private partnerships. And we've already done this kind of partnership," he said. "In the future, we need a system which is much better [to handle these investments] and we need a bigger source of funds for bigger projects."

Several large infrastructure investment projects from China, Korea and Japan will lower Cambodia's power and transportation costs, Vongsey Sissoth added.

"It's the ability to attract this kind of significant development investment that will have a positive impact on the competitiveness of the Cambodian economy."

Faisal Ahmed, IMF's representative in Cambodia, said it is crucial to safeguard banks in terms of improving supervision and reducing interferences in lending decisions – a practice often seen in state-owned banks. "The financial stability risks need to be minimised by strengthening the quality of and coordination among banking and capital market supervisory agencies given the nexus between banks and capital markets," Ahmed said, stressing the importance of sound macroeconomic policy.

Japan Center for International Finance president Takatoshi Kato explained that there is a need for donors and multilateral development banks to provide support to low-income countries' projects through the funding of the preparation process to ensure that the right projects and right project specifications are chosen.

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia has banned its citizens from going to work in Malaysia as maids, its prime minister said on Friday, following a series of horrific reports of beatings and rapes.

The order follows a similar ban imposed by Indonesia on its citizens from taking new jobs as domestic workers in Malaysia, where maids are common in middle-class households, thanks in part to a large migrant labor pool.

"I would like to congratulate the prime minister for the suspension," Cambodia opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua of the Sam Rainsy Party told Reuters after the decision by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Cambodia's Community Legal Education Center, which is working with abused domestic workers, said there had been reports of three maids who were killed in Malaysia, and two were raped and kept in isolation, their passports held from them.

Indonesia banned its citizens from working as maids in Malaysia in 2009 after several highly publicized cases of physical abuse by Malaysian employers, which triggered anti-Malaysia demonstrations in Jakarta.

Both countries held discussions and reached an agreement in April this year after Malaysia pledged to improve working conditions, but Indonesia has yet to allow hiring to resume, worsening a growing shortage of domestic helpers in the country.

Malaysia is dependent on migrant workers who total up to 2 million people or 21 percent of the country's workforce. Indonesia is the main source of foreign labor in Malaysia. One in every 16 residents in Malaysia's capital hires an Indonesian helper, according to data from the Indonesian Embassy.

An Bunhak, president of the Association of Cambodian Recruiting Agencies, said it would uphold the order from the government to stop sending people to work as maids in Malaysia.

"The Ministry of Labour is enforcing what the prime minister has said," An Bunhak said, adding that about 50,000 maids have sought work in Malaysia since 2009.

Cambodian recruitment agencies also this year decided not to send maids to Kuwait after complaints by human rights groups of abuse by employers there.

Ms Yingluck said flood walls would protect the city centre and it should be considered safe.

Her comments came after an evacuation warning for some suburbs issued by a minister sparked panic.

The flooding, which began in late July, has affected huge swathes of Thailand.

Northern and central provinces bore the brunt of the flooding initially but the run-off is now swelling waterways that flow south into Bangkok.

Authorities there have warned that the arrival of the run-off water, plus high tides and bad weather at the weekend, could flood parts of the city.

Central Bangkok is protected by flood walls and in recent days, teams of workers, troops and volunteers have been filling sandbags for vulnerable areas and fortifying existing dykes.

"Bangkok may face some problems in areas that are on the outer sides of the irrigation dykes but water levels will not be too high. But inner Bangkok has extremely high defences," Ms Yingluck said.

"In conclusion, Bangkok should still be considered safe," she said.

Late on Thursday, Science Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said that northern suburbs were at risk of flooding because a floodgate had burst, causing some residents to leave.

But the government later issued a call for calm, saying the breach would not affect Bangkok.

"During 15 to 18 October, it may be a dangerous time because water from the north will be coming in... But I confirm it has not reached a crisis stage as of this moment," said Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

Officials in charge of managing the floods say they plan to divert the water through canals to the east and west of Bangkok and then on to the sea.

Sandbags have been distributed to residents in villages within the drainage area, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.

The flooding has been gathering pace for weeks. More than 280 people have been killed and Thailand's economy has been hit hard because factories are under water.

