Phnom Tamao Saved, Kampot Seaport Expanded, Luxury Brands Burned for Bricks
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, August 12, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
COASTAL COST: A $1.7 billion seaport is being built in Kampot, a leviathan capable of moving 500,000 containers per year. The government just added 600 hectares to the project.
KILN SMOKE: Waste from Nike, Ralph Lauren, Reebok and other global brands is being burned for fuel in the Kingdom’s notorious brick factories, according to a Greenpeace report.
WEB ARRESTS: Seven former CNRP members are going to prison for Facebook posts deemed seditious. At least 150 government critics have been prosecuted since 2017.
THE LEDE
Tamao Turnaround
The Strongman changed his mind.
Hun Sen, who had approved a deal to develop the Phnom Tamao area, eventually relented — perhaps in the face of public criticism and pleas — and handed a rare victory to environmentalists.
Even so, the damage from a week of clear-cutting on the forested hilltop will take decades and more than half a million dollars to repair.
Each cleared hectare requires 200 trees, at an average cost of $6, according to Mong Reththy, a tycoon who is leading the restoration project. About 500 hectares need replanting.
The area that was slated for development is home to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, which cares for more than 1,000 rescued animals. The news that it might be paved over unleashed fury from conservationists.
Kampot Seaport
The government turned over 600 hectares of Kampot coastline to private developers — the latest wrinkle in a deal to build a $1.7 billion seaport.
Construction began in early May, with the first phase of work scheduled for completion in 2025. Officials said the seaport will be capable of moving some 500,000 containers per year.
Trucks have been dumping sand in the ocean off Kampot since at least 2018. Media reports show similar projects in various states of completion. Residents and environmentalists say the work is killing mangrove forests and destroying livelihoods.
Coming Home
The U.S. will return 30 Angkorian artifacts looted during the Kingdom’s decades of conflict, including several bronze and stone statues of “extraordinary cultural value.”
The most remarkable piece is a 3-ton stone carving of the Hindu elephant god Ganesha, which spent years on the “Ten Most Wanted Antiquities” list. The relics, worth an estimated $35 million, will be displayed at the National Museum. Cambodia says hundreds of artifacts were stolen during the 1990s and sold on the black market — and it wants them back.
TALKING POINTS
Rainsy Redux
A Phnom Penh court is expected to spend the next four weeks deliberating new charges against Sam Rainsy, who was accused of handing over “national territory” to a foreign state. The government’s best evidence is a 9-year-old video of the opposition leader promising to uphold indigenous rights. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Press Woes
Journalists face increasing threats and shrinking press freedoms, including police surveillance, judicial harassment and physical violence, according to a U.N. rights report, with more than 80% saying they had experienced restrictions to their work. The government blasted the report as biased and unscientific, saying its tiny survey did not represent the Kingdom’s 6,000 media professionals.
Brick House
Greenpeace reported that waste from garment factories that supply Nike, Ralph Lauren and other major fashion brands regularly ends up as fuel in Cambodia’s infamous brick-making kilns, pumping plumes of toxic smoke into the atmosphere, endangering the public’s health and exacerbating the fashion industry’s carbon footprint.
Police Violence
The nation’s growing concern over unchecked police brutality was underscored this week by the death of a man in police custody and a leaked video of officers beating a murder suspect. Military police detained 12 officers for their role in the death of a man who was arrested during a raid on an online cockfighting ring. The man’s daughter accused police of choking him to death.
Rights Outcry
The Phnom Penh court sentenced seven former CNRP members to prison over Facebook posts that prosecutors said encouraged the public to overthrow the government. The courts have prosecuted at least 150 critics since 2017 in a campaign widely decried by rights activists.
Naga Threats
The government threatened to arrest NagaWorld union leaders for violating bail terms and “coercing” union members to protest. Officials have urged the union to stop striking and pursue their demands in court. Union officials vowed to protest until their demands are met.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Poipet Adds Police to Thwart Street Children
August 12, 2002
Faced with an increasing number of drug-using street children who steal from tourists, police in Poipet have stepped up the number of patrols.
Angry Mob Beats Suspected Burglar to Death
August 7, 2002
More than 75 people beat a suspected thief to death in Dangkao district on Friday after villagers found him prowling in a house, police officials said on Tuesday.
Woman From Japan Beaten In City Home
August 7, 2002
Pushed by the Japanese Embassy and the family of the victim, Phnom Penh police are investigating the brutal beating of a Japanese woman that sent her to Singapore for medical care and may have left her brain-damaged, officials said Sunday.
WEEKEND READING
Cambodia’s Cyber Slaves
Once a financial securities analyst in China, Lu Xiangri never imagined he might be a victim of trafficking and enslavement by Chinese cyber-scam operations in Cambodia.
Garment waste from Nike, Clarks and other leading brands burned to fuel toxic kilns in Cambodia
Off-cuts from Cambodian clothing factories that supply leading western brands, including Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors, are being used to fuel brick-kilns — exposing bonded workers to toxic fumes.
Campaigns, criminalisation and concessions: indigenous land rights in Cambodia
In Cambodia, the violation of the land rights of indigenous peoples who have lived for thousands of years in their ancestral forests continues unabated.
Photos: Phnom Tamao, Mohd Fazlin Mohd Effendy Ooi, via Flickr. Sam Rainsy, Bart Geesink, via WikiMedia.
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