Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Anglers oppose new fishing law

Wednesday, 28 October 2009 15:04
Khouth Sophakchakrya

A PROPOSAL to limit the size of small-scale fishing gear could severely
impact the catches of fishery communities who rely on the industry to
survive, critics said Tuesday, as officials continued to hammer out a
law on fishery regulations.

Fisheries Administration officials are proposing to limit the size of
fish nets used for subsistence fishing to 30 metres. The fishermen would
also be limited to 300 crab traps.

However, one fisherman argues the constraints could cause dependent
communities to face food shortages.

"We will not catch enough fish to feed us with this draft law," said
Hout Hor, a fisherman from Kampot province.

He said the dire situation for fishery-dependent communities is
compounded by the rise of illegal fishing and controversial sand-dredging .

"We demand that the Fisheries Administration allow us to use fish nets
at least 50 metres long and 350 crab traps," he said.

Even a 50-metre limit may not be adequate, said fisheries advocate Choun
Bunra, programme coordinator for the Fisheries Action Coalition Team
(FACT) in Sihanoukville.

"One severe threat comes from [fishermen's] inability to make a decent
living with gear determined to be illegal" under the draft law, he said.

Doung Samath, director of the provincial Fisheries Administration in
Preah Sihanouk province, said the proposal is merely a draft at this stage.

"We need to hear the concerns from fishery families before" the draft
becomes finalised, he said.

The government hopes to finalise the draft next year. Cambodia passed
its Fisheries Law in 2006, but critics charge that the exact regulations
governing fishing gear have not yet been clarified.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009102829245/National-news/anglers-oppose-new-fishing-law.html

Monday, October 26, 2009

SReap officials eye rise in illegal fishing

Monday, 26 October 2009 15:02
Rann Reuy

Siem reap Province
ILLEGAL fishing on the Tonle Sap increased during this year’s offseason due to a drop in fishing hauls and problems enforcing fishing laws, officials said last week.

The announcement was made at a regional fishery seminar in Siem Reap on Thursday attended by more than 100 fishery officials, fishing community representatives and NGOs.

A law passed in 2006 bans fishing in the provinces of Siem Reap, Kampong Thom and Banteay Meanchey between June 1 and September 30, but enforcing it has proved problematic – not least because poorly paid officials allegedly neglect their work or accept bribes.

Mak Sithirith, executive director of the Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT), attributed the rise in illegal fishing to the depletion of fish stocks in the Tonle Sap.

“People are not catching as much fish as before,” he said. “We know that fishermen cannot feed their families, so it is common for them to use illegal equipment to catch fish.”

Siem Reap provincial Governor Sou Phirin said some people employ local fishermen to fish illegally on their behalf. He said that rather than take legal action against the fishermen, the authorities should instead educate them about the importance of preserving vital fish stocks.

Sok Chhin, deputy director of Porthi Treay fishing community in Puok district, said officials should consider offering illegal fishermen gasoline or money for food instead of taking punitive action against them.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009102629174/National-news/sreap-officials-eye-rise-in-illegal-fishing.html

Thursday, October 22, 2009

R’kiri villagers urge court ruling

Thursday, 22 October 2009 15:02
Vong Sokheng and Sebastian Strangio

LAWYERS representing an ethnic Jarai village in Ratanakkiri province
have filed a motion at the provincial court in Banlung, requesting that
it rule on a long-running land dispute involving the sister of Finance
Minister Keat Chhon that they claim has been ignored by the judge in
charge of the case.

The dispute, which has pitted the residents of Kong Yu village in
O'Yadav district against a rubber company owned by Keat Kolney, first
came before the court in January 2007, but villagers say there has been
little action to resolve the case.

"At the moment there is quiet," said Chhev Twel, a Kong Yu village
representative. "We filed a complaint to the court in 2007, and so far
judge Thor Saron has kept the complaint quiet."

Kong Yu villagers say they were tricked into signing documents handing
over 450 hectares of communal land for development as a rubber plantation.

Sourng Sophea, a lawyer from the Community Legal Education Centre, which
represents the Kong Yu villagers, said Thor Saron had made only a single
ruling on the Kong Yu case since he took over in September 2008: an
injunction on the clearing of the disputed land, pending a ruling.

The lawyer said the motion made five requests, including that the judge
appoint experts, make a visit to the village and order Keat Kolney to
present sale documents for scrutiny by independent experts.

