Stung Treng villagers caught in forestry racket
SIEM PANG DISTRICT, Stung Treng province – For the elite few granted the right to level swathes of woodland in the north of this remote province, the timber trade is worth a fortune. For the Forestry Administration—the government body charged with policing logging—business is also booming. While commercial timber magnates such as Try Pheap chop down Cambodia’s forests at an alarming rate, local authorities here are profiting from the extortion of small-time loggers who have long relied on the forests to survive. According to villagers in Siem Pang district, Forestry Administration officials are making a cottage industry out of arbitrarily confiscating timber from local residents and seizing their machinery, holding it for ransom until the poor farmers can muster the cash to buy it back. ... Nan Nang, a 33-year-old farmer from Sre Sambor commune, was at the Siem Pang Forestry Administration office on Wednesday to pay $600 to officials to release his tractor, which was confiscated in January. “The Forestry Administration and military police arrested me for transporting three pieces of wood and they took my tractor,” said Mr. Nang. “I wanted to use that wood to build a bed and a door for my house.” ... Pen Sarath, Stung Treng’s provincial prosecutor, said that forestry matters are outside his jurisdiction. And while claiming no knowledge of specific disputes, Mr. Sarath said Forestry Administration officials had no authority to confiscate trucks or tractors. “According to Forestry Law, Forestry Administration officials can only confiscate the timber and fine the offender,” he said. “They have no right to confiscate the machinery.” ... A number of farmers said they work informally for the Try Pheap Import Export company, whose representatives occasionally visit villages and pay $50 to take away any Thnong logs the villagers have collected. In Stung Treng City, a cubic meter of Thnong can fetch up to $800. Try Pheap Import Export has the exclusive right to purchase all luxury timber cut in economic land concessions in Ratanakkiri province, and is reportedly negotiating a similar deal with the government in Stung Treng province. ...
Phann Ana and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/stung-treng-villagers-caught-in-forestry-racket-60017/
