La Presse Cambodgienne du Canada

Operation “Demolition of the Long Chhin Resorts buildings”

2007-08-02T13:50:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, August 01, 2007Everyday.com.kh

A government delegation led by Lim Kean Hor, the minister of water resources and meteorology, and general Sao Sokha, the military police chief, undertook an operation to demolish hundred of housing constructions located within the Long Chhin Resorts, in the morning of 31 July 2007. The Long Chhin Resorts is located in Prek Phnov village, Prek Phnov commune, Pohnea Loeu district, Kandal province, occupying an area of 60-hectare extending directly on top of Boeng Kob Srov Lake.

During the demolition operation, several hundreds of police and military police officers can be seen, as well as about 50 mechanical equipments, and about 100 workers. Lim Kean Hor said that the demolition of the Long Chhin Resorts was done through an order issued by Hun Sen and the operation will start from 31 July until everything returns back to its original condition.

The demolition of the buildings was done because the Long Chhin Company filled in the Kob Srov Lake for building by grabbing the lake which belongs to the state. Lim Kean Hor said that the flooding from the Mekong River could be significant if companies are allowed to fill in the lake in this manner, and that Phnom Penh city could face dire (flooding) consequences.

Ok Socheat reveals the mystery before the coup-de-party

2007-08-02T13:47:00.001-07:00

Thursday, August 2, 2007Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper

With respect to Prince Ranariddh, Ok Socheat, who still wants to see the prince returning back to Cambodia through the Funcinpec party, asked the prince to stop talking about the coup-de-party. He also explained on the cause that led to the rift between the NRP and Funcinpec.

Ok Socheat said that he was personally involved in creating the NRP logo and party motto.He added that this problem started since the month of March and April (2006). Therefore, the prince wanted to leave Funcinpec since then. But, the prince’s plan to form the NRP party received a strong reaction from Nhiek Bun Chhay, Funcinpec secretary-general. Ok Socheat said: “We left the NRP now because we want Funcinpec government officials to be able to live.”

Ok Socheat added: “Therefore, the plan to form the NRP was initiated several months before the Funcinpec party extraordinary congress which pushed the prince out of his former president position and turning him into a historical leader. Therefore, the prince should stop talking about the coup-de-party problem.”

Federal employee's firing shows bias against sovereigntists: MP

2007-07-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

Public Service Commission still investigating case of bureaucrat from Justice Department
CBC News: Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:44 AM ET

The way in which a federal bureaucrat in Ottawa was fired after he ran for a seat in the Quebec election shows a bias against sovereigntists, says a Gatineau MP.
Antoine Pich was fired from the Department of Justice in May after his superiors learned he had run in the March Quebec election without asking the government for permission. He was a candidate for the left-of-centre, sovereigntist party Québec Solidaire in the La Prairie riding south of Montreal.

Bloc Québécois MP Richard Nadeau said Pich was treated differently than another employee in the department who also disobeyed regulations requiring federal public servants to seek permission from the Public Service Commission before running for office.
"Patrick Glémaud is still working for the federal government," Nadeau said. "He was accepted by the Conservative party, but he never got the permission from the commission."
Glémaud has been introduced as the Conservative candidate in the Ottawa-Vanier riding.
But his name doesn't appear on the commission's list of employees cleared to run in the election, Nadeau said.

Meanwhile, the Public Service Commission of Canada says it did not recommend that Pich be fired, as it is still investigating his case.
However, spokeswoman Linda Gobeil said the commission does have the power to take corrective actions that can go all the way to dismissal.
Nadeau said he is sending a letter to the Treasury Board president Vic Toews asking him about the the situation.

Nadeau's wife, Edith Gendron, was fired from her job with the Department of Canadian Heritage in 2004 after she became the head of a sovereigntist group, but the Public Service Labour Relations Board later ordered that she be reinstated.

First Khmer Rouge leader charged

2007-07-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

Duch is the first of five suspects to be investigatedAn ex-Khmer Rouge prison chief has been charged with crimes against humanity by a UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia.
Kang Kek Ieu, also known as Duch, was in charge of the notorious S21 jail in the country's capital, Phnom Penh.
Duch is the first of five suspects whom prosecutors have asked the tribunal to investigate over their role in the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
More than a million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule between 1975-79.
Judges spent several hours interviewing Duch on Tuesday before formally filing charges against him.
"The co-investigating judges of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia have charged Kang Kek Ieu, alias Duch, for crimes against humanity and have placed him in provisional detention," tribunal judges said in a statement.

Key figures in the Khmer Rouge Duch was not among the top level of Khmer Rouge leaders but he has become one of its most notorious members, according to the BBC's Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh.
He ran S21, a notorious jail where about 1,400 men, women and children were kept, and many of them brutally tortured.
A museum at the site illustrates in graphic detail what happened to the inmates, many of whom were executed at the so-called Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh.
Duch was also the Khmer Rouge cadre who took charge of French anthropologist Francois Bizot, who recorded his 90 days captivity in a best-selling book, The Gate.
Long process
The UN-backed tribunal has taken years to get off the ground.
But by charging Duch, the judges are sending out a clear message that the special courts are now operational and moving more quickly than many people expected, our correspondent says.
Survivors have welcomed the charges, but they have also expressed doubts about whether other, more senior Khmer Rouge leaders will ever be brought to justice.
Duch had been in military custody for eight years and it was a simple matter to transfer him to the special courts. But other Khmer Rouge figures have been living freely in Cambodia - and may prove more difficult to track down.
Among those thought to be on the tribunal's list of suspects are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former president Khieu Samphan and Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary.
But the two most senior Khmer Rouge leaders will never be brought to trial.
"Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the founder and leader of the regime, died in a camp along the border with Thailand in 1998, and Ta Mok, the regime's military commander and one of Pol Pot's most ruthless henchmen, died last year.

