Gov’t slams UN sand figures

School of Vice: 

Many critics and commentators [particularly, those harbouring strong anti-US feelings towards American involvement in Indochina in the 1970s] have never failed to note the perceived corrosive corruption pervading the US-backed regimes in former South Vietnam and Cambodia as one critical contributing factor - among many - to their respective weakness, short-lived reign and inevitable collapse. The Lon Nol regime that came to power by way of that 'bloodless coup' on 18th March 1970 was undoubtedly corrupt, but the general culture of corruption as it was practised in Cambodia's culture of nepotism, patronage and numerous social affiliations had not been unique or exceptional to that regime alone. For all its ills [and there were many] the Khmer Republic had opted to preserve intact the overall administrative and bureaucratic infrastructure of the previous regime led by Sihanouk which it replaced, and this fact is hardly surprising given that apart from Sihanouk and his narrow group of loyalists, the new regime, in terms of its stalwarts, personnel and outlook was mostly made up of features and characteristics of its predecessor; from judges and civil servants to military officers and generals, including Lon Nol and Sisowat Sirikmatak themselves who orchestrated that coup against Sihanouk - with the CIA's encouragement. 

What is worth noting is that while the Lon Nol regime might have been corrupt and short-lived for that very reason [so argue the said critics] the country's forest and natural environment had not been subjected to the scale and magnitude of the destructive onslaught involved in the corruption process as has been witnessed under the present Hun Sen regime. Even the Pol Pot regime had left the mountains and forests of Cambodia largely in tact. The real phase of the environmental destruction started with the advent of Vietnam's armed occupation of the country in 1979; effectively, an extension of the systematic looting  of the nation [particularly, the capital city of Phnom Penh which had been forcibly cleared of its inhabitants in a hurry back in April 1975, but not the city's many commercial stockpiles and private or public valuables] which itself has not stopped to this day or lessened in momentum.

            

Another notable distinction is that in spite of all these unprecedented plunders and destructive activities linked to the country's ruling elite, the present regime has managed to prosper and remain entrenched in power for almost four decades! And they claim Vietnam came to "liberate" Cambodia? [sic].

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Dredgers and barges loaded with sand moor on the Tatai River in Koh Kong earlier this year. Athena Zelandonii

Wed, 28 September 2016

Erin Handley

ppp

Government officials have denied the sand-dredging industry is mired in corruption in the wake of damning figures pointing to a 70-million-tonne hole in Cambodian sand-export numbers to Singapore.

Acting Minister for Mines and Energy Dith Tina yesterday cast doubt on the reliability of the data on the UN Commodity Trade (UN Comtrade) Statistics Database, which showed Cambodia claimed to have exported about 2.8 tonnes of sand to Singapore – worth $5.5 million – over the past nine years.

In stark contrast, Singapore recorded importing 72.7 million tonnes of sand from Cambodia, at $752 million.

In his office yesterday, Tina entered random options into the database to highlight other discrepancies between importing and exporting countries, such as between Malaysia and Singapore, but would not comment on whether those differences amounted to $700 million.

He described media reports on the database as “misleading”, and said those crying corruption were potentially “politically motivated”.

“People who use this data seem unprofessional to me,” he said. “It’s not helpful to destroy their credibility when there is no concrete proof [of corruption].

“We don’t tolerate it.”

Tina said figures were extremely difficult for his ministry to track down as it gave priority to fighting illegal mining. However, he said, in 2015, Cambodia exported a total of 149,250 cubic metres (228,000 tonnes) of sand worldwide.

He could not give figures specific to Singapore or the dollar value of exports, but said the royalties collected by the state amounted to about $111,000 on both imported and exported sand products.

However, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Soeng Sophary yesterday provided a document listing Cambodia’s sand exports to Singapore for the past nine years, including their weight and dollar value, which corresponded almost exactly to the figures on the UN Comtrade database, with one exception.

In 2013, UN data and Cambodia’s figures did not align. According to the database, Singapore imported 20,000 tonnes more than the Cambodian export document showed, valued at $45,000.

Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay yesterday dismissed Tina’s claims that there was no corruption in the sand-dredging industry. “I believe there is corruption, starting from the way the government is giving licences to the companies,” he said.

“We found the amount of sand imports to Singapore was many times more compared to what the government claimed it to be. Where did the money go?”

Chhay urged the government to be more transparent with issuing licences and said the full environmental toll should be made public. “Sand dredging is a dirty business, causing environmental impacts.”