New taskforce to help tackle resource crimes

taskforce’s committee by secretary of state Phay Bunchhoeun, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is represented by Secretary of State Has Sareth, and the National Police by deputy commissioner-general Hou Sak Un. They will be joined by the governors of each of Cambodia’s 25 provinces.

Front-line environmental activists gave the new taskforce a cautious welcome yesterday. Chheuy Udom Raksmey, son of slain forest activist Chut Wutty and director of NGO the Natural Resources Protection Organisation, said the taskforce was a good thing in principle, but that he doubted it would see real results, due to what he perceived as corruption and nepotism within its de facto predecessor, the anti-logging taskforce.

“Some [tycoons] have not been jailed, they are still at large; this is [because of ] nepotism and corruption in the committee,” Raksmey said. “I think [the new committee] is useless . . . it is a waste of the national budget . . . They do not work honestly. It looks determined, but it is ineffective.”

Prey Lang forest activist Hoeun Sopheap, meanwhile, was similarly dismissive, echoing Raksmey’s concerns about the work done by the anti-logging taskforce.

“In the taskforce, some people are involved in crime,” Sopheap alleged. “So before [the taskforce] launches an action, [the criminals] know in advance and so bring their trucks and hide the timber. The taskforce needs to be cleared first in order to make it effective.”

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Say Sam Al issued a letter to the governors of 20 provinces rich in natural resources, instructing them to order local law enforcement to crack down on resource crimes, noting that such crimes tend to f lourish in the dry season.

Last Thursday, the Forestry Administ rat ion ( FA), loca l pol ice a nd milita r y pol ice

They do not work honestly. It looks determined, but it is ineffective

seized 16 cubic metres of firstgrade timber in Sesan commune in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district, according to Leng Yuk, an FA official based in Bakeo district, who added t hat no arrests were made.

“The timber was found near the border, so the destination was Vietnam,” Yuk said.

Vietnamese customs data shared with the Post by NGO Forest Trends showed at least $121 million worth of timber leaving Cambodia in the first nine months of this year alone.