Phnom Penh Suffers Water Crisis, Hun Sen Clan Plans Ahead, Cambodian Rice Seeks Capital Grains
Good morning, Cambodia. It’s Friday, March 31, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
FEAR FACTOR: The Strongman is fast-tracking succession and looking for the best chess moves. This is Hun Sen. He knows the game. Cambodia could have a new prime minister this year, insiders say.
KICKING OFF: A Gaelic football club is the Kingdom’s unlikeliest media darling, clinching a coveted spot at the World Games in Ireland. All it needs is the money to get there.
CROWD COVER: The prime minister wants packed houses at the Southeast Asian Games. Tickets are free, schools are closed, and students are encouraged to show up and support the home teams.
THE LEDE
Digging In
A defiant Strongman warned political activists about long jail terms if Western governments continued to criticize the Kingdom’s record on human rights.
The strong-arm diplomacy escalated tensions with the U.S. and E.U., which have demanded the reopening of democratic spaces ahead of July elections. The E.U. threatened to suspend duty-free access for Cambodian exports, covering about $9 billion in goods.
The government on Friday sentenced 13 opposition members to prison, including three Candlelight Party leaders. It detained two more on charges of lese majeste.
More arrests are expected.
Hosed Down
Phnom Penh authorities turned to tanker trucks and fire engines to distribute water to a parched capital, as a chronic shortage stretched into a fifth year.
The Water Authority blamed skyrocketing demand. The capital needs about 900,000 cubic meters per day, it said, but only has a pumping capacity of 640,000.
Partial relief is expected in May, when a new treatment facility will add 200,00 cubic meters to daily output. Surplus capacity is scheduled to arrive in early 2024, when output reaches 1 million cubic meters.
Final Stand
A Phnom Penh football club is unexpectedly preparing for the Gaelic World Games.
The men’s and women’s sides of Cairde Khmer beat out nearly two dozen Irish expat teams at the Asian Games in Malaysia, snatching an improbable second-place finish and earning the club a prized invitation to compete in Ireland in July.
The club now faces its steepest test yet — finding the money to get 13 male and 13 female Cambodians to Europe. The team is courting corporate sponsors and asking for personal donations. Flights alone exceed $40,000.
TALKING POINTS
Short Time
Hun Sen plans to retire and install his eldest son as the next prime minister after victory in July’s national elections, according to unnamed sources. Experts predict the title to be passed on, but not the power, meaning Hun Sen mentors from the sidelines while Hun Manet receives on-the-job training.
White Gold
Cambodia will invest $100 million in the rice sector as part of a broad effort to stabilize local markets and boost exports. The money will provide low-interest loans to growers and processors, as the industry aims for an ambitious 2025 goal of exporting 100 million tons annually.
Name Drop
Hun Manet threatened legal action and arrest for anyone caught using his name to swindle unsuspecting victims. The expected prime minister in-waiting was responding to reports of a shady land dealer who claimed to be his personal assistant and seized land in Sihanoukville.
Sticker Shock
Local currency price tags are coming to everything, everywhere, in an ambitious attempt to reduce haggling and protect tourists from price-gougers. Not everyone is on board. Sellers quickly pointed to the Kingdom’s dollarized economy as a big selling point for visitors, who often have a limited understanding of exchange rates and local currencies.
Big Chip
NagaCorp, the parent company of NagaWorld casino, booked $107 million in profits on $460 million in revenue last year, paying a seemingly paltry $212,000 in income tax. Main construction on Naga3, a $3.5 billion expansion, is set to begin mid-year. The casino giant is still mired in public outcry led by union leader Chhim Sithar, who remains jailed.
Phys Ed
The government has ordered school closures from April 20 to May 18 in support of the Southeast Asian Games, which run from May 5–17 in Phnom Penh and surrounding provinces. The games need about 7,000 unpaid workers and students have been encouraged to volunteer or attend. Tickets are free for Cambodians and $25–$50 for others.
Sweet Leaf
The booming palm sugar industry faces a crippling shortage of climbers, who scale the trees to collect sap from treetop flowers. The shortfall is a result of a generational shift, with younger workers opting for factory jobs as veteran climbers retire. Sugarmakers have been woefully short of market demand for two years.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
PM Warns Sam Rainsy to Tone Down Rhetoric
March 31, 2003
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday railed against opposition leader Sam Rainsy, comparing him to Pol Pot and threatening to crush him if he doesn’t tone down his rhetoric.
US Government: Phnom Penh A Problem
March 29, 2003
In unusually strong language, the US State Department criticized the Cambodian government’s role in the Jan 29 anti-Thai riots and warned that Washington was closely watching the country’s progress toward the July general elections.
Former Khmer Rouge Fighters Assess Iraq War
March 25, 2003
Marathon television viewing has broken out in the former Khmer Rouge areas of the northwest as one-time jungle fighters pack into shops and homes to watch the dramatic coverage of the conflict in Iraq.
Photos: Hun Sen, Facebook. Rice, public domain.
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