The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Numbers of qualified teachers” plus 9 more

The numbers of institutions have increased. Also the numbers of students have increased. But not the numbers of qualified teachers.

A sand-dredging ferry caught fire and two of its pumping machines exploded yesterday in Kandal's Kien Svay district.

The blast sent a black plume of smoke over the Mekong and caused oil to leak into the river.

Yem Sokhum, Phomthom commune police chief, said that according to crew members on the vessel, the fire started when a leaking oil tube spilled into running engine machinery. The fire spread to six oil containers, each carrying 200 litres of oil.

"Villagers and authorities were able to intervene in time and no one died in the accident," he said.

After the accident, the ferry was dragged ashore and taken to Phnom Penh for repairing, according to Sokhum, who added that he didn't know whether the sand-dredging ferry held a valid licence or not.

Kien Svay district governor Heng Theam said that HSC Co Ltd held a licence for sand pumping in the area where the accident occurred.

However, HSC representative Yuth Sakol said the burning ferry did not belong to his company, but was run by a man named "Pov" who worked for a dredging company.

"I am not sure whether the Vietnamese sand-pumping ferry had a government licence or not because I was not at the site when the accident happened," he said.

While details remain scant about an alleged request from the Australian government that Cambodia take in some refugees seeking asylum there, local advocates have cautioned that Cambodia is not a proper resettlement destination for any significant number of refugees.

The request, revealed by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong after a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Saturday, is yet to be confirmed by Canberra, despite Namhong's comments being widely reported.

An Australian foreign ministry media liaison yesterday directed the Post to a statement released by the Australian embassy during Bishop's official visit that "outlines the full range of issues discussed during Ms Bishop's visit to Cambodia".

The statement makes no mention of refugees but says that cooperation on people smuggling under a forum on transnational crime known as the Bali process was discussed.

"Australia and Cambodia will continue to work through the Bali process to manage processing of illegal maritime arrivals and returns," it says.

Australian lawyer David Manne, executive director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, told ABC Radio Australia yesterday that regional cooperation on the distribution of refugees has been "on the table" as part of Bali process discussions between states.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong yesterday said he did not know "any details" of Australia's request. Officials at the Interior Ministry – tasked with forming a working group to discuss the request – could not be reached for comment.

Sister Denise Coghlan, the Cambodia director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, said the Kingdom would not be able to handle many refugees.

"I do not believe that Cambodia has the competence, structure or resources to do this for any larger number of people than are here at the moment," she said, noting that at the start of 2013 there were 82 asylum seekers and refugees here.

Since the government took over processing of refugees from the UN in 2009 – days before 20 Uighur asylum seekers were forcibly returned to China – very few have sought asylum here voluntarily, Coghlan said.

Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Sbong Sarath will resign on April 17 to transition into a position on the provincial council of Prey Veng following this May's council elections, he confirmed yesterday.

Sarath said his appointment to the Prey Veng provincial council would not be official until after the May 18 election, the results of which are largely a foregone conclusion, observers say, given only current commune council members are allowed to vote.

"It has not been declared yet because, based on the procedure, it isn't until the council election finishes that [the King] issues a Royal decree to appoint and recognise [councillors]," Sarath said.

Koh Santepheap and Deum Ampil reported yesterday that CPP lawmaker Sar Sokha – son of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng – would be taking Sarath's place. When reached, Sokha said he had not received information about the matter.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak could not be reached yesterday.

Singaporean bakery chain BreadTalk will open up in two locations in Phnom Penh this July, the bakery's franchisee confirmed yesterday.

The company joins a growing number of higher-end regional food and beverage brands setting up shop in Cambodia.

Ly Daline, CEO of Cham & Ly Corporation, whose company will run BreadTalk in Phnom Penh, said a rising middle class means changes in consumer tastes, providing huge potential for international food brands.

"For the bread market, there remain very large opportunities," she said. "We target all, including tourists and middle-class people. Even those who have low income are able to buy," she said.

BreadTalk, which sells bread, cakes and coffees, will open on Street 51 in the coffeehouse mecca of Boeung Keng Kang I commune, and at the newly opened Tuol Kork district shopping centre called TK Avenue.

The bakery, springing up alongside Malaysian cake specialists Secret Recipe and the popular South Korean brand Tous Les Jours, will not be hurting for competition.

"[BreadTalk] bakery will become our rival, so we must be more careful," said Vorn Vun, Tous Les Jours' general manager.

Cambodia's Davis Cup pivot Bun Kenny stormed into the semi-finals of the first leg of the 2014 BMW Malaysian National Circuit tennis tournament in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after scoring an emphatic 7-6, 6-3 win over Indonesia's Indra Wijaya.

The 22-year-old Cambodian right-hander, who is preparing to lead the country's ensuing Group III Asia Oceania Davis Cup challenge in April, was a bit uptight in the early exchanges of the first set but gradually found form and played an exquisite

tie-breaker to gain the upper hand over the Indonesian.

Growing more confident as the game progressed, Kenny opened his shoulders out and created a tempo that was too hot for Indra Wijaya to handle in the second set.

Kenny will take on Joshua Liu of Singapore in today's semi-finals.

