“In the past, it was my fault.”
CPP Premier Hun Sen, 23 August
2016, Khmer Times
“He [Hun Sen] blamed the lack of on-the-ground
enforcement of environmental law on bickering agencies. He blamed the slow pace
of land reform on the collectivization policies of Pol Pot, who was thrown out
of power more than three decades ago. And he blamed the myriad land disputes
triggered by government-approved agribusiness plantations on the failure of local
officials to practice his vaunted “tiger skin” policy, whereby pre-existing
communities inside the plantations are allowed to keep their land.”
Cambodia Daily reporter Khuon
Narim, “At Environmental Forum, Hun Sen Spreads the Blame”, 23 August 2016, The
Cambodia Daily
“Previously, they logged right in front of governors, but
the governors said they had no right to do anything because it was for the
Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture to handle. That is why we
cannot protect the forest.”
CPP Premier Hun Sen, 23 August
2016, Khmer Times
“The recommendation I gave to fully implement the tiger
skin [with economic land concessions] was not followed, so the land disputes
happened and forests were destroyed.”
CPP Premier Hun Sen, 23 August
2016, The Cambodia Daily
«ក្រសួងទាំង៦
ដែលពាក់ព័ន្ធនឹងព្រៃឈើ ឥឡូវព្រៃឈើ តាមដឹង វានៅតែបំផ្លាញ
បើទោះបីជាឯកឧត្តម សៅ សុខា ឧទ្ធម្ភាគចក្រពីរគ្រឿងទៅហើយក្តី វានៅតែលួចកាប់។»
នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី
ហ៊ុន សែន ថ្ងៃទី២២ ខែសីហា
ឆ្នាំ២០១៦ វិទ្យុអាស៊ីសេរី
“What you [Thy Sovantha] have raised about officials [taking
money and letting offenders go free] is true.”
CPP Premier Hun Sen, 23 August
2016, The Cambodia Daily
“Why do politicians do that [touring provinces]?
Honestly, they do it for votes. When I went to visit the grassroots some people
said that I just did it for votes. Of course, I would like to declare that I
went to find votes.”
CPP Premier Hun Sen, 23 August
2016, Khmer Times
Some intellectuals who blame the opposition for the culture
of dead dialogue between the two major parties hail the 22 August Forum on
Protection and Conservation of Natural Resources. Their excitement is that the
Forum includes all except opposition politicians whom they say are
troublemakers. Their monomania is that Hun Sen is the only saviour or problem-solver,
without realising that the man may be the problem.
However, the question is: will the Forum produce the
desired protection and conservation? Unlikely.
First, the five-hour Forum fails to allow a sufficient interactive
exchange of ideas. “Forum” is usually defined as an assembly for an open
discussion of subjects, not a soliloquy. It is hardly a discussion when Hun Sen
mostly monopolises the microphone, digressing into politics and berating his
political opponents for issues outside the agenda.
Second, the premier demonstrates how little he
understands why he fails. Though Hun Sen admits it is his fault that the
natural resources have been destroyed, he goes on to deflect blames onto
others, including Pol Pot who would turn over in his grave if he heard Hun Sen
implicating him for the destructions. Back to the living, Hun Sen implies
provincial governors and ministers do not know their roles and
responsibilities. He describes the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and
Fisheries as having “one head and three tails”, which resembles the beast his
regime has recently been compared to. The admission of fault is not sincere,
and the excuses are irresponsible.
Third, his prime-ministerial authority has been undermined;
his initiatives to combat the forest destructions flop. His orders and recommendations
are largely ignored. General Sao Sokha, to whom Hun Sen has given two
helicopters, machine guns, and a direct order to shoot illegal loggers, has taken
numerous helicopter rides, but not fired a single round. Hun Sen’s “tiger skin”
recommendation to avoid land disputes is overlooked. He says illegal loggings
and land disputes are continuing unabated.
Hun Sen seems to have learnt very little from his
experience. At the Forum he briefly acknowledges corruption issue, and swiftly
moves away from it, though many believe it is a major root of his failure. The
dilemma is that Hun Sen, his family, and personal interest groups have
benefited from the corruption in the environmental destructions, and he relies
on them to sustain his position to the extent that he must turn a blind eye. If
he declared his family’s income and assets, he would go a long way to arrest many
problems.
Hence, the Forum becomes just another audience with the
premier in which he amenably grants various requests. This is awfully similar
to the manner Hun Sen gives away grants by the seat of his pants during his
recent provincial tours. Incidentally, he sounds upbeat when confirming at the
Forum that the tours are his political opportunities to ask for votes.
Only naïve intellectuals would fail to see the politics
of Hun Sen hunting for votes in the Forum jungle, long before the hunting
season legally opens.
Ung Bun Ang
26viii16
By The Way
Another non-environment initiative at the Forum Hun Sen
says he is taking is to build communities along the border. He has rejected
this idea for nearly 20 years when General Ke Kim Yan requested the border
development in 1999.
Why does he change his mind, though only the dead don’t?
Does he really mean it, or is it just a political campaign to gain votes in the
commune elections next year and the national elections the year after?
Perhaps, any answer may be irrelevant, as many will now
have another excuse to wait and see if Hun Sen this time keeps his words. The
wait will take the pressure off Hun Sen whose track record of doing anything to
interrupt the power and wealth accumulation for himself, his family, and
personal interest groups is not so hot.
An excerpt from a report on border situations by the then RCAF
Commander General Ke Kim Yan, 12 August 1999. It lists three out of ten
requests in the report. (Full report is available on request.)
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