Month: October 2008

The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 584

“Around 200 residents from among the 4,000 families that live at the Boeng Kak region in Srah Chak, Daun Penh, came on the morning or 27 October 2008 to protest in front of the South Korean Embassy in Cambodia, to ask the Korean ambassador to intervene with the Shukaku Inc. company to stop dredging sand to fill the Boeng Kak Lake, and to solve the compensation for houses and land of the residents through market prices.

“A letter of the Boeng Kak residents at Srah Chak, Daun Penh, Phnom Penh, on 24 October 2008, to the Korean ambassador in Cambodia, stated their concerns over their eviction from the Boeng Kak region.
 
“In the letter asking for an intervention by the South Korean ambassador in Cambodia, all residents at the Boeng Kak region said that they have lived in this area starting between 1979 and 1982, and they are recognized by the local authorities, having family books, residence cards, birth certificates, identification cards, house numbers, defined residential groups, villages, communes, and districts; furthermore, residents at the Boeng Kak region have access to clean water and electricity, and they have jobs such as working at guesthouses, shops, cosmetics, car maintenance, garments shops, hairdressers, washing and ironing shops, hardware shops etc.
 
“The same letter went on to say that the residents of the Boeng Kak region had formed communities, had created credit unions, and are supported by non-government organizations with general health services, that also help to construct roads and bridges in the communities. On 6 February 2007, the Phnom Penh Municipality announced to lease the Boeng Kak region for a period of 99 years at a cost of US$79,002,000 to the Shukaku Inc. Company of South Korea, to develop the Boeng Kak Lake area which covers 133 hectares, where 90 hectares are lake, and 4,252 families are affected.
 
“On 26 October 2008, the Shukaku Inc. Company started to dredge sand to fill the lake, causing flood for some houses and on the roads; some houses collapsed and electricity and water was cut. Moreover, the company threatens and intimidates the residents, which concerns them, and some lost their regular jobs or cannot operate their businesses, due to the threats at present.
 
“The letter continued to report to the South Korean ambassador that previously, the citizens had sent motions to the Phnom Penh municipality, to the company, to the cabinet of the Prime Minister, and to the president of the National Assembly, asking for intervention from those institutions, but there is no solution. Now the residents of the Boeng Kak region are very worried, that is, they live in a state of being afraid both day and night, and even during their work to earn their living.
 
“At present, the Shukaku Inc. Company and the Phnom Penh authorities are using every trick to persuade and to force them, and to break the unity among the residents, so that they leave their houses, offering inappropriate compensation and money, forcing them to live at far away places from Phnom Penh and from their places of work, trying to move them to where there is no school, no hospital, no clean water, and no electricity; moving there they would loose their jobs.
 
“The letter of all residents of the Boeng Kak region to the South Korean ambassador asks the ambassador to help to intervene with the Shukaku Inc. Company and with the Phnom Penh Municipality, to solve the requests of the residents of the Boeng Kak region as follows:

 
“On the morning of 27 October 2008, officials of the South Korean Embassy in Cambodia came to greet representatives of the residents of the Boeng Kak region for a discussion. A representative of the residents, named Kon, who met with officials of the South Korean Embassy, reported to journalists and to around 200 residents of the Boeng Kak region, who protested in front of the South Korean Embassy, that the Shukaku Inc. is not a company from Korea. Therefore, they asked all residents of the Boeng Kak region to stop believing that this company comes from Korea.
 
“The rally of the residents then dispersed, but their representatives said that they will continue to search for the owners of the Shukaku Inc. Company, to know where it really comes from. When they know it clearly, they will rally in front of any embassy of the country from which the Shukaku Inc. Company came to invest in the Boeng Kak region, to seek compensation for the residents according to market prices, without forcing residents to leave.
 
“Different sources said that the Shukaku Inc. Company is an investment partner of Ms. Cheung Sopheap, also known as Yeay Phou – Grandmother Yeay – whose husband is Lao Meng Khin, an economic advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, it is likely they originate from China, because Yeay Phou and her husband have close relations with Chinese businesspeople. Some say that the Shukaku Inc. is a Japanese company; however, there is no source to say from which country the Shukaku Inc. Company really comes.” Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3599, 28.10.2008

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Tuesday, 28 October 2008

Chakraval, Vol.16, #2822, 28.10.2008

• Chicken Raising Association Complains That There Is More Import of Meat and Eggs from Foreign Countries

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1779, 28.10.2008

• [Taiwanese] Man Who Tried to Transport 240 kg of Heroin from Phnom Penh to Taiwan Is Sentenced by a Cambodian Court to Serve Twenty Two Years in Prison

Khmer Sthapana, Vol.1, #128, 28.10.2008

• World Heritage Officials [of UNESCO] Plan to Come to Cambodia to Check the Destruction on the Preah Vihear Temple [after a clash between Cambodian and Thai troops on 15 October 2008, scratching the neck of a dragon stature, a stone supporting a dragon, and the 73rd step]
• Cambodia Will Be Granted US$280 Million in Loans by China [for infrastructure development in irrigation, road transport, and electricity transmission]
• The Cambodian and Siamese [Thai] Border Commissions Will Meet on 10 November 2008
• Cambodia Gets Opportunities from the International Food Shortage and from the Rising Price of Food [because Cambodia can benefit from it by exporting agricultural products to countries facing food shortages, says Prime Minister Hun Sen]

Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6484, 28.10.2008

• The National Election Committee Demands that the National Assembly Cut the Allowance [of Mr. Sam Rainsy] if Mr. Sam Rainsy Does Not Agree to Pay a Fine of Riel 10 Million [approx. US$2,4700 – for defaming leaders of the Cambodian People’s Party during his election campaign]
• Truck Runs Into Rocks in Mountain Area, Causing Four Deaths and Seriously Injuring Four Others. It Is Allegedly the Result of Drunk Driving – the Driver Was Speeding [Koh Kong]
• A Truck Loaded with Goods from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap Was Robbed by Robbers, Driving a Camry, Taking away a Box Containing Riel 300 Million [approx. US$74,000 – Kompong Cham]
• A Car Hit Mr. Prum Manh [a well-known Ayay singer and joker – injuring his head]; the Accident May Be a Hit-and-Run Murder Attempt [Tuol Kork, Phnom Penh] – Note: Ayay is a traditional Khmer performance of humorous dialogue songs, usually performed by a man and a women

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3599, 28.10.2008

• South Korean Embassy Rejects that the Shukaku Inc. Is from Korea
• The European Parliament Encourages Yuon [Vietnam] to Stop Detaining Former Monk Tim Sakhan [who has been defrocked on accusation of having perpetrated an offense against the Buddhist law, because he was accused to have destroyed the harmony between Vietnam and Cambodia]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4727, 28.10.2008

• Cambodia Looses US$450 Million Each Year because of a Lack of Sanitation [approx. US$190 million result from the lack of sanitation on health, US$150 million economic loss results from water pollution, approx. US$75 million is loss in tourism, and approx. US$40 million is due to the lack in sanitary toilets]
• Three Robbers Robbed Gold from Three Stalls at Phsar Veal Renh Market, Taking Nearly 70 g of Gold and Much Money [and escaped – Sihanoukville]
• Three [young] Siblings Drowned in a Boat Accident after Returning from Enjoying a Kathen Ceremony [a Buddhist fund raising community festival – Kampot]

• A [Christian] Nun in India Was Raped by More Than Forty Men [during a surge of violence against Christians]

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