SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:02 am They are very serious about this.
What's going on??????????????????

eba

Arget wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 6:34 am

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:02 am They are very serious about this.
What's going on??????????????????

eba

I would like to think that EU has prioritised logging so high on their list of demands.
Also would like to think EU has that much power these days.
Personally i doubt it, EBA or not. But maybe. ??
I tend to think the reasons are more likely to be cambodian centric.

August 30, 2019
Court summons senior official over distribution of ELC
Mondulkiri provincial court has summoned another senior official at Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for questioning related to a Vietnamese’ Economic Land Concession company.

According to the court document obtained on Friday provincial court prosecutor, Hieng Sopheak summoned secretary of state Chan Savuth to appear before the court on September 12 at 9am.

Last week the court also questioned Lor Reaksmey, undersecretary of state with the Agriculture Ministry in relation to the Pacific Grand Joint-Stock Company Limited with suspicions of logging beyond its allowed areas.

Pacific Grand is owned by Vietnamese national Pham Quoc Long, who serves as the company’s director. The company received an ELC in Mondulkiri’s Koh Nhek district in 2011 for a rubber plantation.

Mr Pham is set to appear before the court’s prosecutor today to answer questions regarding links to illegal logging.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50638813/c ... on-of-elc/

September 13, 2019
Official briefs court on ELCs over logging
A senior Agriculture Ministry official on Tuesday appeared at Mondulkiri Provincial Court to clarify how companies, including a Vietnamese firm under investigation over illegal logging, are granted Economic Land Concessions.

Mam Vanda, provincial court spokesman, yesterday said that Chan Savuth, a ministry secretary of state, provided information about concessions granted to several companies, especially Pacific Grand Joint-Stock Company Limited, which obtained nearly 10,000 hectares of land.

He noted that the court prosecutor is in the process of collecting evidence related to an investigation into alleged illegal logging activities by Pacific Grand in the province.

Last month, the court also questioned Lor Reaksmey, a ministry undersecretary of state, in relation to investigations into allegations that Pacific Grand was carrying out logging in protected forests beyond its concession areas.

The company is owned by Vietnamese national Pham Quoc Long, who is due to be questioned by the court today. Pacific Grand received an ELC in Mondulkiri’s Koh Nhek district in 2011 for a rubber plantation.
Full article: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50642910/o ... r-logging/

September 19, 2019
Arrest warrants issued against three timber tycoons
Mondulkiri Provincial Court has issued warrants of arrest against three well-known tycoons who failed to appear for questioning over suspected large-scale illegal logging operations.

Court spokesman Mam Vanda yesterday said the warrants were issued recently against Srun Mengleang, owner of Srun Mengleang Company; Top Virda, owner of Vichery Company and Von Bunthai, a timber trader, who failed to appear for questioning before August 31.

The court action follows the arrest and charge of well-known timber tycoon Soeng Sam Ol and his managers in Mondulkiri province over four counts of timber crimes, as well as the arrest of tycoon Kong Kroeng and his son-in-law for allegedly plundering forests.

“We ordered them to appear for questioning but they failed to turn up,” he added. “So, we decided to send the case to the investigating judge for further action.”

According to court documents, the three tycoons are accused of “collecting, transporting and stockpiling forestry products without permits from the Forestry Administration”.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50644486/a ... r-tycoons/

The landscape is changing.
For sure - not just for show this time.

Mondulkiri officials to fight logging
18 November 2019 | 22:45 ICT
The Ministry of Agriculture has established a Mondulkiri provincial sub-committee to prevent, reduce and crack down on forest land grabs, clearing and encroachment.

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a press release that the provincial sub-committee is chaired by Mondulkiri provincial governor Svay Sam Eang while provincial Department of Agriculture director Song Kheang takes on the role of operations secretary.

The working group will carry out major roles, such as searching for masterminds and ringleaders behind illegal grabbing, razing, clearing and encroachment on forest land. This also includes issuing warrants to seize property that was wrongfully seized as state property.

The press release said: “Members of this provincial sub-committee must be responsible in their respective framework and attend meetings at the request of the chair.

“This sub-committee has a secretariat as its aide at the provincial Department of Agriculture and has the right to use the stamp of the provincial administration to carry out its tasks.”

Mondulkiri Provincial Hall spokesman Sok Sera told The Post on Monday that the creation of the sub-committee is to prevent officers from diverting responsibility to each other and to create a joint force to stop the illegal grabbing of forest land.

He claimed that the sub-committee’s working group will take immediate action to prevent forest land grabbing. There will also be a review of private property that was seized to become state land in the past. He said: “We will review cases based on the circumstances surrounding the land, their legality and if there is any irregularity, we will seize it to be state property.”

