Ministry of Environment left out of Stung Treng land deals

Ministry of Environment left out of Stung Treng land deals

By Sam Rith

The Prime Minister has signed off on two new economic land concessions
in Stung Treng and the Ministry of Environment has been kept in the
dark about the deal.

The two new concessions cover a total of 19,917 hectares in Kom Phun
and Kbal Romeas communes, Sesan district, about 22 kms from Stung Treng
town, according to documents obtained by the Post.

A 9,917-hectare concession was granted to Sal Sophea Peanich Co. Ltd
and a 10,000-hectare plot to Sopheak Nika Investment Agro-Industrial
Plants Co. Ltd, according to the documents and confirmed by provincial
officials.

The plots have been set aside for growing acacia trees, although no
environmental or social impact assessments have been conducted.

Both companies are believed to be owned by oknha Na Marady.

Sal Sophea, owner of Sal Sophea Peanich and son-in-law of Marady, told
the Post by phone September 15 that he did not know exactly where his
new land concession was located or what he was going to plant because
the investment was Marady's idea.

Sophea said his company was only established in March and had never
conducted any business.

A man who identified himself as Sopheak's driver answered the phone
number listed for Sopheak Nika Investment Agro-Industrial Plants on
September 16 and confirmed that the company belongs to Marady. In
earlier phone calls, a man named Sopheak answered but said he was not
the owner of the company and had to speak with his boss before talking
to media.

On July 25, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF),
Chan Sarun, wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen, asking for permission to
award the concessions.

The next day, the PM signed two letters giving Sarun the green light to
award the land to the companies and Sarun confirmed that official
approval was communicated to the companies August 8.

Mok Mareth, Minister of the Environment, said he had not received any
information about offering new concessions in Stung Treng and warned of
the dangers of inappropriate agriculture.

"Planting too many acacia trees causes increasing loses of the
underground water source and other environmental impacts," Mareth said.


"They have not given me the documents in order for me to go and check
[the concession]," he said. "By the environmental law, they must inform
us in order for us to do an environmental social impact assessment [on
the land concession] with participation from other ministries and
related NGOs."

Chan Sarun, confirmed September 15 that his ministry offered more than
8,000 hectares in land concessions to the two local companies and he
said the terrain was not very fertile and covered only with
undergrowth.

However, an official at the Stung Treng provincial environment
department said in condition of anonymity that the area was covered
with jungle including tall trees and wild animals such as elephants and
tigers. The official also noted that some of the land was occupied by
villagers who had planted rice fields.

A study conducted in 2000 by the Stung Treng forestry office of MAFF
reported that between 94 and 96 percent of land in the province was
covered by jungle of very tall trees and a secondary canopy, said Tep
Bunnarith, director of the Culture and Environment Preservation
Association (CEPA), which works on Se San river issues.

"If the land concessions are really on 'uneconomic land', why offer
concessions in Stung Treng and not in Prey Veng or Svay Rieng?" said
Bunnarith, referring to provinces without major jungle.

"We were surprised to hear that the development was not known about by
the public [and] even related organizations did not know about it. They
[MAFF] did not respect EIA [environmental impact assessment]," he said.


Chan Sarun told the Post September 15 that he would ask the Ministry of
Environment and related organizations to do an EIA when the two
companies started operating.

The new concessions in Stung Treng come as a list of economic land
concessions issued by MAFF an embassy was leaked to press.

It lists two other concessions in Stung Treng, a 7,400-hectare teak
tree plantation awarded to "company of Cassava powder production" and a
5,000-hectare plot granted in May to GG World Group (Cambodia)
Development Ltd, also for teak.

While the GG World concession is listed as "boundary defined and being
process of planting [sic]", Bunnarith said there was little activity on
the site.

However, he called on the government to investigate the other company,
known locally as the Flour Manufacturing Co. A provincial official said
the company had mostly cut trees in and nearby the land concession
located on the Cambodian-Laos border.



Phnom Penh Post, Issue 14/19, September 23 - October 6, 2005
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