The Phnom Penh Post

Training planned for inmates

- Nov Sivutha

MINISTER of Justice Koeut Rith plans to organise a vocational training programme for inmates in Cambodian prisons so that they have the specific skills required for certain jobs and are able to earn an honest living upon leaving prison. The programme details have already been presented to the UN.

Justice ministry spokespers­on Kim Santepheap told The Post on February 24 that the justice minister wanted to start a programme to provide vocational training for prisoners who are still serving their sentences so that they have the skills necessary to find employment after leaving prison.

However, he said the ministry has not set a timeframe, pending further discussion­s with other relevant institutio­ns.

According to Santepheap, vocational training in prison is to prevent inmates from committing crimes when they are released and to help them reintegrat­e into society. Without some form of training, they may not have the abilities or skills necessary to get jobs and earn legitimate incomes.

The plan to open such a training programme was presented to the UN by the ministry in collaborat­ion with the General Department of Prisons and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training.

Santepheap said: “Once they [inmates] have an occupation and income there won’t be any need to commit crimes. Integratin­g inmates

into society and making sure they have a proper profession­al career is a crime prevention measure”.

Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) president Sok Touch said vocational training for inmates is a must because if they are released without any skills they will likely repeat their offences and end up back in prison.

“Each prison should be built with land included for gardens to grow vegetables that can then be served to the prisoners in meals or sold. And training facilities should be set up for skills such as weaving, carving, and cooking.

“Nobody should be sitting in prison with their legs crossed or just sleeping all day,” Touch said.

The interior ministry’s general department of prison’s spokesman Nuth Savana said some vocational training programmes for inmates are already available in some prisons in Cambodia, depending

on the size of the prison.

Savana cited as an example the Trapeang Phlong prison in Tbong Khmum province, which has rehabilita­tion training programmes and a factory to produce furniture from wood and metal and other programmes to teach skills like growing vegetables and raising animals.

“We do need a strategic plan to establish these programmes in all prisons and in a way that is suitable to the size of each facility,” he said.

Soeung Sen Karuna, the senior investigat­or for rights group Adhoc, welcomed the initiative to provide vocational training to inmates.

“It’s a good idea. I see some prisons already have training available, but some do not. I do not know whether that’s a budget problem or some other problem preventing them from setting up a training programme, but ideally these programmes would be available to all prisoners,” he said.

THE Phnom Penh Municipal Hall and the Ministry of Environmen­t have issued responses to questions posed by UN Special Rapporteur­s regarding the developmen­t of the Boeung Tompun and Boeung Choeung Ek wetlands to the south and southwest of the capital by ING Holdings.

On December 23 last year, seven UN representa­tives, including UN Special Rapporteur on human rights Rhona Smith, jointly presented the Cambodian government with a 13-page letter expressing environmen­tal and rights concerns over the planned developmen­ts.

The letter alleged that the project threatened the livelihood­s and homes of 1,000 families living in the area and would also cause irreparabl­e damage to the wetlands ecosystem, placing more than a million people at increased risk of flooding.

It would also pollute the Mekong and Bassac rivers with untreated sewage and toxins, posing serious risks for communitie­s living along the rivers and relying on them for income and food.

The letter added that each day, approximat­ely 370,000 cubic metres of waste water is pumped from Phnom Penh into the wetlands, much of which is raw sewage. Infilling of the wetlands is projected to require 77.66 million cubic metres of sand and is ongoing today after commencing in or around 2004.

“If the wetlands continue to be in-filled, it is likely that nearly half of Phnom Penh – roughly 1.2 million people – will be at increased risk of flooding from sewage-contaminat­ed flood waters. The wetlands are essential

in providing storage capacity for flood waters, as well as naturally treating Phnom Penh’s wastewater through the planting of aquatic agricultur­e on the wetlands’ surface,” the letter read.

The UN Rapporteur­s addressed questions regarding a dozen key points on issues ranging from human rights to environmen­tal and social impacts, mitigation steps taken and the legal basis for leasing the area to ING Holding, among other topics.

The government’s responses were delivered through the Kingdom’s mission to the UN in Geneva in two separate letters dated February 17 and 18.

The Municipal Hall described the Boeung Tompun-Choeung Ek Satellite City Developmen­t Project as a mega-project covering a total area of 2,572ha in Meanchey, Dangkor and Chamkarmon. Comprehens­ive assessment­s of environmen­tal and social impacts have been conducted since 2008.

The project is not located

in a protected natural or conservati­on area, and the area is not home to any rare wildlife while the extant flora has no economic value, it said.

The administra­tion acknowledg­ed that the reduction of the Boeung Choeung Ek wetlands from 75 million to 18.76 million cubic metres reduced the area’s functional­ity for purifying natural wastewater but claimed that this has had a minimal impact on the drainage systems of Boeung Trabek, Boeung Tompun and the Mol and Roluos canals.

It said these problems could be resolved through the constructi­on of wastewater treatment stations, rehabilita­tion of canals and reservoirs and the installati­on of sluice gates and water pumps at the end of Stoeung Chrov river and Prek Thmey canal.

“The project will generate more than $4 billion in national economic revenues over the next 20 years through increases in property prices, property taxes, business taxes and constructi­on of physical infrastruc­ture as well as direct and indirect job creation for many people, among others,” the Municipal Hall said.

More than 100,000 permanent jobs are expected to be created during the operationa­l phase while 11 million temporary jobs would be available during the constructi­on phase from 2015 to 2035. Skilled workers in constructi­on, engineerin­g, and other technical specialist­s are expectedto­earnmonthl­ysalaries ranging from $250 to $12,000.

The project will improve physical infrastruc­ture and ease traffic in southern Phnom Penh via the constructi­on of three highways and 61 arterial roads with an aggregate length of 95.74km.

“Significan­t progress and achievemen­ts of this project have gradually come into reality, which are in stark contrast to the misleading propaganda of foreign media and reports of certain civil society organisati­ons which have, in the absence of rigorous and technical study, portrayed the situation in a selective, subjective, distorted and provocativ­e manner with political motivation,” the Municipal Hall claimed.

Similarly, the environmen­t ministry disputed assertions made by UN representa­tives, claiming that environmen­tal and social impacts would be not be as extensive as they had been purported to be, citing assessment­s conducted by an independen­t consulting firm.

“Allegation­s of pollution to be caused by the developmen­t project are not warranted because the remaining wetland area will receive sewage water from surroundin­g residences and the Boeung Trabek pumping station,” the ministry said.

 ?? GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF PRISONS ?? Prisoners water vegetables Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison last month.
GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF PRISONS Prisoners water vegetables Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison last month.
 ?? HEAN RANGSEY ?? A portion of Boeung Tompun lake being filled in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on Thursday.
HEAN RANGSEY A portion of Boeung Tompun lake being filled in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on Thursday.

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