Top official slams Ag over ELCs
some agriculture officials simply marked out enormous concessions without inspecting the actual land to see if it was protected. On one occasion, the ministry actually granted a concession on land where an agriculture office was located, he added.
“The Forestry Administration officers sometimes just used GPS to grant land to this company or that company. Some companies were granted up to 350,000 hectares that included one department of agriculture where they were sitting to work,” he said.
“I knew when I inspected it, but I did not talk about it all because it is very shameful.”
As an example of another apparent irregularity, Chhin told the audience of an incident where he tried to grant 900 land titles to displaced villagers in an unnamed province. According to him, the agriculture officers in charge of the relocation then said only 600 people came to claim their land concession. That number eventually dropped to 300.
Chhin suggested that these land grants were being illegally given to corporations. “Who are the people who come to get these land titles?” he asked.
Chhin said the agriculture officials were not incompe- tent, but simply have not “put all their efforts” into following the policy.
“If we say that they have no capacity to work, it is not correct, because they are welleducated,” he said.
He also suggested that some officials may prefer to work in the Environment Ministry instead.
Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Lor Raksmey could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Am Sam Ath, technical coordinator for the rights group Licadho, agreed with Chhin’s assessment.
“These malpractices have caused endless problems,” he said, noting, however, that government officials were never tried in court over alleged malfeasance, only re-
I knew when I inspected it [an incorrectly granted ELC], but I did not talk about it at all because it is very shameful
shuffled from their positions, often after criticism from the prime minister.
An annual report on the Ministry of Environment’s work in 2016 was also released at yesterday’s meeting. The report noted that the ministry created 41 new protected areas totalling almost 6 million hectares.