Pork vendors in Battambang province yesterday accused slaughterhouse owners and Battambang town authorities of conspiring to wrongfully tax small vendors in an attempt to turn a profit during Chinese New Year. 

Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post

A worker checks roasted pigs hanging in a shop in Tuol Svay Prey 1 commune, in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district, on Saturday.

Yam Bor and Hoeurn Fu, who were taking two grilled pigs from the Sangke district to Battambang town yesterday, said they were stopped by six police officers and forced to pay a tax to the provincial slaughterhouse, which they did not believe was valid.  

“The authorities told me that if I wanted to keep the pigs, I had to pay tax to the provincial slaughterhouse. They forced me to pay the tax even though I already paid a tax to the district slaughterhouse. It seemed they were attempting to extort money during the Chinese New Year,” Yam Bor said. Battambang town police chief Kuch Ra did not deny they made the vendors pay a tax to the provincial slaughterhouse, but said accusations that the tax was brought about by Chinese New Year were false.  

His police force had an obligation to prevent violence at slaughterhouses, so to keep the peace, these vendors had to pay a tax to the provincial slaughterhouse, Kuch Ra said.