Logging up after poll, NGOs claim
At least a dozen companies including some of Cambodia’s most prominent developers have been illegally logging and transporting rosewood since the election without any action from authorities, a pair of local NGOs alleged.
In a report released yesterday, the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community and the Cambodian Youth Network said local activists had recorded illegal deforestation in Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu, Kampong Thom, Koh Kong, Kratie, Preah Vihear, Ratanakkiri and Stung Treng provinces.
“We are concerned that the forest will completely disappear in the near future, and this type of rosewood will be completely extinct due to the government’s neglect, as it is busy with the political deadlock,” the statement says. …
Illegal deforestation and transport has seen a marked increase since the campaign period, CCFC coordinator Theng Savoeun said. “The government has to urge its officials … to not collaborate with businesspeople for their own benefit. They have to arrest those traders and jail them,” he said. …
The embattled Timber Green logging firm in Koh Kong, which was being investigated by conservationist Chut Wutty when he was shot dead last year, is also listed among the companies illegally logging. In the report, the groups claim the company continues to illegally log outside the Stung Tatai dam catchment area, for which it held a clearing licence. …
Kratie Provincial Governor Sar Chamrong denied the allegations, saying most NGO reports simply reverse the truth. …
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/logging-after-poll-ngos-claim
