Hor Namhong’s Son denies nepotism or abuse of power
The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) released a statement Tuesday in which Hor Sothoun, the eldest son of Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong, defended himself against complaints of nepotism, abuse of power and mishandling of overtime bonuses in his position as permanent secretary-general in his father’s ministry. The statement, printed on ACU letterhead, does not include the specific complaints against Mr. Sothoun or clarify whether or not an investigation into the senior Foreign Affairs Ministry secretary is underway. Instead, it provides a lengthy summary of Mr. Sothoun’s defense. “Domestic and foreign appointments and promotions in rank have been implemented with principle and following procedure with fairness and transparency based on a number of conditions such as qualification, knowledge, professionalism, foreign language proficiency, seniority, responsibility and punctuality,” Mr. Sothoun said, according to the ACU statement. ... Pech Siyun, provincial director of the department of mines and energy, along with other officials in his office, was accused of selling multiple plots of land belonging to the department, skimming salaries of his staff and taking bribes from sand-dredging companies in the province. The accusations were in a complaint filed with the ACU in April 2013 by local residents and department staff. “Pech Siyun and a number of civil servants at the Koh Kong provincial department of industry, mines and energy, clarified that [they] did not collude together to embezzle money from the sale of [land belonging to] the provincial department,” says the statement, signed by Mr. Yentieng. ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hor-namhongs-son-denies-nepotism-or-abuse-of-power-54451/