"We want him to reply and take a decision on our request. Even if he
says no, we want to see it in writing so we can file an appeal," he said.

Thor Saron is also being investigated by the Justice Ministry after he
admitted last month that he had used a pick-up truck the court had
seized as evidence in a murder case.

On September 24, Licadho and the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights
released a statement accusing Thor Saron of harassing rights activists
and workers in relation to land disputes in the province.

Pen Bonnar, the provincial monitor for rights group Adhoc, who left
Ratanakkiri in August after Thor Saron accused him of inciting villagers
in relation to a separate land dispute, agreed there were many gaps in
the court's work.

"I have been monitoring the court and found many cases of irregularities
in the interests of the judges," he said. "The judges do not perform
work professionally and independently because [they] consider their own
interests above justice."

Thor Saron could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009102229124/National-news/rkiri-villagers-urge-court-ruling.html

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Villagers call for dredging halt

Wednesday, 21 October 2009 15:06
Cheang Sokha and Sebastian Strangio

091021_02
Photo by: Sebastian Strangio
Ships owned by the Hong Kong-based Winton Enterprises unload sand dredged from coastal estuaries in Koh Kong province in late February.

MORE than 300 fishermen gathered in Koh Kong on Monday to protest a large-scale sand-dredging operation they say has devastated fish catches in the province’s coastal estuaries and jeopardised thousands of livelihoods.

Ros Math, a local village chief who represents 1,397 families in Khemarak Phumin district’s Dang Tung commune, said fishermen from Khemarak Phumin, Mondul Seima and Koh Kong districts had suffered grave losses from oil spills and turbulent water caused by the dredging operation, and called for its immediate halt.

“Before, we could catch roughly 150 kilograms of fish a day, but now catches have dropped to less than 10 kilograms,” he said. “We rely on fishing for our livelihoods, but the company has killed the fish.”

Chi Sophal, a fisherman from Bak Klang commune in Mondul Seima district, said 600 families in his commune had been affected by the sand-dredging operation and had submitted thumbprints requesting that provincial Governor Yuth Phouthang intervene. “Local residents have complained about the operation for a year but did not have power to stop it,” Chi Sophal said. “It has destroyed their livelihoods.”

In March, the Post reported that Winton Enterprises, a Hong Kong-based firm, was removing thousands of tonnes of sand each week from coastal estuaries in Koh Kong, a practice environmentalists said was having severe effects on the local environment. Reporters observed sand being extracted by dredging vessels in estuaries upstream from Koh Kong town and shipped offshore, where it was unloaded into an ocean-going bulk carrier for export to Singapore.

A report issued in February by anti-corruption watchdog Global Witness estimated that around 60,000 tonnes was being mined for export each month and put the annual value of the Koh Kong operation at US$35 million.

Bunra Seng, country director of Conservation International, did not know about the specifics of the Koh Kong situation, but said the area around Koh Kong – including the 25,897-hectare Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary – was a vital spawning ground for fish, shrimp and crabs that support large populations.

“The sand collectors should study the impacts.... Otherwise they could disturb this [area] a lot,” he said.

The operation has also continued despite a ban on sand exports announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen in May, which was backed up by a further order in July.

“All sand business must be shut down,” Hun Sen said on July 1, citing the “destructive impact” on the country’s river and coastal ecosystems.
At the time, Pech Siyon, Koh Kong provincial director of industry, mines and energy, told the Post that three local dredging companies had been forced to suspend their operations, but that LYP Group, Winton’s local partner, had been granted permission to fulfil the remainder of its export orders.

Eleanor Nichol, a Global Witness campaigner, said Hun Sen had shown leadership by ordering a ban on sand exports, but that the implementation had clearly been selective.

“He needs to follow through on this decision to ensure it is implemented without favour for certain companies. To do otherwise would fundamentally undermine the impact of the request,” she said.

When contacted on Tuesday, Pech Siyon said he was aware the dredging had affected locals, but said permission for the continuation of the Winton/LYP operation was granted to prevent flooding in the provincial town.

“We really understand the difficulties of the people, but we are just thinking about the interest of the nation as a whole,” he said. “People will lose their business for just a short period, but after the dredging operation is finished they will be able to fish as normal.” He declined to mention when the operations would be completed.

