Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Ministry eyeing wood stockpiles, says Samal

Ministry eyeing wood stockpiles, says Samal

Environment Minister Say Samal speaks during a meeting yesterday about the ministry’s investigation into wood depots.
Environment Minister Say Samal speaks during a meeting yesterday about the ministry’s investigation into wood depots. Pha Lina

Ministry eyeing wood stockpiles, says Samal

Amid the latest campaign to crack down on deforestation, Environment Minister Say Samal said yesterday a number of wood depots are being investigated for links to illegal logging, with forestry monitors saying they would wait to see what actions are taken.

During a meeting at the Club of Cambodian Journalists to discuss environmental protection, Samal said that illegal loggers were running many of the country’s timber depots, and the licences of suspected depots would have to be reviewed as a result.

“Some wood depots are purchasing illegal timber, so we will review their licences and check if they bought wood from areas with legal economic land concessions,” Samal said, adding that the ministry would file lawsuits against any found to be flouting the law.

He declined to identify which depots were under investigation, or where they were located, but said any timber leaving Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, Pursat and Koh Kong provinces was illegal, because no companies had permission to clear forest there.

Samal also said that two businessmen long linked to the illegal logging industry, Try Pheap and Lim Bunna, were no longer working in the timber industry. Pheap was previously granted exclusive rights to buy government-seized, illegally-felled wood at below market prices. An Environment Ministry spokesman refused to comment on whether Pheap still held such rights.

Lim Bunna and his business partner Soeng Sam Ol, meanwhile, have been linked to timber warehouses raided by the government earlier this year.

Ernst Jurgensen, country representative for NGO Danmission’s environmental projects, welcomed the investigations, but noted the government has often failed to follow tough statements with serious action.

“It is very positive that the Cambodian government takes actions on this, but a lot of deforestation could have been avoided if actions had been taken on this years ago,” Jurgensen said. “There has been too much talk and too little action.”

Goldman Prize-winning environmental activist Ouch Leng added that it would be easy for the government to put the brakes on illegal logging, but that vested interests prevent it from doing so.

“Wood depots and sawmills are located in almost all of the protected [forest] areas, so all they have to do is close them,” Leng said. “But some sawmill owners are related to government officials.”

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

  • Ministry orders all schools, public and private, to close for SEA Games

    From April 20 to May 18, all public and private educational institutions will be closed to maintain order and support Cambodia's hosting of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, said a directive from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Cambodia will host the

  • 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

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to