Rubber Company Joins CPP Gift-Giving Ceremony in Ratanakkiri
Representatives of a Vietnamese rubber firm that has been accused of contributing to the illegal deforestation of vast tracts of land in northeast Cambodia joined local CPP-aligned government officials in Ratanakkiri province on Friday to hand out rice, salt and sugar to more than 400 families. Although an election monitor rebuked local authorities for wearing hats emblazoned with CPP logos at the ceremony, Min Srim, chief of Serei Mongkol commune in Kon Mom district, said the ceremony was not meant to garner support for the ruling party ahead of this month’s election. … Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), the company that made the donations was at the center of a report by U.K.-based environmental protection group Global Witness, showing that the company’s owner, Doan Nguyen Duc, is linked to numerous shell companies that together have been awarded some 180,000 hectares of economic land concessions in Cambodia. The report, released in May, suggests that numerous local laws have been violated by companies linked to HAGL, which has received investment from both the International Finance Corporation and Deutsche Bank. …