Sanh Moniroth, director of the provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology, said permission for the Winton/LYP dredging operation had been granted by the central government and was not under the control of his office. Lim Kheang, a representative of LYP Group, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009102129091/National-news/villagers-call-for-dredging-halt.html

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Villagers arrested in Siem Reap land row to appear in court today

Tuesday, 20 October 2009 15:02
Rann Reuy and Jude Mak

SIEM REAP PROVINCE
THE Chi Kraeng commune villagers who were arrested in a clash with police in March over 475 hectares of disputed land are due to arrive in Siem Reap Provincial Court today.

The 11 villagers were arrested on March 22 when armed police confronted them while they were harvesting crops on land Siem Reap Provincial Governor Sou Phirin had previously determined did not belong to them.

In that encounter, some of the 100 armed officers opened fire on about 80 villagers, four of whom sustained gunshot wounds. Since then, the 11 villagers have been held in pretrial detention on charges of theft and battery.

Ham Sunrith, deputy director of the monitoring and protection unit for the rights group Licadho, said Monday that he hoped the court would rule in favour of the villagers.

“According to our investigation, we hope that the court will drop the charges because the arrested villagers are victims of the authorities,” he said. “The accused were beaten during the arrest. Also, ownership of the land remains unclear.”

Residents of neighbouring Anlong Samnor district have presented documents that they say prove that they are the rightful owners of the land, whereas the Chi Kraeng villagers have not presented any such documents.

Sou Phirin previously ruled that the land belonged to villagers from Anlong Samnor, and in March offered the Chi Kraeng villagers a social land concession, an offer they rejected.

Meeting disrupted: villagers
Chi Kraeng villagers said Sunday that police had interrupted a meeting they convened in order to prepare witnesses for today’s hearing.

Pan Yi, 54, said 10 police officers clashed with villagers at the meeting, taking photos of some of the attendees and threatening to arrest them.

“When police arrived, some people ran to hide in banana trees, and some ran into a house,” he said.

When contacted Sunday, Chi Kraeng district police Chief Sok Theavuth said he was not aware of the incident but added that his officers had simply wanted to provide security to the villagers.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009102029055/National-news/villagers-arrested-in-siem-reap-land-row-to-appear-in-court-today.html

Friday, October 16, 2009

Homes levelled in shock eviction

Friday, 16 October 2009 15:05
Khouth Sophakchakrya


MORE than 20 families from Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district had their homes destroyed by police and government workers driving excavators and wielding axes in an eviction on Chroy Changvar peninsula Thursday morning.

Residents, some of whom said they had been living in the area for as many as 30 years, said the eviction came as a shock. On October 7, Russey Keo district authorities issued a statement warning community members to clear a sidewalk in order to make way for a construction project, but the statement did not mention the eviction.

Hor Monny Nieth, a 9-year-old student at Chroy Changvar’s Bin Sieng Primary School, said she was “terrified” as she watched police use an excavator to destroy the community. Afterwards, she tearfully collected books and clothing that she was able to recover from the wreckage of her home.

“Do not crush my home any more – I want to live in my home like normal people do,” she said.

Her mother, 40-year-old Pou Ankieravy, said she wanted to try to stop the government workers from tearing down her house but was afraid for her life. The Russey Keo district governor, she said, had treated her community like “animals”.

“The authorities that destroyed our communities are crueller than armed robbers,” she said, adding: “I’m hopeless – everything was destroyed by the Russey Keo authorities.”

Recently evicted families turn down compensation despite police threats

Former residents of a recently razed village in Oddar Meanchey province said police had ramped up their threats in an effort to force families to accept compensation. Meas Mantha, a former resident of Bos village in Kaun Kriel commune, said four provincial police officers on Wednesday told about 50 families who had sought shelter in a public meeting hall that they would be banned from sleeping in public places if they did not accept the compensation offer “within two or three days”. “They said they would deport us back to our hometowns if we still refuse to accept the offer, and we will get nothing,” she said, adding that the families had deemed the offer of a 30-metre-by-50-metre plot of land and 1 hectare of farmland to be inadequate. In an operation that was roundly condemned by local NGOs, armed provincial officials set fire to houses in the village on October 9 to clear the land for development by Angkor Sugar Company, which has been granted a 10,000-hectare economic land concession in the area. Vath Paranin, secretary general of Oddar Meanchey province, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA

Koub Sleh, deputy governor of Russey Keo district, told journalists at the scene that local authorities had announced plans to construct a road in the area in April, and had invited community members to meet with them on numerous occasions to discuss the project. The government was forced to evict the families, he said, because they demanded market value for their land.

