National Petroleum Authority to Change Hands
The Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA), formerly overseen by the Council of Ministers, will be integrated into the Ministry of Mines and Energy, according to senior CPP officials, the latest cut to the vast portfolio of government bodies controlled by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. Since July’s national election, Mr. An has seen no fewer than 13 state bodies shifted from the purview of the Council of Ministers to relevant ministries in what the government says is an effort to decentralize power within the administration of Prime Minister Hun Sen. … Mr. Yeap confirmed Friday, following a meeting at the National Assembly, that the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy would be divided into two ministries—the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts. The government is yet to decide which ministry would be headed by Cham Prasidh, the former commerce minister, who was named minister of industry, mines and energy in September. … The CNPA has failed to meet its own target of extracting oil by the end of 2012, and has been widely criticized for the lack of transparency in its management. In 2011, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported that the body failed to cooperate with ADB consultants as part of a $1 million project aimed at strengthening governance at the body. … In 2009, London-based environmental watchdog Global Witness said that Te Duong Dara, the former director-general of the CNPA, who now owns a strawberry plantation in Mondolkiri, had maintained a “vice-like grip on information” at the CNPA, and had recruited “his own pool of loyal staff from other ministries, bypassing the trained staff within the CNPA.”
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/national-petroleum-authority-to-change-hands-46796/