"I was a bit edgy at the start since I hadn't played competitive tennis since Phnom Penh Futures in early December, but once I started getting the timing on my shots right I was feeling a lot better," Kenny told the Post after his victory. "I feel good about my game and fitness. I am hopeful of making it to the final."

Tennis Federation of Cambodia Secretary General Tep Rithivit welcomed the "very good news" yesterday.

"It is a positive sign that Kenny is beginning to do well on the circuit. He has been training hard and if he can produce results like this our Davis Cup campaign will be well served," he said. The TFC is soon be renamed as Tennis Cambodia.

Kenny had a relatively easy time in the first round dealing with local players. He demolished Muhammad Nazif Aimaan 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and then disposed off Mohd Faiz Din and Sheikh Ameer Abdullah in the next two rounds by the same scoreline. Carrying this nice touch to the pre-quarter-finals, Kenny was all over Singapore's Joshua Jordan 6-2, 6-3.

Vittels pours in support for tennis
Meanwhile, Vittel, the French mineral water brand that has been around for almost 100 years, has stepped in as an official partner of the Cambodian national team and its players in tournament competition abroad except the SEA Games and the Davis Cup.Bun Kenny's present Malaysian trip has been fully sponsored by Vittel.

"We are proud to be associated with the Cambodian national team," said Claire Caseris, head of marketing at Celliers D'Asie, the importers of Vittel to Cambodia.

A Soun Virak strike on the hour mark for TriAsia Phnom Penh was all that separated them from Metfone C-League rivals National Police Commissary in their clash at Olympic Stadium on Sunday night.

The 1-0 victory meant TriAsia kept up with the pace of the Police team, with the sides occupying third and fourth respectively behind leaders Phnom Penh Crown and Naga Corp.

The top four all have 10 points from five games of the 2014 season so far.

The Blue Flag swamped Pun Phnom School 21-0 in the Boys U14 premier section of the Barclays ISF Youth Football League at the National Institute of Physical Education and Sports on Sunday.

In other matches, The Flying Tigers smashed The Flying Dragons 17-6, Tonle Sap Teddy Bears overcame Appleton Wildcats 2's 4-2, Juice Master United hammered Appleton Wildcats 1's 12-3 and Kew Park Rangers enjoyed a 6-3 victory over Hagar BRP.

Races for the title and for survival carry on at tremendous velocity in the English Premier League, while battles in the Cellcard Fantasy League are also hotly contested.

High-scoring affairs at both Arsenal and Liverpool yielded the top performers of the gameweek, with strikers Olivier Giroud and Daniel Sturridge securing identical 16-point tallies thanks to a brace and an assist each in their games against Sunderland and Swansea respectively.

Meanwhile, defensive stalwarts John Terry of Chelsea and Patrice Evra of Man United were also prized possessions of fantasy league managers with 15 points a piece. Both kept clean sheets, but Terry scored the decisive goal in their 1-0 win over Everton and Evra set up both of United's goals past Crystal Palace.

Over in the weekly competition, Cambodian national rugby team import Luke Wilkie successfully switched codes to claim the top spot with his team Stevie McCools XI on
103 points.

Wilkie was the only centurion of the round, doing so with Sturridge as captain for 32 points as well as Giroud, Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny (13) and West Ham's Kevin Nolan (12).

The Cellcard goodies of a $20 phone voucher and T-shirt wings its way to Wilkie.

Meanwhile, a $10 phone voucher is bound for Phyrun SosengMao, who won the lucky draw of Cellcard's Facebook contest after he and three other users correctly guessed that Daniel Sturridge would be topping the charts with 16 points.

Gameweek 28 this coming weekend is missing two fixtures, with Man City and Sunderland contesting the League Cup final on Sunday and Man United v West Brom shuffled back due to previous postponements.

Four Vietnamese rubber firms are responsible for destroying an estimated 1,000 hectares of community forest, including an indigenous graveyard, in Ratanakkiri's Andong Meas district, a group of NGOs have claimed.

The land dispute involving 196 families living in Talav commune dates back to 2011, Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, who has been investigating the logging with representatives from three other NGOs, said yesterday.

"These companies have been clearing protected forest, farmland and indigenous graveyards to plant rubber plantations," he said, adding that the actions represented the destruction of the villagers' cultural and spiritual traditions along with their economic livelihoods.

In Vuthy, a representative from the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP), another NGO involved in the research, said yesterday that the investigation into the operations of companies Veasna Investment, CRD, Heng Brother and Krong Pok Ratanakkiri Rubber Development would be published in a report.

"It's a remote area bordering Vietnam and Laos that was once forest but has now been replaced by rubber plantations," Vuthy said, adding that representatives witnessed the clearing of an indigenous graveyard on Saturday and Sunday.

But according to Nab Bunheng, provincial deputy governor, all four of the companies are operating legally.

"Our authorities worked with the volunteer students [assigned by Prime Minister Hun Sen] to measure the affected land for the villagers," Bunheng said, adding that any complaints involving land disputes were welcome and would be reviewed by relevant authorities.

The Kingdom began parceling land off land in Andong Meas to Heng Brother in 2009, allotting the company 2,361 hectares.

Two years later, 19,366 hectares of land were divvied up between CRD, Veasna Investment and Krong Pok Ratanakkiri Rubber Development.

All four companies could not be reached for comment before press time.