The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Listens from the top” plus 9 more

The government only listens from the top down. It's a decision between the government and companies.

Hundreds of youth activists have deployed to the provinces to collect signatures for a petition calling for an amendment to the election law that would allow direct elections for district, city and provincial councillors.

The current system sees the Kingdom's more than 11,000 sitting commune councillors vote for the representatives along party lines and has been frequently criticised by election watchdogs.

The Youth Council of Cambodia (YCC) announced the plan in a statement released yesterday on behalf of a total of six youth associations.

More than 570 activists have been dispatched to 12 provinces and expect to collect up to 30,000 petitions ahead of the May 18 sub-national councillor elections, said Sok Pitour, executive director at the YCC.

"We don't know the exact number of [signatures] yet, but we plan for 30,000 if there is no interruption from the local authorities," he said.

"We can predict the result of the upcoming election, and therefore it will be useless and a waste of money, because the election does not represent the will of people."

Pitour added that the group does not expect the changes to be made ahead of the upcoming election.

The petition will be submitted to both the ruling Cambodian People's Party and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, he said.

Sak Kalyann, a youth activist from Kampong Speu, voiced her support for the proposal.

"I want to change from non-universal to universal elections, because all the people and youth would be able to express their right to cast a ballot to elect their representatives," she said.

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the opposition backed direct elections.

"We support universal elections. The amendment of the election for district, city and provincial councilors was amongst our demands for election reform," he said.

Cheam Yeap, senior lawmaker of the CPP, was more elusive.

"It is the will of a group of people to express [that they want] to have a universal vote for [the] upcoming election. But the CPP will not work against the law."

NGOS have accused logging tycoon Try Pheap's MDS Import-Export Company – which had a licence to clear forest during the construction of the Stung Atai hydropower dam in Pursat – of continuing to log the area despite the dam being finished.

Ouch Leng, director of the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF), said he and officials from two other NGOs visited the dam site last week and observed logging in the area.

"The [Stung] Atai hydropower dam is operational and the reservoir is full, so why does the company still log wood?" Leng said. "In fact, they are just using the licence as an excuse."

Two other NGOs – the Natural Resource Protection Group and another that did not want to be named due to fear of repercussions – accompanied CHRTF members on the visit and supported Leng's claims that logging was continuing around the Chinese-built dam in Veal Veng district.

Documents seen by the Post show that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries approved a request in 2009 for MDS to collect wood from the area while the dam was under construction.

"[T]he ministry agreed with the request of the Forestry Administration by permitting … Mr Kev Chann Thorn, representative of MDS Import and Export, to collect wood … at the Atai hydropower dam," reads a letter from the ministry, dated May 4, 2009.

Leng said that due to a lack of transparency in the bidding process, Pheap was able to buy the timber for just a fraction of what he would have been able to sell it for.

According to the same document, inked by ministry secretary-general Lor Rasmey, MDS was permitted to pay only $189 for every cubic metre of luxury timber it took from the site. Certain grades of luxury timber can fetch thousands of dollars per cubic metre.

One of the unnamed NGO workers who went to the site last week said he saw up to 20 MDS trucks transporting timber out of the dam area and along National Road 4.

"The activity is completely illegal, but they say they are restoring the area. How can forest remain?" he said.

A representative of MDS Import-Export, who asked not be named, denied the allegations, saying that the company's contract finished last year.

"How can we log in Pursat province? There are international conservation groups such as CI and Wildlife Alliance that monitor very strictly and use planes to check the middle of the forest," he said.

Pheap, who has licences to clear economic land concessions across the country, has been accused of cross-border timber smuggling and forcing the eviction of more than 1,400 families in his quest for ELCs.

Rasmey and Khorn Sareth, a senior Forestry Administration official, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Mondulkiri villagers seized seven chainsaws on Tuesday from illegal loggers claiming to be selling timber to logging tycoon Try Pheap's company.

