Workers hurt, killed in crashes

At least 20 garment workers were injured yesterday in Takeo province’s Tram Kak district, a day after an agricultural worker was killed in a similar road accident.

The Takeo incident occurred yesterday morning as workers were being driven to their factories. Police reports said the truck was hit by a concrete mixer, during a failed attempt to overtake a car, throwing several of the workers from the vehicle.

Deputy district police chief Cheal Phat said the driver, Hem Vuthy, had been briefly detained but was let go after agreeing to pay the victims 2 million riel, about $500, in compensation. “The concrete truck driver was at fault. Both sides agreed to the compensation and then the garment workers were taken for medical treatment,” Phat said.
The National Social Security Fund reported that they would cover the medical costs of the workers, who were being treated at a local clinic and the provincial hospital.

Injured worker Chhem Pov said that despite hearing of multiple truck accidents, she had no option but to use such transportation as she lived far from her workplace. “I am slightly injured, but luckily no one died,” she said.

In a separate incident, a truck laden with cassava and 19 agricultural workers overturned on Tuesday afternoon as it tried to avoid a pothole while passing through Romeas Hek district’s Koki commune.

Deputy traffic police chief So Sophal said 48-year old Dol Sophal died after landing in a ditch filled with water and was trapped under cassava, causing her to drown.

“Other workers jumped out of the truck, therefore they did not get injured,” Sophal said. “They found her body under the water, buried by that cassava.”

He added that the driver had fled and that the case was being sent to the provincial court.

High Court denies Sovannara travel bid

The Supreme Court yesterday heard the appeal of a decision barring CNRP official and US citizen Meach Sovannara from seeking medical treatment in the US while he serves a 20-year sentence for “leading an insurrection”.

Sovannara told presiding judge Kem Sathavy that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s decision to not allow him to travel was unjust, because he needed a check up over a 2015 traffic accident in the US.

However, Chhuon Chantha, a deputy Supreme Court prosecutor, maintained the lower court’s decision was correct. “The court made the decision, so the convict will get nothing from this request,” Chantha said.

Sovannara, who is suing the Cambodian government in the US for his jailing, was sentenced over a violent July 2014 Freedom Park protest in a trial based on questionable evidence during a time of tense negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties.

A lawyer for Sovannara, Choung Choungy, said he hoped the travel ban would simply be annulled. “In choosing a doctor, everyone has the freedom to choose one they trust,” he said. “I ask the court to annul this verdict.”

UN envoy says Paris Peace Accords ‘not yet fully fulfilled in Cambodia’

Wrapping her 10-day visit to Cambodia, UN envoy Rhona Smith yesterday said that many elements of the historic Paris Peace Accords – which turn 25 on Sunday – have yet to be “fully delivered”, singling out promises of human rights protections and free and fair elections.

The special rapporteur, on her third fact-finding mission to the country, said the 1991 agreement had laid the groundwork for the judiciary to implement the constitutional requirements to protect human rights, but that they had been implemented “in an apparently discriminatory or politicised manner”.

“I suspect that there is no doubt that many elements in the Paris Peace Agreements are not yet fully fulfilled in Cambodia – many of the those elements relating to the fundamental protection of human rights,” she said at a press conference yesterday.

Reacting to those comments, government spokesman Phay Siphan said Smith was wilfully ignoring that the language in the accords had long since been superseded by the “supreme law of the land”: the Kingdom’s constitution.

“Who is to say whether it is fully implemented or not? She is a special rapporteur,” Siphan said. “She insults our constitution.”

Siphan said the human rights protections in question were embedded in the constitution and the government was properly focused on implementing Cambodian laws.

During her visit, Smith met with multiple ministers, civil society organisations, indigenous groups and citizens affected by land disputes. Among the raft of issues raised were the jailings of five people over their connection to an alleged prostitution case against Cambodia National Rescue Party acting president Kem Sokha.

While Smith wasn’t able to meet the four jailed Adhoc staffers and one election official – who have been jailed for nearly six months with no trial date set – she called on the government to release them if the cases against them did not meet international evidentiary standards.

“With respect to the five detained individuals from Adhoc, I reiterate my call at the UN Human Rights Council that their charges should be proven or they should be released immediately with their case closed,” she said.

As for the ongoing tensions between the two major political parties, Smith yesterday urged engagement, though spokesmen for both parties had differing ideas of what that might mean.