“We could not accept their request at this time – we need to exert our authority,” he said.

Muy Chea, 48, said he and other villagers had asked authorities at the scene on Thursday to give them three days to clear their belongings
before their homes were razed. This offer, however, was denied.

“I could not take anything from my house. It was very dangerous because two excavators were destroying it,” he said.

Koub Sleh said that about 10 families from the community had accepted 4-metre-by- 8-metre land grants in Meanchey district’s Thnout Chrum village, with those who remained on Thursday having declined this offer.

“We offered new land to them at Thnout Chrum, but they did not agree,” he said. “We need this space for a development project to expand a road in the area.”

Chan Soveth, investigative director for the local rights group Adhoc, said the Cambodian government always uses the idea of “development” as an excuse to violate people’s rights.

“Evicting people for development projects is very popular in this government, but both the local and international community must condemn these actions, as they constitute serious human rights violations.”

Sar Vann was one member of the community whose house was not destroyed on Thursday. He said he was hired by the government as a day labourer and paid US$5 to help dismantle his neighbours’ homes.

“I feel very sorry, but I need the money to support my family, so I have no choice,” he said. “The local authorities are not brave enough to destroy these poor villagers’ homes on their own.”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009101629003/National-news/homes-levelled-in-shock-eviction.html

Thursday, October 15, 2009

No homes and no votes for evictees

Thursday, 15 October 2009 15:04
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Vong Sokheng

Thousands face exclusion because of lost personal documents, groups warn.
091015_01f
Photo by: Sovan Philong
Villagers whose homes were burned in a forced eviction in Oddar Meanchey last week might be unable to vote because their identity documents were destroyed.

THE National Election Committee (NEC) is shirking its responsibilities to victims of land evictions, critics charged Wednesday, as the fallout continued over suggestions that thousands of evictees may have been erased from official voter rolls.

A day after announcing that the names of 33,144 people had been removed from voter rolls, NEC officials admitted Wednesday that authorities have refused to register some evictees because they lack proper government identification.

“Some individual evictees were not legally living in their relocation commune,” said Tep Nytha, a secretary general at the NEC, who called the issue a “headache”.

If evictees truly want to register for future elections, he said, they should go to their commune councillors and obtain new identification.

The suggestion sparked criticism from rights groups, who accused the NEC of abdicating its responsibilities to ensure proper elections throughout the Kingdom.

“The upcoming commune elections in 2012 will not be fair if evictees are unable to vote,” said Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), a local elections watchdog.

He urged the NEC to pressure the government to issue proper identification to the evictees, many of whose ID cards were destroyed or lost during the turmoil of their evictions.

It is not clear how many evictees may have been erased from the voter registry, but conservative estimates suggest they could number in the thousands, Koul Panha said.

He added that Comfrel survey of just three Phnom Penh communes – Trapaing Krasang, Prey Veng and Choam Chao – found at least 3,600 evictees who have been refused registration.

“We think that there are many other evictees who have lost their rights to vote,” he said.

In Oddar Meanchey province, where authorities burned homes to the ground this weekend in an ongoing land dispute, more than 200 evictees may have lost their papers, according to former Bos village Chief Huoy Chhuoy.

In Phnom Penh, 61-year-old Hem Sareoun said he and his wife, Som Ny, were refused registration because they had no ID cards nor a family book. The documents had been lost when the pair were rooted out of the Dey Krahorm community in 2008.

“The commune elections officers refused to register my name and my wife’s name,” he said. The Ministry of Interior oversees the management of government-issued identification. Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak declined to comment when contacted by the Post Wednesday.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009101528976/National-news/no-homes-and-no-votes-for-evictees.html

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Evictees fear arrest warrants

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 15:05
Tep Nimol and Khuon Leakhana

091013_01
Photo by: Sovan Philong
Villagers from Oddar Meanchey arrive at a Phnom Penh pagoda on Monday after fleeing their homes following a violent eviction from their village Friday.