A group of ethnic Pnong villagers came across the three illegal loggers during a patrol of their community forest on Tuesday, according to Bil Vanthy, 27, a villager in O'raing district's Ondong Kraleng village.

"They were cutting luxury timber … in the protected forest. Our rangers found them and seized the chainsaws and rifle, but we did not arrest them. They ran into the forest," he said.

Local Pnong families created a ranger group to protect their 2,000 hectares of forest land after illegal loggers were spotted in late 2013, Vanthy said, adding that other villagers have since been spotted logging as well.

"When they saw that the logging makes money, some community members started to log too, and it is hard to stop," Vanthy said.

Try Pheap company representative Sreng Meng said that loggers were "playing tricks by using the company's name".

An eight-year-old boy from Kratie confirmed to have the year's second case of bird flu in Cambodia died on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation (WHO).

The boy, from Sre Cha commune in Snuol district, was confirmed positive for the H5N1 virus on Saturday, a joint statement from the WHO and the ministry said yesterday.

The boy was admitted to Kampong Cham hospital on February 7 along with his two-year-old sister, who was suffering from similar symptoms.

Only hours after being admitted to hospital, the girl died, said Vicky Houssiere, a WHO communications officer.

"Even though she had similar symptoms as her brother, we can't call her the third case of avian influenza this year because no sample was taken before or after she died," Houssiere said.

At least 22 cases of bird flu in Cambodia were recorded by the Ministry of Health last year, more than any previous year.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is reportedly still pursuing plans to launch a Cambodian carrier with local firm Royal Group, despite the lengthy delays, fears of political unrest and aviation industry scepticism over the viability of another entrant into the small domestic market.

PAL denied it had shelved preparations for the Cambodia Airlines venture, according to a local media report yesterday, which cited a Philippines Stock Exchange disclosure statement. PAL's statement said it is simply not true that the joint venture with Inter Logistics (Cambodia), a subsidiary of Royal Group, had been put off.

"We wish to clarify that on-going preparations for the completion of the contemplated joint venture agreement between Philippine Airlines, Inc and Inter Logistics (Cambodia) Co Ltd, relating to Cambodia Airlines Co Ltd are currently being conducted," PAL's statement, reported by Philippine news site ABS-CBN, said. The affirmation comes after months of confusion over the project, to which PAL has committed $10 million.

Cambodia Airlines, which aims to become the country's second full-service carrier after Cambodia Angkor Air, was initially slated to launch in mid-2013 with a $1 million investment from PAL. But after missing closing dates in June and October, the venture has yet to be finalised.

Doubts re-emerged last month when PAL's CEO, Ramon Ang, was quoted in reports as questioning the viability of the project.

Ang said Cambodia's current "situation" was what gave him pause, alluding to an ongoing political stand-off over elections in July and deadly garment industry protests in January.

Not long afterwards, the Australia-based Centre for Aviation issued a two-part analysis of Cambodia's aviation industry, arguing that demand was not high enough to support another commercial carrier.

"For PAL, the group has a lot on its plate and does not need the distraction of an overseas venture," the centre's report, dated January 30, said, describing the investment as a risky proposition. "While there are opportunities for more new services, there is not necessarily a need for a new Cambodian carrier," the centre added.

David Pearson, group controller at Royal Group in charge of overseeing the PAL deal, quashed industry and media speculation yesterday, saying the latest reports confirm what he understood to be the case all along.

"The report iterates what I said previously, that the project's preparations are and always have been continuing," he said. "Our aim has always been to develop a Cambodian airline for Cambodians."

Pearson said last month that the deal was very close to being finalised, however he did not confirm an official launch date.

Cambodia's exports to the United States, the country's biggest market, were valued at about $2.8 billion last year, a three per cent rise from $2.7 billion in 2012, according to fresh statistics from the US Department of Commerce.

Ken Ratha, a spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce, said exports were mainly garments, textiles and footwear, milled rice, and agricultural products.

"Our production is better and we are also focusing on the products that can sell at higher prices," he said.