Cambodian People’s Party spokesman Sok Eysan said the ruling party wasn’t opposed to negotiation, though any discussions would not broach the topic of jailed CNRP politicians or rights activists. “We won’t have two-party negotiations in order to free prisoners. If we negotiate to free prisoners, it means we are playing the role of the court.”

Opposition spokesman Eng Chhay Eang yesterday maintained that while they considered the cases politically motivated, they had no “pre-conditions” for negotiations. “What’s important is that they open the door for talks. When we talk, we believe we will find the solution,” he said.

After meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen during her first visit last year, Smith said it had been difficult to schedule a meeting with the premier since, adding that it was unfortunate she could not discuss pressing issues directly with him.

Agro SEZ to grow China exports

A Chinese firm plans to invest at least $2 billion into developing the Kingdom’s first special economic zone geared entirely for agro-processing and storage, with the sprawling zone’s factories and warehouses aimed at meeting the growing potential for Cambodia to export its agricultural produce to buyers in Asia’s biggest economy.

“Since China’s economy is growing, as well as its population, we are facing food shortage issues, while Cambodia could help provide the resources we need,” Shen Chen, chairman of Tian Rui (Cambodia) Agricultural Cooperation SEZ Co Ltd, said following the signing yesterday of a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture to develop the ambitious project.

He said Cambodia’s agricultural sector had attracted many Chinese firms looking to meet their country’s growing consumption, but the Kingdom did not have sufficient storage, processing and packaging facilities to capitalise on the opportunities.

“There are a lot of agro-processing companies that are ready to invest in Cambodia but the main issue that we saw here was the lack of storage facilities for agricultural products from one season to the next, and insufficient capacity to process these goods for export,” Chen said. “Our project will take action to solve these issues in order to promote exports.”

Tian Rui, a subsidiary of China’s Qingdao Tian Rui Group, will invest over $2 billion to develop a new special economic zone (SEZ) in the Kong Pisey district of Kampong Speu province.

According to Chen, the Council of Development for Cambodia (CDC) approved a blueprint for the 100-hectare site in June, while the company has secured an adjacent 200 hectares for expansion.

Tian Rui will construct an agricultural storage facility with 30,000-tonne capacity during the project’s initial phase, while two 100,000-tonne facilities will be added during subsequent stages.

The master plan envisions from 30 to 100 agro-industrial factories once the SEZ is fully operational in five to 10 years. Ten Chinese companies have already registered to operate in the zone, Chen said.

He explained that Tian Rui and other companies operating in the SEZ will source agricultural products from the surrounding countryside.

“The company will work with farmers and buy their agricultural products,” he said, adding that Tian Rui also has its own agricultural land for growing crops.

Once fully operational, Chen expects the SEZ’s tenants to export around 500,000 tonnes of agricultural products to China a year, though he declined to specify the crops involved.

Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon, who countersigned the memorandum of understanding yesterday, said Tian Rui also agreed to establish an agricultural research centre and an office for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) control inside the zone.

“This is a huge investment in Cambodia’s agricultural sector... and is a comprehensive step toward successful exporting,” he said. “However, it faces challenges as farming here is still traditional.”

He said Tian Rui would introduce a new model to promote Cambodian agricultural products, buying them from farmers and providing training on new farming techniques, while cooperating with markets in China to sell the processed and packaged goods.

Yang Phirom, business advisor to CEDAC, an agricultural and rural development NGO, said it was important to develop Cambodia’s agricultural sector, which faces challenges in production and marketing. However, he cast scepticism on the SEZ’s ambitious investment plan.

“So far, we’ve heard of a lot of projects coming but it’s hard to see the results, and our agricultural sector remains in a difficult predicament,” he said.

He added that $2 billion was a huge sum, and “if they used it the right way and provided loans to farmers, I believe our agricultural sector would be better off.”

More than 100 kids fall ill after event at school

Five of 137 Ta Tai Primary School students in Takeo’s Tram Kak district yesterday remained hospitalised, and in serious condition, after eating what is believed to have been tainted food they received during a charity event organised by 11 students at a Phnom Penh business school on Tuesday, according to a health official.

Nuth Senath, director of the provincial health department, said 92 students were sent to Tram Kak district hospital, while 45 were admitted at the provincial referral hospital after eating rice, vegetables and milk of an unknown brand.

