The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Laos plane crash pilot Cambodian” plus 9 more

The captain of the passenger plane that plunged into the Mekong River in Laos yesterday, killing all 49 people on board including five crew members, was a veteran Cambodian pilot nearing the end of his contract in Laos, Cambodia's civil aviation authority has said.

State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) safety and security director Mak Sam Ol said Young San, 56, was in charge of the Lao Airlines plane that crashed in extreme weather on a journey from the capital Vientiane to the southern town of Pakse.

"He had a contract with Laos' aviation [authority] for three years and had been there almost all that time", he said.

San, a pilot with the defunct state carrier Royal Air Cambodge during the 1990s, trained in Russia and later in France, Sam Ol continued.

The aviation authority in Laos had informed their Cambodian counterparts that extreme weather had caused the crash, he added.

"During strong winds, the air controller told [San] to change course. He followed instructions, but the plane faced strong storms and it couldn't get through."

San's family, including his wife, who had been spending time with her husband in Laos before the crash, could not be reached for comment.

When it's rainy or windy, they quit class or take the children out. The roof could fall on their heads.

A chilling scene awaited a young man in Battambang's Ratanak Mondol district on Tuesday when he discovered the body of his 13-year-old sister who had been raped and murdered while tending to her family's cows.

Ngoun Chreb's body was found in a forest near Kob Mountain in O'Romchek village, and police yesterday brought charges against suspect Thleong Sun, 37, who owns a small farm nearby.

Chet Vanny, Battambang provincial police chief, said yesterday that the suspect did not resist arrest and police had found the victim's blood on Sun's clothing but had yet to find the murder weapon.

"We found blood-stained trousers that belonged to the suspect and nail marks on the suspect's body. The knife that was used to kill the victim was not found," he said.

Vanny added that Chreb was killed by stab wounds to the back and chest, and appeared to have been first struck by her attacker from behind while trying to escape from the scene.

Second-quarter net profit for the exchange-listed Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority dropped nearly 26 per cent to $2 million from the same quarter a year ago, according to the most recent financial report released on October 11.

Sim Sitha, the director-general of PPWSA, said the decrease was largely due to new investments and expansion.

The same report also showed that in the second quarter of 2013, PPWSA had total revenue of $9.2 million, an increase of 19.1 per cent from the same period in 2012.

While quarterly profits fell, half-year results fared much better.

Revenue and net profit rose sharply in the first half of 2013 year-on-year, and analysts say the six-month data could help the water supply authority attract more investors and boost its faltering stock price, which fell to a record low in September.

For the six-month period ending June 30, PPWSA's total revenues came to around $19 million, with profits of $5.5 million, representing respective increases of 24.3 per cent and 29.6 per cent against the corresponding period in 2012.

At the end of the six months, PPWSA had total assets of $259.5 million and total equity of $166 million, the report said.

Sitha said that revenue and profit hikes over the six-month period are direct results of water consumption growth in households and industry.

"The average water usage has sharply increased as the demand is huge, even though we just operated the new water treatment in [Meanchey district]. We get an increase of some 1,000 new customers every month," he said. "And we've also expanded our coverage so our revenue should be coming along with that."

Svay Hay, director of Acleda Securities Firm, said the water authority should go beyond simply publicising its balance sheets.

"Investors really want to know about the business operation, so the company should not only publish the financial result, but they also have to release information about their network's expansion to the outskirts [of the capital] – it is crucial to attract interest from investors."

For the next quarter, PPWSA expects to earn net profit of not less than $2 million, according to the report.

The price of PPWSA closed at 4,800 riel per share yesterday, according to data from the Cambodia Securities Exchange.

Flooding has affected close to 287,000 hectares of rice fields, with about 27,800 considered damaged beyond repair, according to government statistics released on Monday.

The data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reveal that rising waters have affected about 11 per cent of the total cultivated area of rice, more than 2.5 million hectares.

Khem Chenda, director of the department of administrative affairs at the ministry, doesn't expect all the affected areas to be ruined, but exact figures for fields that cannot be salvaged aren't known yet.

"We are informed that another typhoon is coming from Vietnam which would be here in the next few days, so we still wait and see how this impacts us," he said.

In 2011, flooding reached more than 420,000 hectares of Cambodia's nearly 2.5 million rice fields, and more than 10 per cent were destroyed, according to the government.

Yang Saing Komar, president of agricultural organisation CEDAC, said that compared to 2011, heavily cultivated areas of Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, and Siem Reap provinces were harder hit this year.

However, he added that production in Kampot, Takeo, and Kampong Speu provinces would benefit from higher rainfalls.

Cambodian writer Sok Chanphal was presented this week with the SEA Write Award for Cambodia, the first time in five years a Khmer writer has won the award.

Chanphal joined winners from the nine other ASEAN nations at a glittering ceremony in Bangkok to accept the award from Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The SEA Write Awards honour the best in Southeast Asian writing. With the inclusion of writers from Cambodia and Myanmar, this is the first time in 11 years that every ASEAN nation has been represented.

The awards, which have been running since 1979, coincide with Bangkok being recognised as the "2013 Book Capital of the World" by UNESCO.

The last Cambodian entry was Sin Touch in 2008, while Chanphal was the 11th in the award's history.

After receiving the award, Chanphal, 29, seemed a little overwhelmed by the scale of the celebrations. "It is hard to describe, as this award is an honour and meaningful recognition for me to show the success of my . . . long writing career.

