Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Gov’t rejects logging claims

Gov’t rejects logging claims

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra visits rangers at a wildlife sanctuary. Yousos Apdoulrashim

Gov’t rejects logging claims

The Ministry of Environment has rejected reports by Amnesty International and the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) that large-scale illegal logging has increased in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary since PLCN was banned from patrolling the area.

Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra told The Post on February 28 that the groups’ reports amounted to an organised campaign with malicious intent to subvert the government on the management and conservation of natural resources.

“They think that only their group is the only natural resources protector. In fact, they just want to cause conflict, create anarchy and continue to encourage law abuses,” he said.

He added that this is an insult to the dedication of park rangers and protected area communities who are striving hard for the protection and conservation of natural resources.

According to Pheaktra, Amnesty International’s February 5 report is incorrect and is intended to discredit the government under the cover of human rights, freedom and democracy. The organisation, he said, tends to provide support to those who violate the law without shame and encourage them to continue breaking the law.

Pheaktra said the ministry does not need to respond to the PLCN report which he claimed does not reflect the facts and were prepared and compiled with the support of foreigners. The sanctuary, he added, is only presented in a negative light, and it only seeks support for the group’s activities.

“This report is also not up-to-date, as the environment ministry and its partners’ operations throughout 2020 have achieved good results in preventing and cracking down on natural resource crime,” he said.

Pheaktra acknowledged that forestry crimes continue to occur in protected areas, including the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, but only on a small scale.

The PLCN’s February 27 report said: “Satellite imagery data on deforestation has been linked to an increase in PLCN patrol bans and an increase in illegal logging by companies operating near the Prey Lang area.”

It called on the government to implement existing regulations and laws about protecting forests and the public to participate in natural resource protection.

Khem Sokhy, a PLCN member in Preah Vihear province, said that since the environment ministry banned PLCN from patrolling the area in February 2020, forestry crimes keep happening.

He said there were fewer cases of forestry crimes before PLCN was banned because perpetrators were scared.

“If the environment ministry chooses to work on it [natural resources protection] alone while there are not enough officers to cover almost half-a-million hectares, offenders will take advantage of this [loophole].

“If the ministry maintains its [sole] authority, the forest will keep being destroyed,” he said.

According to Pheaktra, however, the ministry has recently cooperated with the National Committee for the Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes to address the issue in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide