THE decision to block a Cambodia Watchdog Council (CWC) delegation from viewing contested border posts in Takeo province on Sunday is evidence that the government has something to hide, Rong Chhun, the council’s president, said in a statement issued Monday.

“The prevention caused even more suspicion about what was behind the implanting of the border stakes. The Cambodian authorities have tried very hard to ban lawmakers and civil society representatives from visiting the stakes to find out the truth,” read the statement.

On Sunday, about 10 members of the CWC were prevented from inspecting a border post in Borei Cholsa district’s Chey Chauk commune, that some villagers have claimed impinges on their farmland.

Var Kimhong, senior minister in charge of border affairs, dismissed Rong Chhun’s claim on Tuesday, saying there was nothing suspicious about any of the posts planted along Cambodia’s border with Vietnam.

“The government prevented them from seeing the place because it did not want to see the act of thoughtless uprooting of border stakes again, such as was the case in Svay Rieng province,” he said, referring to a stunt last October that ultimately led to a two-year prison sentence for opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is now in France.