Especially, it is a very great honour and a beautiful experience in my life to be the first Cambodian for five years to win a SEA Write award, and also I'm the youngest awardee this year," he said.

He continued: "Everything is the first time for me, but it's a wonderful week, to feel part of the celebrations as an awardee. But I was quite nervous because I have to meet and face many people."

Chanphal said that despite representing Cambodia, it is the art that is important for him, not his nationality. However, "I was proud of myself when I can stand as a writer from Cambodia, especially when I saw my national flag in the ceremony."

He said the award is likely to be valuable in terms of experience in the future. "I've really enjoyed meeting the other awardees and, as a writer, I feel we have a lot in common. Sure, I am the youngest this year, so I feel a little as if the other writers are my father, mother, brother and sister.

"I'm a quiet person, but during the awards week I tried to talk with the other winners. They will come to visit me in Cambodia, and I'll go to visit them too. It's great for me to have many writers as my friends." Chanphal foresees the award being helpful for all Cambodian writers and poets.

"I'm sure that with this valuable experience I have learned a lot to help other Cambodian writers. I'm also thinking to make a writer's award here in Cambodia, if it's possible."

Chanphal has had three short stories published in English this year in Just a Human Being (Nou Hach, 2013) but has been winning awards since 2006. The SEA Write Committee praised the "existential, reflective quality" of his writing, while Teri Yamada, Professor of Asian Studies at California State University, part of the committee that chose Chanphal for the award called him "the best short fiction writer in Cambodia at this time".

The Appeal Court yesterday upheld the verdicts for six men each sentenced to between 15 and 17 years in prison for being members of a paramilitary force aiming to overthrow the government.

Plang Somnang, director of the court's presiding committee, said the court had decided to uphold the 2011 municipal court verdict, which found the group, all aged between 40 and 65 years old, guilty.

"The Appeal Court decided to uphold the municipal court's verdict and will continue to detain the suspects procedurally," the judge said, without giving a specific reason.

Chea Saran, 51, the leader of the group made up of former members of opposition Sam Rainsy Party, blamed the decision on politics.

"It is a political issue, [so] no one helps us. But I will now take the case to the Supreme Court," he said.

The so-called Sovannaphumi Army, claims to have been given $20 million from the Taiwanese government.

Cambodia's youngest Davis Cupper Long Samneang crossed a significant milestone yesterday by becoming the country's first player to get an ITF World Junior Ranking.

Playing his second ITF Grade Four tournament in the Indonesian city of Surabaya, Long Samneang ousted fifth seeded local player Mohammed Rizky Widianto in a drawn out three-setter 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to complete a second round victory.

The result automatically gave the 16-year-old a ranking point, which ensures him a place in the world junior rankings to be announced on October 28.

In the first round on Tuesday, Samneang defeated another Indonesian Ganang Rahmat Trisnawan 6-3, 6-3. He will now face 12th seeded Muhammed Iqbal Anshori today for a place in the quarter-finals.

"Born and raised in Cambodia, Samneang's short career has always been centred in Phnom Penh. So for him to go out and achieve this in another country, beating a player ranked 875th, is really remarkable," Cambodia's national coach Braen Aneiros told the Post.

"We are very excited with this news. We hope he can win his third round match and get into the quarter-finals."

Asia Europe University grabbed their 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card to return to the Metfone C-League by taking the remaining promotional place from Division A1 with a 2-0 play-off win over Angkor United yesterday at Olympic Stadium.

Soeuy Visal and Sary Matnorodin struck either side of halftime to down the hopes of their Takeo-based rivals.

In the later game, TriAsia Phnom Penh put the gloss on their promotion-winning campaign with a 2-0 victory against a sullen Senate Secretariat.

Sok Chanraksmey scored for the third play-off game in succession while Japanese player Fhimifu Yato also found the net for TriAsia.

An opportunity to get free golfing lessons is knocking on the door of the students of the International School of Siem Reap.

As part of his personal drive to promote the game at the grassroots level, David Baron, a former PGA professional and the present Director of Golf at the Angkor Golf Resort in Siem Reap, has launched a six-week program for ISSR students in the age group of 10 to 14.

"I will offer private coaching out of school time to students showing genuine promise. I hope these are the juniors who grow up in the game to represent Cambodia in the future," Baron told the Post yesterday.

"I am passionate about developing golf at the junior level in Cambodia as and when time permits. This is something the AGR Executive Director [Holic] Tandijono is also passionate about. I will pick a few more schools which are keen on giving its students an opportunity to learn golf," he added.

The ISSR program gives students a full overview of the game beginning with the basics. As they progress they will be introduced to new shots and techniques.

"My teaching philosophy for juniors is to focus on their golf specific athletic development. It is vital to keep classes fun and stimulating for juniors. All these fun activities have similarities to the golf swing, such as rotation, sequence, balance, weight transfer and hand eye coordination," said Baron.

"Lack of opportunity should not come in the way of golf development for Cambodian juniors and this is where AGR can help. Our goals are simply to give local children the opportunity to try the game and hopefully in the years to come we will see more Cambodian golfers competing at the highest level.

"I think the national tennis team is a great example of what can be done when a structured organisation is put in place in order to nurture talent and develop the game."

ISSR principal Richard Halliday said the school was excited to be in partnership with the AGR.

"They approached us to promote golf among our students and we were looking to give our high school students a more rounded sports curriculum," Halliday told the Post.