The world's largest economy accounted for nearly 30 per cent of Cambodia's export value last year, which stood at around $9 billion.

Hing Thoraxy, senior researcher at the Cambodia Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said that the slight growth was not a concern, and that total exports had also increased elsewhere, such as the European Union and Japan.

Overall revenue from Cambodia's booming tourism sector reached $2.5 billion last year, according to Tourism Minister Thong Khon.

Khon said in an interview on Tuesday that the figure, which does not reflect the amount the state collected in taxes on the sector, marked a 15 per cent increase compared with the revenue accumulated in 2012.

"It is gross national revenue, meaning what the visitors spent on everything, like restaurants, food, housing, meals, transportation, souvenirs," he said.

Khon referred questions about tax dollars from tourism to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Officials there could not be reached for comment on Tuesday or yesterday.

Son Chhay, senior lawmaker with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, claimed yesterday – as he consistently has in the past – that while gross revenue from tourism keeps increasing, government coffers aren't as full as they potentially should be.

"We see that the income put into the state budget is just a small amount," he said. "We should have earned at least $500 million for the state budget. In general, the report from the Ministry of Economy and Finance shows that income for the state is under $40 million – that's the problem.

"This is an important sector; I believe that no less than $100 million per year has been spent improperly and the government also gets more in informal income," Chhay added, referring to unofficial payments that commonly occur in the tourism industry.

The tourism sector provides the government with several ways to collect money, he said, including the use of value added tax (VAT), service charges at hotels and restaurants, and taxes from booking trips at resorts.

Ang Kim Eang, the president of Cambodia Travel Agencies and owner of Great Angkor Tour, said all the tourism agencies in Cambodia are required to fork over percentages of their profits based on the type of license under which they are registered.

For him, "a withholding tax of one per cent and 10 per cent of value added taxes are to be paid every month, and additional taxes are paid annually".

Eang said he believes that the government uses the extra income from tourism to promote the sector and increase income.

Sok Chanmony, president of the Cambodia Bus Association, said 10 per cent of all bus ticket fares go to the state, as well as other taxes. Still, he has no idea how the money is used or where it goes. "It should be in the government's budget," he said.

More than 3.5 million people visited Cambodia last year, compared to about three million in 2012, according to the tourism minister.

After a successful first season which ended late last year, the Cambodian Basketball League will launch its second edition sometime in June at a new venue.

The CBL will move its base from Beeline Arena, situated on Chhroy Changvar peninsular, to a more central location in the Olympic Stadium's indoor hall.

The Cambodian Basketball Federation, the custodian of the CBL, is in the process of importing equipment for the newly relaid court at the complex, which is in the final stages of renovation.

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According to CBF vice president Ouk Sethycheat, an organising committee to run the league this season is taking shape.

"We heard concerns about the distance and traffic delays from players, officials and fans in commuting to and from Beeline Arena. We felt that the Olympic Stadium is an ideal location with easier access," Ouk Sethycheat told the Post yesterday.

"In all likelihood we will stick to the 12-team roster. We will soon have a meeting with the top five or six teams from the inaugural season to work out the modalities for team registrations."

Indications are that all the teams which took part in the inaugural season will be back, with Ganzberg being an exception.

The organising panel slapped a one-year ban on Ganzberg after the side pulled out without completing all of its playing commitments.

While a couple of new formations may jump in as candidates for the second season, the roster may well have a team from a province for the first time as an enthusiastic bunch of youngsters from Sihanoukville is all set to rub shoulders with Phnom Penh-based teams.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced five small-time drug traffickers to prison terms ranging from two and a half years to 10 months, and acquitted another defendant.

According to Judge Chea Sok Heang, dealers Thoeung Pheareak, 28, and Chea Proem Prey, 31, were sentenced to two years and six months each; Chan Reaksmey, 28, to two years; You Mary, 26, to two years, with one year suspended; and Vichetre Srey Pov, 20, to two years, with 14 months suspended.

The six were arrested last June with methamphetamine weighing a total of 7.72 grams, police said.