Heng Thy, director of Tram Kak district hospital, said the students admitted in his hospital were experiencing diarrhoea, fever and stomachaches.

As of yesterday afternoon, five of them were still in serious condition, he said. “If they hadn’t come to the hospital in time, they could have dehydrated, which could have caused death,” he said.

Sam Sokuntheary, a deputy principal of CamEd Business School, where the event’s organisers study, said the school was not responsible as it was a student-organised event. Regardless, the school will provide $35 to each student who became ill, he said.

Manet upset over Australia protests

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s eldest son Hun Manet returned yesterday from an almost two-week trip to Australia, complaining about protests that met him there and suggesting that the ruling party had the capacity to stage protests of its own.

The CNRP has insisted it was not behind the protests that met Manet in the cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, but upon his return to Phnom Penh yesterday, Manet told reporters he still believed leaders of the party in Australia were the organisers.

The protesters, he continued, had crudely cursed him as “a ghost and an evil spirit that eats religious offerings”, instead of offering constructive criticism, and left him confused about their intent.

“What was the benefit?” Manet asked.

“I just came to hear about [what Cambodian-Australians think about] our country. So why are they looking down on me, causing divisions and conflicts? Is this the benefit of the demonstrations?

“Wherever I go, there is always hate. It was not different from the US,” he added. “But do not forget that there was a lot of people joining in and supporting [my visit].”

Manet reiterated that he still believed the CNRP in Cambodia was behind the protests, and brought up CNRP lawmaker Nhay Chamroeun, who has also been known to make trips abroad.

“If the CNRP really did hold [the protests], what does that mean?” Manet asked. “Don’t forget that the CPP has forces – but we don’t use them. Nhay Chamroeun goes everywhere and there is no one from the CPP rallying and shouting with banners.

“In Phnom Penh, we haven’t done that.”

Manet, however, failed to acknowledge that Chamroeun and fellow CNRP lawmaker Kong Saphea were savagely beaten outside the National Assembly last year by a mob that included three of Hun Sen’s bodyguards following a protest promoted by the premier.

Hun Sen had foreshadowed the protest from abroad, after being similarly angered by protesters on a trip to France.

The diaspora has long been a stronghold of the opposition, and Manet was last year put in charge of leading the CPP’s first counter-efforts at outreach in countries like Australia, the US and France. However, he yesterday denied that was his intent on the trip.

“With my presence abroad, I am not breaking anyone’s rice pot. I am not forcing [anyone] and not stealing anyone’s rice pot. I am abroad to meet with people voluntarily,” Manet said. “I do not go overseas to gain financial support to help the CPP.

“Don’t accuse me of breaking the rice pot. If the rice is good, there would be no one running from it.”

Officials struggling to fix dam as floods continue

The homes of 230 families in Phnom Penh’s southwest have now been evacuated due to flooding, an official said yesterday, as authorities worked to stem flooding caused by a leak in the Prek Thnout dam that threatens to send yet more water into the capital.

A collapsed section of wall in the Dangkor district dam has been sending water into the capital since the upstream Svay Dam in Kampong Speu was damaged on Saturday, putting pressure on it. Flood waters have already inundated parts of Dangkor district.

District Governor Nut Puthdara said the waters have so far flooded 569 houses in Dangkor, causing some families to be evacuated until the waters recede. “Up to Monday afternoon, 230 families were evacuated to live temporarily in the safe hills after their houses were flooded,” Puthdara said, adding that officials were surveying the extent of the damage in order to work out what flood relief to distribute.

Water Resources Minister Lem Keanhor said local authorities and villagers living near the Prek Thnout dam also continued yesterday to try to stem the flow of the water using sandbags and other debris, while officials from the ministry worked to repair the leak.

Further southwest, Hong Chansokha, director of Kampong Speu’s provincial department of works and transportation, said people should now avoid travelling on National Road 3, which is flooded, and instead use the nearby National Road 4. On Sunday, he had said those wishing to travel along National Road 4 should instead use National Road 3.

“We want people owning heavy trucks to use National Road 4 instead to avoid worse damage,” he said. “National Road 4 has returned to normal already.”

Kampong Speu Governor Vi Samnang said the waters were now starting to recede, and that damage to dams in Kong Pisei, Oral and Samrong Tong districts had been repaired to preserve water.