The city of Ayutthaya, a World Heritage site home to temples and monuments, has been particularly badly affected.

However, it was unclear yesterday whether the guarantee to buy electricity from a 135 megawatt, US$181 million coal-fired plant to be built by Cambodia International Investment Development Group Co Ltd in Preah Sihanouk province is new or part of an existing deal.

In June the National Assembly passed an agreement, after gagging opposition questions, guaranteeing the government would buy electricity from a 270 megawatt plant to be built by the firm at a price observers said appeared to be the highest for power seen in Cambodia – 8.43 cents per kilowatt hour.

The duration and tax exemptions in that deal were identical to those in the guarantee headed to the National Assembly today.

In August the Post reported that Chinese government documents revealed CIIDG, and its Chinese partner Mongolia Erdos Hongjun Holding Group, planned to begin building two 135-megwatt power plants (270 megawatts in total) in Sihanoukville in April, 2012 at a cost of $383 million.

This followed approval last December for CIIDG to construct and operate a $362 mill-ion plant in the same province.

Mu Sochua said it was not clear if the deal was new or part of an existing agreement, but added she did not understand why the same guarantee would be sent to the assembly twice.

"We still have the same concerns that the public will pay for this and the quality of the coal . . . will badly affect the environment," she said.

The most recently obtained guarantee, signed by Prime Minster Hun Sen on August 29, appears to have a typing mistake, setting the purchase price at an unrealistic 0.843 cents per kilowatt-hour.

It grants CIIDG a 33-year build/own/operate licence, with a nine-year exemption from value-added tax, estimating the plant will produce 895 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year – worth about $4.6 million in revenue to the state in tax a year.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay called the deal "unbelievable" and said awarding such a licence to a firm linked to a government senator smacked of endemic corruption.

"It's become a habit now. And the CPP [Cambodian People's Party] will no doubt raise their hands following the prime minister, but the opposition cannot support this bad deal made behind closed doors," he said.

Ek Tha, a deputy director of the press unit at the Council of Ministers, said Cambodian firms needed to develop infrastructure and could not just wait "for the outsiders to help us all the time".

"We do not want to hear that some investors are complaining about the high cost of electricity in Cambodia compared to neighbouring countries. That is why we cannot just stand and watch as foreign investors might shift to other countries."

Son Chhay called for an independent environmental impact assessment. "It's a tourist destination, it could pollute the area and ruin the tourist business."

The contract provides scant detail on the plant's location, but Ith Prang, secretary of state at the Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy, said it would be in Stung Hao district.

Electricity from the plant would be sold to the wholly state-owned Electricité du Cambodge through a power purchasing agreement.

Erdos and Lao Meng Khin's Shukaku group are the developers of the controversial Boeung Kak development, which has displaced thousands of families without proper compensation.

Erdos declined to comment yesterday and Lao Meng Khin could not be reached.

Former Boeung Kak lakeside residents who accepted compensation after facing forced eviction criticised a recent television portrayal of their living situation and requested additional government funds, during a peaceful protest at Freedom Park yesterday.

Villagers from the Borei Santepheap II building in the capital's Chaom Chao district accepted an offer of US$8,000 and two million riel per household to relocate from the lakeside in January, before the government decided in August to grant 12.44 hectares for on-site relocation to residents who had rejected previous compensation offers.

The villagers spoke out against an October 5 National TV broadcast, which they claimed had incorrectly depicted the villagers' living situation in a positive light by showing several Borei Santepheap II villagers saying that they had decent jobs and a good standard of living. However, the protestors claimed that they were struggling to find jobs and did not have enough money.

Village representative Sam Vanna claimed that the residents highlighted in the television program were lying.

"We are living in a difficult situation, but Prak Sarin, former villager in village 2, and Doung Marin, former villager in village 4, said that they are living in good conditions," she said.

Sam Vanna requested that the government provide the Borei Santepheap II residents with an additional US$20,000 so that they could buy homes.

"We would like to ask for more money because our land titles are pawns in the bank now," she said.

In a meeting with villagers earlier this week, Daun Penh district deputy governor Sok Penhvuth allowed the ensuing Freedom Park protest, but said that he had "no right to decide on the villagers' request" for funds. However, he reportedly promised to relay their demands to the municipal governor.

