The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 520
“The three-day operation of the authorities under the directive of the government leader Hun Sen demolished the [illegally built] buildings of the Long Chhin Company worth millions of dollars, located at Kob Srov Lake. However, the company did not lose its profit because the company owner is more clever than Prime Minister Hun Sen.
“A source close to Mr. Zhou Shi Min, chairperson of the Long Chhin Cambodia Investment Company, stated that the company had already collected all money from land and villa sales, as well as deposits, worth millions of dollars, and transferred it to a bank in China, not keeping it any longer in a bank in Cambodia. According to the source, the Long Chhin Company owed the suppliers of bricks, steel, and cement, and the land filling companies, millions of dollars, while the money from selling the land and the villas, as well as any deposits, was immediately transferred to China. Consequently, the authorities who took the action of demolition did not bring any benefit to Cambodia, but helped Zhou Shi Min’s benefit enormously by this action.
“A businessman told Sralanh Khmer yesterday morning, ‘If Hun Sen were more knowledgeable and were more considerate, he would have received huge profits from this company, instead he aggressively destroyed those buildings just as the Khmer Rouge soldiers had damaged government structures in the 1980s. If the royal government of Cambodia legitimately had confiscated the land as state property, and opened the water gates again appropriately, it would have been a good solution, and he would be considered as a suitably qualified person.’
“Hun Sen, who has more [honorary] doctorates not earned at school than anybody else in the world, is as belligerent as he was as a Khmer Rouge militiaman. His bad temper, aggressiveness, and thoughtlessness could cause more massive damage to the country and to the citizens, for instance, as it happened with inciting statements, and then rioters burnt down the Thai embassy and Thai businesses in January 2003, which resulted in over US$55 million from the national budget, paid as compensation.
“The same businessman added that Hun Sen, who has the capacity to be more considerate, should have brought Zhou Shi Min to court according to the law, before conducting this operation, in order to compel the company to be responsible for the damage it has done, and therefore to pay compensation to the citizens according to the law.
“The measures taken by the Prime Minister were supported with hope, and frankly praised by many citizens. The citizens, nevertheless, mocked him and said that he should continue taking measures against other illegal companies across Cambodia, especially other companies that are also making land fills to eliminate water-storing lakes and natural lakes, which are essential as fish-hatching shelters.
“The elderly used to say ‘Stepping on the Chinese’s necks makes the Khmers stick out their tongues.’ The term was used by the old generation to give advice to the next generation of Khmer leaders, particularly poorly educated leaders such as Hun Sen. The slogan can be applied in this case where Hun Sen issued a directive to demolish the [illegal] constructions of the Long Chhin Company, but he failed to make the company face the loss. Instead, Khmer people are mainly facing losses, since they had bought the land from the Long Chhin Company and the company had already transferred the money from the land and villa sales to a bank in China.
“The brick, metal, cement, and construction material suppliers complained that they sold the materials to the company in good faith, because they saw the company performing its work for many years, and the construction was also close to Phnom Penh so that it could not have been concealed from the eyes of Hun Sen, as he used to stress that unlawful businesses could not escape from his bright eyes, unless they operated underground or in the jungle.
“However, the buildings of the Long Chhin Company are situated at Kob Srov Lake, only 12 km southwest from Phnom Penh – but why has Prime Minister Hun Sen known about this company only now, though it operated for many years?
“Certainly, the company of Long Chhin had obtained a permission for this development from Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Council for the Development of Cambodia, and it had activities, which show relations between the general director of the company and Khmer top leaders, such as the Father King Norodom Sihanouk, [President of the Senate] Chea Sim, and [Prime Minister] Hun Sen himself.
“One of the construction material suppliers said, ‘The company owes me hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I do not know from whom I could get the payment.’ He added that Hun Sen should not have done what he did, since all the construction material suppliers are Cambodians – why did Hun Sen take such action, without considering the benefits for the citizens?
“The authorities in charge actually found only US$4,000 of the company’s money kept in a bank in Cambodia. Therefore, the amount of US$4,000 was not even enough to cover the costs of the gasoline and of hiring workers to pull down the the buildings.
“Despite his cruel and unwise measures, some people supported Hun Sen and asked him to demolish other illegitimate buildings that trigger social insecurity and suck the Khmer people’s blood, such as the Naga Casino structure near the buildings of the [new] parliament.
“A series of Long Chhin Cambodia Investment Company leaflets mentioned and described the extent of expenses on the Kob Srov regional development, located at the southwestern outskirts of Phnom Penh. The leaflets depicting the building plan were printed and distributed to Khmer functionaries in 2005, with a picture attached of the company’s chairperson, who met Khmer leaders asking for permission for these plans, and showing signatures of senior Khmer leaders. One of the signatures belongs to Father King Norodom Sihanouk.
“As a consequence, the action of Prime Minister Hun Sen against the Long Chhin company does not bring any massive damage to the company. Thus, the company owner is really more clever than Hun Sen.” Sralanh Khmer, Vol.474, #474, 10.8.2007
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We apologize because we will not be able to present headlines today. This may, or may not, continue for about one more week, for reasons of very limited staffing possibilities. We can cover to select one article per day and have it translated during this time, but we cannot select about 15 headlines per day from all the different newspapers during this week.
Norbert Klein
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