“People who use
this data [UN Comtrade] seem unprofessional to me.”
Ministry of Mines and Energy
(MME) Acting Minister Tina Dith, 28 September 2016, The Phnom Penh Post
“A user has to
be aware of its copyright disclaimer which states that the data is provided for
internal use only and may not be re-disseminated in any form without the
written permission of the United Nations Statistics Division. I believe there
must be a reason to set such a policy and copyright…and I took care to not
infringe on this copyright by re-disseminating any figures.”
MME Acting Minister Tina Dith,
28 September 2016, Khmer Times
“Your source of information [UN Comtrade], I do not trust
it.”
Ministry of Commerce (MC)
spokesman Soeng Sophary, 27 September 2016, The Phnom Penh Post
I believe in the "presumption d'innocence"
until someone is proven guilty. I sound silly but with suspicion around, no one
can work as a team.
MME Acting Minister Tina Dith,
28 September 2016, Campro (an informal network of Cambodian professionals and
intellectuals)
“Any
competent authorithy want to check the previous export docs, it's always there
for record [sic].”
MME Acting Minister Tina Dith, 4
October 2016, Campro
“I am not aware
of any [corruption in sand dredging export]. We are all working hard to fight
illegal mining, to harmonize the social cohesion between communities and mine
concessionaires, to efficiently collect royalties, and develop our mining
resources.”
MME Acting Minister Tina Dith, 28 September 2016, Khmer Times
So what is the CPP government up
to with sand exports? Nothing really.
According to UN Comtrade, Cambodia
exports 17.07m tonnes of sand to Singapore between 2007 and 2015. In the
recipient ledger, however, the total shipment records more than 26 times to 72.70m tonnes. Suddenly, there is a whopping $747m variance that may or may not need
investigating.
One strategy to denounce
anything is to demolish the data credibility. Tina Dith argues the UN Comtrade
numbers are unreliable and misleading, best suited only for unprofessional or
politically motivated motives. He points to a general UN disclaimer, statement
of limitations, and copyright issues. But they all are applicable to other UN
publications. This could mean much UN information is not credible. The MC’s Soeng
Sophary simply dismisses the UN Camtrade data all together.
Nevertheless, those unreliable
UN Comtrade data must come from somewhere. Usually, they come from UN member
governments who are obliged to supply them to international agencies, like UN,
ADB, World Bank, IMF, etc… In this case, Soeng Sophary, who distrusts the UN
Comtrade data, later produces MC documents that show its weights and dollar
values are similar to the UN Comtrade data. Now the MC would appear to reject
its own handiwork.
Another strategy is to argue a
variance is typical. Tina Dith is right when pointing out variances between
exporting numbers and recipient numbers within the UN Camtrade data base are
normal. This is due to a number of factors including usual time lag between
shipments leaving an exporting port and their arrival at the recipient port,
unless they adopt an accrual accounting system. However, the variances at any
cut-off point for any period are relatively immaterial, and can be easily
reconciled in both the exporting and importing ledgers. But the variance of
concern here is the jumbo $747m.
Still, Tina Dith demands the
principle of presumed innocence before proven guilty from those who jump onto
corruption. This principle would work if there were an investigation. But there
is none.
The elephant of $747m in the
room is irrelevant. Anti-corruption head Om Yentieng will not investigate
unless there is a complaint. Taxation department’s Holl Thirith declines to
comment on taxes collected from sand-dredging companies that are required to
pay a 20 percent profit tax. MME minister Suy Sem early this year claims documentations
on sand exports are securely kept with full accountability – without producing
any documents. Tina Dith assures only competent authorities have access to
them, pushing others into justifiable speculations. He also says the MME’s
priority lies elsewhere, not the missing millions; it seems more beneficial to
secure the stable door after the horse has bolted. Perhaps, a decisive factor
for ignoring the elephant is that two of Hun Sen’s daughters are also involved
in sand-dredging business, which is cited in the MC company register webpage
before being removed in response to a Global Witness report on Hun family’s
business empire.
It is the jumbo elephant of
$747m in the room, buried in the sand.
Ung Bun Ang
04x16
By The Way
“[Choup Samlap] did not confess and was stubborn,
because, from what I understand, our law cannot do anything to him unless we do
it in a peaceful way [sic]. What I understand is, if we call in Comrade Duch,
he would make a confession.”
Ministry of Interior spokesman
Khieu Sopheak, 12 August 2016, The Phnom Penh Post
Is suspect Choup Samlap is
really tough, or the authority is really weak? Or are they simply in the same boat
with a mastermind?
The mastermind must be
frustrated that the murder of Kem Ley was not cleanly executed, leaving Choup
Samlap to remain a pain in the butt. When a crowd was chasing the suspect and
arrested him, they had no idea what he had done. Had the mastermind planted a
message in the crowd that he had just shot dead Kem Ley, the mob would have
killed the suspect there and then. There would be no pressure on the authority
or the mastermind to think of Comrade Duch, and to go through a whole charade
of investigation and prosecution.
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