Deputy municipal governor Pa Socheat could not be reached by the Post for comment yesterday.

In 2007, Phnom Penh Municipality granted a 99-year lease to local developer Shukaku Inc, run by ruling party senator Lao Meng Khin, to develop land around Boeung Kak lake. Rights groups estimated that more than 20,000 people would face ultimately face relocation as a result of the development.

Two staff members of a human-rights group and a journalist had maintained their innocence in the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court while appearing on charges of incitement in connection with a long-running land dispute, rights workers said yesterday.

Adhoc provincial co-ordin-ator Pen Bonnar, Adhoc monitor Chhay Thy and Radio Free Asia reporter Ratha Visal were issued with summonses by provincial court prosecutor Luch Lao at the beginning of last month.

The incitement charges relate to a prolonged land dispute in Lumphat district involving the private rubber company DM Group, which villagers have alleged encroached on 260 hectares of their land.

Pen Bonnar and Chhay Thy left the province in July, 2009 to avoid the charges, but returned last year.

Chhay Thy said yesterday that during questioning he had denied charges that he had incited villagers to protest against DM Group.

"I said I did not do what they were accusing me of, because during the time in question I was not working as an Adhoc staffer," he said.

Chhay Thy said he was not worried because he had done nothing wrong.

"I ask the prosecutor to withdraw all charges against me," he said.

Ouch Leng, the head of Adhoc's land program, said yesterday the provincial court was unfairly siding with DM Group against the villagers.

"The court officials in this province are not independent; they are taking the company's side," he said. "The government should not allow the court to deal with cases involving the company any more."

Ratanakkiri Provincial Court prosecutor Luch Lao could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Recently resigned Khmer Rouge tribunal judge Siegfried Blunk has "bowed to" a sustained campaign against him by international organisations and "persistent interference" by the media, the government said yesterday.

The Council of Ministers' Press and Quick Reaction Unit declared the resignation of international Co-Investigating Judge Siegfried Blunk on Sunday a "serious blow" to the United Nations-backed tribunal.

It also claimed that calls for the co-investigating judges' resignations were the result of a "campaign" by international organisations and the media to discredit the tribunal.

"International organisations (including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Open Society Justice Initiative) alongside persistent media interference … have long opposed the ECCC, and over the past two years have exerted increasing pressure to discredit and undermine the ECCC," a statement from the unit said.

In a press release on Monday, Judge Blunk attributed his resignation to concerns that his independence would be doubted in light of statements from senior government officials regarding Cases 003 and 004.

Judge Blunk said via email yesterday that in the press release he "never talked about the Cambodian 'government'" only about certain officials.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told the Post yesterday that the media and NGOs were attempting to mount pressure on the court.

"The pressure that Judge Blunk felt is not from the government – it is pressure coming from NGOs who don't understand the facts of the court," he said. "The opinions of government officials are those that are the principles of the government – we want peace, stability and the integration of the Khmer Rouge."

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch called for the resignation of Judge Blunk and his Cambodian counterpart You Bunleng, while OSJI reiterated their request this week for the UN to confront allegations of political influence at the court.

Last year, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that Prime Minister Hun Sen had told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that prosecutions beyond Case 002 would not be allowed.

"We're not talking here about the Cambodian government only expressing concern about peace and stability in Cambodia," OSJI trial monitor Clair Duffy said yesterday.

"We're talking about clear directives that cases 001 and 002 are enough and that there will be no cases 003 and 004. To me that is clear evidence of executive interference with judicial independence."

"[The statement] ignores the fact that a number of qualified professional legal staff walked out of Judge Blunk's office because the Case 003 investigation in their opinion had been deliberately botched," Duffy added.

Amnesty International Asia-Pacific director Sam Zarifi said via email that the organisation had "never opposed" the court but had called for the proceedings "to meet international fair trial standards".

Representatives from Human Rights Watch could not be reached for comment.

Court spokesman Lars Olsen said that judicial decision-making at the court must be done independently. Judge Blunk will formally sever ties with the tribunal on October 31, he added.

SINGAPORE — A campaign promise that helped bring Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her political party to power in July elections is roiling the global market for rice, Asia's staple food that is now eaten by nearly half the world's population.