VILLAGERS whose homes were bulldozed and then burned to the ground by armed officials in an ongoing land dispute in Oddar Meanchey province last week have fled to the capital for fear of being arrested on incitement charges, they said Monday, as Siem Reap officials confirmed that arrest warrants have been issued for three former residents.

Huy Chuy, the 45-year-old former chief of Kaun Kriel commune’s Bos village, said he was threatened with arrest at gunpoint by local officials a few days before Friday’s eviction.

“After successfully escaping from the authorities, I and other villagers decided to escape overnight to Phnom Penh, believing that the authorities would retaliate or attempt to arrest us again,” he said.

Siem Reap provincial prosecutor Ty Sovinpal confirmed Monday that the court issued warrants for the arrest of three villagers on charges, filed by Forestry Administration officials, of inciting unrest and disrupting the country’s development. “In fact, all villagers should be detained, but I issued an arrest warrant for only three masterminds,” he said.

A total of 214 families are battling Angkor Sugar Company, owned by Lee Yongphat, a senator with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, for rights to the disputed 1,500 hectares. Nearly 100 homes were dismantled and torched by armed police officers during the eviction Friday.

Witness Roeung Hav, 34, said 100 armed officials arrived at the village at around 9am with three tractors and several bulldozers ready to destroy homes. “I begged them to take my property out of my home first, but they ignored me,” she said, weeping.

“They started their bulldozing immediately, making me almost unable to take my children out. After bulldozing my home, they set fire to it, which is very cruel.”

The villagers were then transported to temporary shelter at Kork Khlork pagoda, about 3 kilometres away. There, the officials offered the families food, but only if they agreed to thumbprint documents accepting a piece of land measuring 30 metres by 50 metres and a 1-hectare rice paddy as compensation.

Another witness, 41-year-old Chrin Narin, said: “We were very hungry. The authorities brought sacks of rice, but they would not give it to us. They asked whether we were hungry. Then they told us that we could have rice only if each family gave their thumbprints.”

The number of villagers seeking refuge in the capital swelled to 15 on Monday, as representatives prepared to ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene.

Am Sam Ath, an investigator with local rights group Licadho, condemned the eviction. “If the government provides thousands of hectares of commercial land concession to the company, it should also provide social land concessions to residents who need it for their livelihood.”

Pich Sokheurn, governor of Oddar Meanchey, denied any wrongdoing. “We only make villagers who built movable cottages or grabbed state land return to their legal lands,” he said. Lee Yongphat, chairman of Angkor Sugar, could not be reached for comment.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009101328912/National-news/evictees-fear-arrest-warrants.html

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Community awaits results of toxicity test after Kandal spill

Thursday, 08 October 2009 15:04
Khouth Sophakchakrya

The government has yet to release the results of toxicity tests
conducted in the area of a chemical spill in Kandal province that killed
thousands of fish in late August.

The MH Bio-Energy Group, which was responsible for the spill, has
offered affected villagers compensation, however, giving a total of
US$700,000 to 53 fishing families in the villages of Doung and Krous.

"The people are very happy to have received the compensation from the
factory, and they hope that they will reopen their fisheries soon," Seng
Thim, director of Bassac fisheries, said Wednesday.

Local fishermen, however, said the company's compensation was not enough
to assuage their concerns about the spill.

Meas Saron, 41, a fisherman in Doung village who received $700 in
compensation, said that he was grateful for the money but anxious to get
the government test results.

"We are still concerned about the water and its effects on health
because authorities warned us not to use the river until test results
are released.

At this point, we have yet to see these results," he said.

Sixty-five year old Lam Yiang Try, who lost more than 500 kilograms of
fish in the spill, said that he wants to use the compensation money to
buy and raise new fish but is awaiting the test results first before he
does so.

"For now, we are afraid of reopening our commercial fish farms," he said.

Chao Bun Thong, chief of Duong village, said that after the spill,
authorities from the Fisheries Administration said the water contained
high levels of ammonia and other chemicals that are dangerous to human
health.

"We are concerned as to when the water will become normal again and no
longer be a threat to our health," he said.

Lonh Hell, director of the Department of Pollution Control at the
Ministry of Environment, declined to comment on the test results
Wednesday. "If you want to interview me or view the laboratory results,
please write an official letter to my senior minister first," he said.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009100828825/National-news/community-awaits-results-of-toxicity-test-after-kandal-spill.html