Friends in high places
A Chinese developer with a “family-like” relationship to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit has accelerated construction at its $5 billion resort – ostensibly cancelled by royal decree in 2010 – in a protected national park in Preah Sihanouk province. The 3,300-hectare Golden Silver Gulf resort in Preah Sihanouk’s Ream National Park was slated by Hun Sen to be “the second gold card for Cambodian tourism after Angkor Wat”, according to the concessionaire, Yeejia Development Co Ltd. The resort has support from the Chinese government, with China’s ambassador, Bu Jianguo, last year describing it as “heaven on earth”, and funding coming from a Chinese state-operated charitable foundation that has New Zealand’s ambassador to the US Mike Moore – a former prime minister and World Trade Organisation director general – listed as a consultant to its projects. …
Daniel Pye and May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/friends-high-places