In July, Sam Eang issued an order to seize 1,754ha of land as state property from Seng Sovannara who was then an undersecretary of state of the Ministry of Justice.

Villagers also accused him of issuing a letter to possess community land and wildlife sanctuaries in Koh Nhek and O’raing districts in Mondulkiri province.
Full article: https://phnompenhpost.com/national/mond ... ht-logging

Surprise! Forest crime occurs anarchically in Oreang and Keo Seima districts in Mondulkiri*
*Original headline

Cambodia News, Mondulkiri: On August 4, 2020, the joint police found many wooden rafts parked on the bank of a stream close to Vietnamese territory border post No. 61, in the village of O'Am, Sre Khtom commune, in Keo Seima district. According to the source, the wooden rafts were dragged from Oreang district to Keo Seima district to be sold to traders from Vietnam.

According to the authorities, the rafts were stuck in the stream because there is not yet enough rain to make them float, so that traders could take the timber to their destination smoothly. Local authorities in Keo Seima district requested Mr. Svay Sam Eang, Governor of Mondulkiri Province to cooperate with relevant officials and relevant authorities to handle the procedure.


According to some sources, the trees were cut down and dragged out of the O'Hoch area, which is under the control of the 621st Border Guard Battalion and the 2nd Squadron (C2) of the 2nd Battalion. According to the source, the timber belongs to a military officer in the 2nd Squadron (C2), who is the mastermind of the logging in O'Hoch area and was systematically transporting the illegal wood by raft to be sold to Vietnamese traders.
Therefore, the media hopes that under the order of Mr. Svay Sam Eang, Governor of Mondulkiri Province, relevant officials and relevant authorities can definitely identify the perpetrators of these forest crimes so they will answer before the law.
- Arey News

UPDATE
Those who have been following this thread might recognize some of the names below. Note that no legal action will be taken against the officials involved, but they will be demoted/promoted by the PM.

Mondulkiri District Governor Transferred Over Illegal Land Grabbing
2 min read
Khut Sokun
Wed Sep 30, 2020 6:02 pm

The first of 10 Mondulkiri public officials implicated in illegal land grabbing in the province has been transferred from his position — a warning to others, according to a government spokesperson, but for local rights monitors a sign of continuing impunity over imprisonable crimes.

An inter-ministerial working group concluded an investigation into illegal encroachment of protected forests in Mondulkiri in late August, identifying 10 governmental officials allegedly involved in stealing state land.

In a letter dated August 30, Interior Minister Sar Kheng asked Prime Minister HE to reshuffle the responsibilities of provincial governor Svay Sam Eang and remove the nine other officials — one senator plus eight local-level officials — from their positions.

According to a September 15 subdecree obtained on Tuesday, HE in response transferred Koh Nhek district governor Sin Vannvuth to the Interior Ministry.
[...]

Aside from provincial governor Sam Eang and Koh Nhek district governor Vannvuth, the Interior Ministry letter to HE also identified the following officials as complicit:

Senator Nory Srun.
Provincial military commander Than Bunthoeun.
Provincial administration deputy chief Sok Sera.
O’Raing district governor Siek Mony.
716 Road Construction Unit deputy commander Det Hean.
Keo Seima district’s Sre Preah commune chief Poeub Pe.
The same district’s Sre Khtum commune chief Buth Sam El.
Sen Monorom city’s Sen Monorom commune chief Thvan Trel.

Mondulkiri’s largest wildlife sanctuaries include Srepok, Keo Seima and Phnom Prich, which cover around 900,000 hectares combined. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, Keo Seima sanctuary has the highest number of recorded species of any protected area in the country.
https://vodenglish.news/mondulkiri-dist ... -grabbing/

Mondulkiri: Despite what is suggested in the article above, it appears that the Governor of Mondulkiri Province, HE Svay Sam Eang, is still in place and hard at work, because on 30 September 2020, HE is shown and mentioned in an article from CEN, on an inspection tour to suppress forest crime such as land-grabbing and illegal logging at Phnom Kbal Khmoch in Dak Dam, Oreang District, Mondulkiri.

The Governor of Mondulkiri Province, His Excellency Svay Sam Eang, is accompanied by His Excellency General Hou Sakun, Deputy Commissioner of the National Police, His Excellency General Ek Hong Vinol, Deputy Commander of the National Gendarmerie, the three Royal Armed Forces and specialized units to check the location Phnom Kbal Khmoch in order to suppress the crime of people encroaching on protected forest land.

https://www.cen.com.kh/archives/249268.html/