“Now the water has receded after it flowed to the lower areas, such as Kandal province, Phnom Penh and Takeo province,” he said. “Our team is filling in the damage to the dams with soil to keep the water, since we might be lacking it in the dry season.”

National Committee for Disaster Management spokesman Keo Vy said that since September 29, more than 10,000 hectares of rice paddies across eight provinces nationwide had been flooded, with about 3,000 hectares completely destroyed.

NEC: Migrants Can’t Vote

The National Election Committee (NEC) dismissed a request to help migrant workers vote in the upcoming elections, despite creating a system similar to what was requested for soldiers only seven days ago.

Last week, the NEC said it would allow soldiers – who traditionally have supported the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) – to vote at the polling stations closest to their garrisons instead of in their home provinces, but refused to do the same for migrant workers – traditionally supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) – who are living abroad, specifically those working in Thailand who are trying to vote in communes along the border.

NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said they would be unable to help the roughly one million Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand because the “NEC can’t do anything illegal.”

“We examined the legal aspects, and it’s not allowed by the NEC to follow the request. The law says they can register to vote where they live, but the problem is that they live in Thailand,” he said.

“Although they have national ID cards, they do not fulfill enough conditions.”

Mr. Puthea claimed migrant workers and soldiers were different because the armed forces “maintained security and public order” during elections.

“The difference between workers and the military is that soldiers stay in the location where they work in the commune, and the soldier can register as they are people among the 70,000 who maintain security and public order during voting, so they cannot go home on time. But the workers stay in Thailand,” he said.

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann declined to comment on the situation.

On Tuesday, CNRP acting president Kem Sokha sent a letter to NEC president Sik Bun Hok begging them to allow migrant workers – who were showing up at the border in droves each day to register for the commune elections – to register and vote in communes along the Thai border.

Migrant workers are often unable to return to their homes for elections due to time and money constraints. Most are working in low-paying factory jobs or as housemaids and cannot travel back to their home communes in Cambodia for elections.

Mr. Sokha’s letter says border officials made registration efforts difficult for those who arrived and they tried to dissuade people from registering to vote in next year’s elections.

“We request that the National Election Committee intervene for Cambodian workers who are working in Thailand and want voter registration at polling stations located in communes near the Cambodia-Thailand border in accordance with the law,” the letter says.

The CNRP said that on July 9 and last Sunday, about 600 Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand came to register to vote in commune offices along the Cambodia-Thai border in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces.

But commune chiefs in those areas refused to give out living certificates – a document necessary for voters trying to register – and turned them away.

The letter added that to ensure the voting rights of every Cambodian citizen, as stipulated in the constitution and Election Law, the NEC must rectify this situation and allow migrant workers to register to vote in communes along the border with Thailand.

Koul Panha, president of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, said officials had difficulty in the past when it came to the locations for voter registration for populations that did not work in their home communes.

If they can do this for soldiers, the NEC should cooperate with authorities to implement a confirmed living certificate for Cambodian workers who need to register near their jobs, Mr. Panha said.

“In the future, they also need to discuss and change some voter registration systems allowing people to register where they live or allowing them to arrange for registration in Thailand and to confirm the place where they live and transfer the data through computers so they can register from anywhere for everywhere.

“It’s not a problem of financial commitment, it’s a problem of political commitment,” Mr. Panha told Khmer Times last year. “It’s not easy for political parties to control [voters abroad] or influence them. They live far from here, from the [political] campaigns and engagement.”

“Many [voters abroad] don’t like the ruling party,” said Sourn Serey Ratha, the head of the Khmer People Power Movement. “If the ruling party allows the overseas people to vote, then they will not vote for them.”

Opposition party members have aired concerns in the past about the government’s refusal to create systems that would allow Cambodia’s sizable expatriate population to vote in elections. Some within the opposition say the government’s refusal is rooted in the fact that most Cambodians living abroad are to varying degrees supporters of the CNRP.

But the NEC, despite denying migrant workers the right to vote, has claimed otherwise, saying every person deserves to be able to participate in the country’s elections.

NEC secretary-general Tep Nytha said last week that soldiers should collaborate with local authorities to ensure every soldier is registered to vote.

“We do not have a law to establish voting stations at the place where the soldiers stay, so they will vote at the commune administration office. Soldiers are citizens who have the right to vote like regular citizens,” he said.