MONTREAL: AMERICANS MOVING TO CANADA

2007-07-31T08:10:00.001-07:00

The number of Americans moving to Canada is up dramatically. A study by the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies shows that American immigrants in Canada reached just under 1,100, almost double the number admitted in 2000. The study also says that the Americans moving north were among the most educated of all the immigrants coming into Canada. A recent Gallup poll show that 92 per cent of Americans preferred Canada over as the top choice of 25 countries. The province of Ontario is the main destinatrion for U.S. immigrants, followed by British Columbia and Quebec.

England soccer great Charlton calls for increased efforts to rid Cambodia of land mines

2007-07-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

Refer to a friend © AP
England soccer great Charlton calls for increased efforts to rid Cambodia of land mines- © AP
2007-07-26 14:31:33 -
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - England soccer great Bobby Charlton called on the world community Thursday to do more to help Cambodia tackle the scourge of land mines that continue to kill and maim people in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.Charlton made the appeal in Phnom Penh after visiting Battambang province, 250 kilometers (155
miles) northwest of the capital, where he met people wounded by land mines.«It was a very emotional visit. Seeing youngsters without limbs just getting on with their life is hard to take,» Charlton said in a statement.«It is awful to think that so many years after the fighting has ended, people are still being maimed by land mines,» said Charlton, who is in Cambodia as a supporter of charity Spirit of Soccer, which helps children in land mine affected areas of the world through the development of soccer.Spirit of Soccer operates one of its two soccer coaching projects in Cambodia. The other is in Bosnia where he visited in 2005.The Manchester United director said he would like to see the international community do more to rid the world of the estimated 4-6 million land mines and other pieces of unexploded ordinance in Cambodia.The Khmer Rouge movement's brutal 1975-79 rule left an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians dead, and fighting continued between invading Vietnamese forces and various Cambodian factions until 1999.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in March that accidents involving land mines killed and wounded about 60,000 Cambodians over the last three decades. The Cambodian Red Cross has said 418 people were killed or maimed by mines last year.Charlton, 70, is one of soccer's best known personalities. He was a member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team, the same year he was named European Footballer of the Year.On Thursday he also visited Cambodian soccer players and showed them some kicking techniques at a training center in Phnom Penh.

Summer weather wettest on record

2007-07-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Oxford has been one of the places affected by floodingThe early summer has been the wettest since records began more than 240 years ago, the Met Office has confirmed.
Figures covering three months up to 23 July show more than 387mm (15.2in) of rain fell in England and Wales.
That is more than double the average of 186mm (7.3in) for the period, resulting in two bouts of devastating floods in parts of England in June and July.
The previous biggest summer deluge since records started in 1766 came in 1789 when almost 350mm (13.8in) fell.
The UK summer in facts and figures
This year some places had almost three times their expected rainfall.
In contrast, parts of the west coast of Scotland experienced less rain than expected.
Severe floods have hit areas such as Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire since Friday.
Rising waters have affected electricity and running water supplies and rail services.
Dry April
In June, people in South Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire were among those struck by extreme flooding.
The month of April, however, saw record breaking high temperatures, sunshine and virtually no rain in some areas.
Rainfall was generally well below average across the UK, with south east England and East Anglia seeing less than 3mm.
The statistics show it was the driest April since 1980 and the fourth driest since records began.
All regions set records for maximum and mean temperatures, with a high of 26.5C recorded at Herstmonceux in East Sussex on 15 April.

Anniversary of Cambodia upheaval

2007-07-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

By Guy DeLauney BBC News, Phnom Penh

Hun Sen has dominated Cambodian politics for two decadesA bloody battle between supporters of the two main figures in Cambodian politics for leadership of the country is marking its 10th anniversary.
Scores of people died in three days of fighting, and the power-sharing deal between co-prime ministers Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh was shattered.
The effects of those days are still being felt. Hun Sen's victory now appears more complete than ever.
Over the past decade, he has led a succession of coalition governments.
But now his party, the CPP, is in total control of the National Assembly.
And his old adversary, Prince Ranariddh, is in self-imposed exile in France.
Improving economy
The anniversary of the events of July 1997 is not officially being marked.
But the extravagant new National Assembly building is opening on the same day the fighting ended 10 years ago. It seems more than a coincidence.

Prince Ranariddh is currently in Europe
Critics say the anniversary is a reminder of what Cambodia has lost.
Democracy was only restored in 1993, after decades of civil war.
But since the factional fighting there has been no serious challenge to the CPP's dominance.
Opposition leaders have occasionally found themselves on the receiving end of legal action - and even jail sentences.
Prince Ranariddh currently faces 18 months in prison if he returns to Cambodia.
But the government points out that the country is enjoying rapid growth and increasing prosperity, and independent monitors described this year's local elections as "free and fair".