Cambodia: ILLEGAL LOGGING BY CAMBODIA's ELITE (2of4) [EN&KH]

Activities in which members of this logging syndicate are implicated include the following:

• The apparent abduction and detention of Lia Chun Hua,14 the managing director of the Kingwood Industry logging company.

• Large-scale illegal logging in the Prey Long Forest carried out under the guise of the Tumring Rubber Plantation development.

• Felling of thousands of resin-producing trees tapped by local people who depended on them as a source of income. Resin trees are protected under Cambodian law.

• A reported attempt by Seng Kok Heang to kill two community forest activists in Tumring who protested against the Seng Keang Company's felling of resin trees.

• Use of fraudulent transportation permits describing logs as lesser-value firewood. This may have cost the Cambodian treasury over a million dollars in lost tax revenues.

• The export to China of millions of dollars-worth of plywood on which no taxes appear to have been paid.

• Establishment in Tumring of a factory for sawing wood and making veneer. Cambodia's Forest Law prohibits construction of wood-processing facilities in forest areas.

• This factory's processing of over 100,000 cubic metres (m3) of logs a year into timber products worth more than US$13 million annually. Most of the logs used were cut illegally in Prey Long.

• The above activities are covered by existing Cambodian law and are punishable by prison sentences and fines. Dy Chouch, Seng Keang, Khun Thong and Seng Kok Heang have not been prosecuted, however.

Senior officials are complicit in these activities:

• Prime Minister Hun Sen personally inaugurated the Tumring Rubber Plantation that provided the basis for massive illegal logging of Prey Long by the Seng Keang Company.

• Establishment of this plantation followed a survey of the Tumring site by MAFF, which is run by Chan Sarun. His brother-in-law, Khun Thong, is a leading figure in the Seng Keang Company. This MAFF survey misleadingly categorised the area as land containing only small amounts of valuable forest.

• Despite claiming a lack of valuable timber in the area, Chan Sarun awarded exclusive rights to Seng Keang Company to collect and process all wood cut in Tumring Rubber Plantation.

• Chan Sarun subsequently gave the company the permit to establish its wood-processing factory in Tumring, despite the fact that this was illegal.

• The FA, which is run by Khun Thong's sonin- law Ty Sokhun, has played a key role in facilitating Seng Keang Company's illegal logging and other criminal activities.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Seng
• Kok
• Heang
• Chan
• Sarun
• Hak
• Mao

[bongalex88]

It's painful to watch people cutting the tree......

[rjulisha1]

@greenblockhead



[greenblockhead]

@rjulisha1

The way humans on earth behave shows that there is no room for other life!

Men will not be able to understand why he should behave differently!

Men will eradicate most life on earth until he himself has to go, and then the earth will exist for many millions of years without this "intelligent" beast called human!

[rjulisha1]

@greenblockhead FYI, just because they are animal that doesn't mean their life is less valuable than you are. God create human and animal at the same time, what make you think your life is more worthy than them! I love trees, parrots and monkeys! we should treat all living thing equally!!!

[rjulisha1]

These Villager had depended this forest for many generation according to villager stated in this film. chopping the forest down...WHY?.. the company have no respect for nature, and all the living things (villager included). they claim they need the land to grow food? whatever! if Hun Sen stop being a sale-out and cater to Vietnam, than we wouldn't have to chop down our forest. The Veit just walk over and post mark and claim it's their land a bit at time. Hun sen people need protection (SELFISH)

[greenblockhead]

@kutubu1

Every people has the right to destroy their habitat!

Europeans have done it in the past! Many species have died out because the natural habitat had to change in order to feed the exploding population!

Cambodias population is also exploding therefore they must chopp down their rainforests and grow food! We need 10'000 inhabitants per quaremile- Everywhere! The more humans the better!

We need humans not trees or parots or monkeys!

[kutubu1]

compare this with the film `avatar` and see the greed of people

[Linkster2o]

By not harvesting in the United States, we are shifting logging to cambodia

[camae62]

The leader of this country is corrupted big time, they are pocketing from this destructions, the leader is to blame, the leader is the one who responsible, the leader who is turn on the green light for this to happen, we need the real inforce from the international community to help us save the preciase resourse before it too late in cambodia.

[angelchouk]

This is very sad for these original inhabitants. I'm very angry and disgusted that the leaders of the country allowed this to happen and nothing is done about it!!!