They promised their government would alleviate poverty in the countryside and raise rural income levels by buying unmilled rice, known as paddy, from Thailand's eight million rice growers at 15,000 baht ($480) per ton — double the pre-election price.

The program to increase the minimum guaranteed price for farmers, which has just taken effect, seems tailor-made to keep more supplies at home and drive up the export price.

In anticipation, international prices for various types and grades of rice have increased by over 15 percent since July. There are fears that they will go higher still, adding to inflation pressures in Asia when governments are reluctant to raise interest rates as economic growth slows.

This is happening as Japanese consumers grow anxious at the prospect of a looming domestic rice shortage, following reports that the crop in Fukushima prefecture, the fourth-largest rice-producing region in Japan, has been contaminated by radiation from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Thailand, Southeast Asia's second largest economy after Indonesia, is the world's top rice exporter, accounting for around one-third of global sales.

The London-based International Grains Council recently lowered its forecast for Thai rice exports in 2012 by 9 percent, to 8 million tons, as high government procurement prices slow shipments. It said that Thailand's foreign rice sales next year are likely to be 20 percent lower than in 2011.

Indonesia, a leading rice importer this year, has already cancelled a planned purchase of Thai rice because it considered the price to be too high.

Ammar Siamwalla, head of Thailand's Development Research Institute, says that the government's strategy, backed by exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother, is to control the lucrative rice-export sector.

It is not the first time the Thai government has intervened in the market. During the global food crisis in 2008, it paid above-market rates in buying 5.4 million tons of rice to boost farmers' incomes.

Local prices rose to a record 17,000 baht ($550) per ton in April that year, while export rates reached an unprecedented $1,038 per ton the following month, after China, India and Vietnam curbed shipments, leading to popular protests in a number of rice-importing countries.

Underlying causes of the upward spiral in internationally traded rice prices included surging demand, bad weather, and a rapid rise in costs of oil-based fertilizer as the price of oil shot up in 2008. Market intervention by governments, either to support local rice farmers or limit exports to conserve stocks, aggravated the food crisis, triggering panic and unrest in some consuming countries.

Will the social and political fall-out be similar this time? The Thai government appears to have two options in handling the surplus rice, which it must sell abroad at up to $870 per ton, well above the current market price of $640 per ton for high-grade rice, if it is to avoid a substantial loss.

It can either stockpile rice in the hope that the global price will rise, or it can export at subsidized prices that would cost Thai taxpayers billions of dollars.

The markets appear to be betting that the Thailand will withhold rice. There is growing concern about future global food security, as population increases and demand for staples rises.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines has warned that the world needs to produce 8-10 million tons more rice every year to ensure a reliable supply of the grain and keep the price affordable.

In this context, the Thai government's policy is misguided. Big farmers stand to gain most of the benefits because they produce most of the rice crop.

Instead, Thailand should let the rice market work freely and focus on helping growers, especially those with small and marginal farms, become more productive. Higher productivity means greater supply and thus lower prices.

An Australian study published last month found that new rice varieties developed by IRRI and planted, often with further improvements by local scientists, in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines improved yields by up to 13 percent between 1985 and 2009, enabling farmers in those countries to harvest an extra $1.5 billion worth of rice per year as a result.

Market manipulation and fears about future food security may have caused the recent spike in rice prices. But there is no objective reason for the upward spiral to continue, unless China and other major rice consumers suddenly become big net importers or bad weather cuts production of leading exporters.

Aid agencies and officials are warning that mainland Southeast Asia's worst flooding in decades may hit rice harvests in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

However, global rice stocks are high and before the Southeast Asian floods, the world was heading for a second successive year of record milled rice output. An International Grains Council forecast on Sept. 22 put 2011-12 production at 461 million tons, up by just over 2 percent on the previous crop year.

Carry-over stocks in the five top exporters — Thailand, Vietnam, the United States, India and Pakistan — were projected to reach 33 million tons. World trade in rice amounts to about 32 million tons.

Meanwhile, India has lifted a four-year export ban on non-basmati rice, allowing local rice traders to export up to 2 million tons of the grain.

So if there was greater confidence in the market mechanism, the price of rice would be stable or falling, not rising.