n response to a malicious and misinformation letters posted recently on ‘Lonely Planet’ and your pages concerning a Volunteer Project to feed hungry children at the city dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I am dismayed that LP would allow such criminal editorial on its pages in the first place, but not yours, I am therefore responding to these malicious fantasies myself. I am not hiding behind an e mail or sms as you and these gossip mongers do, I am here, you can come and see me anytime, I am more than happy to show anyone the facts and hard evidence. You Plebeians do not, I posted an invitation advertisement in the Cambodia Daily some weeks ago. I invited any one with hard evidence of these allegations to bring it along and hand it over to the Deputy Chief of Police. There were also people from the Ministry to accept any such evidence, and guess what? Not one person had the courage to come, they still hide behind e mails and do nothing other than spread their bar talk and gossip and play with ladyboys. The reason is they talk, they do not DO, if only they would get off their barstools and do something positive, but that is too hard for them and you.

I am not going to lower myself to the level of personal abuse that Mr. Jarvis has. As it goes Í do not give a damn’ about his opinion. So let’s look at the REAL facts as his statement goes;

The old dump closed 20th July, I was there with the 400 children we feed, where were you Mr. Jarvis and your ílk? No you have not been out to see but you are an authority on what is going on!

The children are all still there all 1400 of them and the 530 families, they are in greater need now because they getting no income from the dump. The food lines are now well over 500 each time we go there, but you would not know this Mr. Jarvis because you are sitting on your bar stool with your friends.

May of last year I had a great personal tragedy of which I am not about to discuss with the likes of you. I also had several other reasons, again private, to give the running of the bar and finances to my partner Mr. Robins. As a result of these events I no longer was interested in the bar life. I wanted to leave B&B at the earliest time that was convenient to Mr. Robins and me. I left in May this year, Mr. Robins carried on without me. Mr. Robins decided to finish business at B&B, the business when it closed owed nothing to anyone! Any staff or girlfriends had IDS and family books copied and examined by the police, again your malicious lies are fantasy. My half of B&B was up for sale from May 2008, it was no secret I discussed this with many people. The Charity as you call it was never a contention for a sale, how do you sell a Charity? Your statement is ridicules! I was offered a bar at NO cost in 51 street, as it turned out the owner of the bar had given me a fake lease, one of your good old ex pats! So I left!

I did not come from Thailand to Cambodia other than flight transferring, your claims of a past in Thailand are as the rest of your statements, fabrication. We are NOT a charity as you make out, we are volunteers, and I have been feeding those children for six years, we provide up to 2000 meals per week for them, we provide medical assistance through volunteer paramedics, what do you do for them Mr. Jarvis?

Now to the CCDF fiasco, I was asked by the chairman to act under his ‘banner’ he promised the earth for the children. He told me he had this charity for years, in fact it turned out it was registered a few months before. CCDF wanted an active project to put to their name. Nothing was forth coming from CCDF, they promised to set up a bank account for us, it never happened, they promised grants to help the children, it never happened. I investigated the background of CCDF and told them I was not going along with it. I am making no further comment on this subject other than I have placed all the evidence I have with Lawyers in Cambodia, U.S.A. and UK. If anything happens to me these documents will be published.

The other 2 members of the group joined about 3 years after I started, the others were just hangers and ‘Gunnas” promising the earth and doing very little. ALL had access to accounts, payments, receipts at all times, they were able to check the accounts at anytime! On this issue, CCDF had our six months accounts but I disengaged from them because of their agenda, so they were not around long enough to have any further accounts. Where you get your information about donations is a sick joke, nothing you say is correct. Relating to the other activities concerning Hospital and Dentist, please come along sometime when you have the courage and energy to see the photographs of the injuries that we have taken care of, come with me and meet the families we support, talk with them. As you doubt me Mr. Jarvis, move your and your bar stool friends who cannot put two sentences together without lies, and do something positive, but they are too busy with their drunken bar talk, lies and gossip.

I cannot prove a negative, and you and your ilk are so negative, and yellow, not one of you have the guts to come and see me or turn up at a meeting, too civilized for you? Ok I will get drunk and turn my back, and make it easy for you, your sort of play!

Please do come and see me, all dialogue will be recorded and handed over to the police! Come along to the dump with me ( you will feel at home with yellow trash) meet the families and children I support, ask them about your cowardly malicious shit, you will hear the truth!

I am far from perfect, and some people do not like the way I do things especially you, I accept this, but there is one factor you cannot deny, I GET THE JOB DONE! and I WELCOME ANY INVESTIGATION

David Fletcher

David Fletcher agreed to answer a few questions.

K440: Can you give me your reaction to the article in the Spanish newpaper El Pais?

That's the article which confirms that you are being investigated as a suspected pedophile by the NGO APLE.

Do you deny their allegations?

If so, will you be suing APLE or the newspaper?

DF: I certainly do strongly deny these allegations and we can only wait to see their evidence! I am as eager to see this as much as anyone.

I have not seen the full article, but the jist of it was passed on to me with about half a page, but I get the usual picture, it seems very familiar with your columns. If you have the full article I would be grateful if you would forward this on. Action and investigations are already taking place, that is all I can say at the moment.

I would also point out that for every malicious comment, I get 10 praising the project and support me.

As a passing comment I do appreciate a straight question like yours, I wish more would do the same,

K440: It must be very worrying to find out you are being investigated by APLE.

Has this affected you in any way?

How are you dealing with it?

DF: There is a concern about corruption I agree, maybe I am being nieve in thinking and knowing I have behaved correctly and that right will prevail. But we are in Cambodia and who knows? but I do have some very high ups on my side and know the truth, they have been out to the dump with me on numerous trips and met the family's I support, thankfully I have their full support and they are going after Aple as they are aware as you what they are capable of.

It has affected me only in the way that some people think I do not care about the children. I care greatly for them and would have left Cambodia a long time ago if it were not for them.

As you are intelligent enough to know I do not care for the social scene here.

I am a loner, I always have been, I have had much sadness in my life, I am not feeling sorry for myself, I guess I deal with it as I have all my life, I believe in myself and what I am doing is right.

All this adverse material is putting some people off, some will always believe what they read. My sadness is I do not get up there to help them as much as I wish. I would invite you or anyone else to come with me anytime and see how much these children care about what we do for them.