Commission

As a historically significant year for female sporting success in Cambodia rolls over, headlined by Sorn Seavmey’s Incheon Asian Games taekwondo gold medal in October, the Kingdom begins the New Year with a bold initiative to give greater visibility to women and sport issues. The National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, in conjunction with the country’s Women and Sports Commission, will be laying out the red carpet for delegates and field experts from the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia attending a four-day women and sport seminar for Asia at Siem Reap’s Sokhalay Angkor Resort and Spa from January 8 to 11. The opening day’s plenary session offers presentations from Cambodia, Indonesia, South Korea, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Pakistan on their national initiatives. Over the next three days, discussions and training sessions will touch on wide-ranging issues including leadership qualities, communication and networking skills, coaching and mentoring and strategic proactive steps to ensure equitable representation of women in Southeast Asia. On the sidelines of the seminar, the participants will be entertained by a welcome dinner hosted by NOCC president and Tourism Minister Thong Khon on January 8 as well as a tour of the Angkor temple complex. “The four-day seminar is a great step forward for Cambodia as we strive ever harder to support the government’s firm policy of gender equality. An overwhelming consensus has now emerged that we need to create more opportunities for women,” NOCC secretary general Vath Chamroeun told the Post yesterday.

Team of three picked

Tennis Cambodia has picked a three-member team comprising Sen Sophon, Khlang Punlok and Leng Sarinreach for the International Tennis Federation Asia 14 and Under Development Championships (Division 2) to be held at Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Tho and Kya Hoa Tennis Clubs from January 18 to 29. The Championships, organised by the ITF and the Asian Tennis Federation is supported by the Grand Slam Development Fund and serves as a launching pad for the region’s emerging talent. A one-day training camp being directed by an ITF representative with the help of visiting coaches will be organised prior to two tournaments back to back.The main purpose of the camp is to allow players to adjust to the new conditions and help in deciding the seedings. The 14 countries taking part in the event are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The Championships involve singles and doubles events for both boys and girls. The singles will be a maximum 32 draw, if possible, with eight seeded players each receiving a bye into the second round. The event will be conducted on a feed-in consolation basis whereby each player will play a singles match each day resulting in a ranking of all the participants from one to 32. Based on the performances at this event, selected players will be invited to represent an ITF team at the Division 1 championships slated for March. One of the members of the national team since 2012 and Tennis Cambodia’s Head of Junior Development Phalkun Mam will accompany the team as its coach on his first major assignment. ‘I am keenly looking forward to this trip. I hope our players make the best of this chance to compete with quality players,’’ Phalkun Mam said yesterday.

Former allies battle

Fighting broke out in the capital’s Phnom Penh Thmey commune yesterday as evictees from a formerly united community were blocked from reclaiming their land by the very woman who once represented them. Dozens of villagers, representing 163 families who were forcibly evicted from the area in 2005, descended on the site of their former homes yesterday morning, armed with tools and pieces of wood, ready to rebuild their lives. “We will return to live on our land,” they announced in a letter sent earlier this week to Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatevong. But hopes of a triumphant return were soon destroyed, as their former representative, 56-year-old Chea Sarom, blocked their attempts to build. Sarom, who represented the evictees in their dispute with businesswoman Keo Neam, led them to victory in 2011, when the Supreme Court ruled that they owned the land. But the families say that Sarom has since proved a turncoat, and prevented them from returning. Evictees accuse their former representative of putting false names on official documents so that she could claim ownership of the entire plot Current representative Preoung Socheat told the Post yesterday that all 163 families had been left off of the land documents submitted to the court. “Chea Sarom had been our representative, but when the court awarded us the land, she claimed to own it. She falsified the names of 163 families,” Socheat said. Villagers yesterday faced off with their former comrade, who was flanked by a small group of people she said were the real evictees, but who villagers’ claimed were members of her family and hired thugs.

The place no airline

TURKISH Airlines, the last remaining foreign carrier offering flights to Libya, said it is suspending all flights to the conflict-wracked country amid the worsening security situation. The Turkish flag-carrier said that it had suspended flights to Misrata, its only remaining destination in the country after it had earlier pulled its flights to the capital Tripoli as well as Benghazi and the inland desert city of Sebha. “We have suspended our Misrata flights until further notice, due to operational issues,” a company spokesman told AFP. “Turkish Airlines is not operating any scheduled flights to Libya at the moment.” The country has descended into chaos since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. It has rival governments and parliaments and is awash with arms and militias. Libya’s internationally recognised government said Monday that its aircraft bombed an oil tanker off the Islamist-held port of Derna, killing two crewmen, one of them Greek, and drawing condemnation from Athens.

Owners of surviving dogs

DOG owners of the surviving animals from the fire that tore through a South Australian kennel on Saturday morning have nothing but gratitude for all involved. Trash Chess; two dogs, Winston and Monty, the greyhound and whippet were saved after the fire went through the boarding kennels. “They have lost some weight but will gain it again quickly” Ms Chess said. The kennel was lost to the fires that engulfed Inglewood over the weekend. More than 40 dogs and cats perished but fire fighters and volunteers were able to save 45, giving mouth to mouth to save one pup. Polly is one of the saved pups. Her owners Susie and Mark Laurence are feeling more than lucky. “We feel so relieved and very lucky to have Polly back at home. Considering what she’s been through, she is doing really well,” Ms Laurence said. Of course, our thoughts are very much with the other owners who lost their beloved pets in the fire and Paul and Elizabeth from Tea Tree Gully Kennels,” she said. She said her and her and Mark were forever grateful to the CFS staff and volunteers who rescued the dogs as well as all of the staff at Vets4Pets “who took such good care of Polly over the weekend”.

Tensions up in Phnom

Siem Reap authorities and migrants are negotiating for the release of two villagers who were arrested on Monday, after nearly 300 people yesterday protested the recent demolition of their shelters, which were illegally built at the foot of the province’s Phnom Kulen National Park. The villagers, some of them wielding knives and bottles, blocked the entrance of the road leading to the protected area at Banteay Srey district’s Tbeng commune and demanded the release of the two detained men, named Tang La and Chhun Nath, according to Siem Reap’s Forest Administration Department chief Tea Kim Soth. “They are not villagers. They are illegally living there,” Kim Soth said. “We were supposed to be arresting the ringleaders, but the two residents looked violent, as they held bottles and knives.” From Sunday to Monday, police and forestry officials razed 200 huts illegally built by the villagers at the mountain, saying they are prohibited to take shelter in the conservation area. The villagers, Kim Soth added, have also been logging the protected forest. The Siem Reap Provincial Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of four “ringleaders” who allegedly persuaded the migrants to leave their respective provinces and log at Phnom Kulen. Police continue to search for the men. “We are poor and we only need the shelter to live in,” said villager Chhit Sambo. “We did not want to block the road to the mountain but we need authorities to release the other villagers.”

Former allies battle in Phnom Penh

Fighting broke out in the capital’s Phnom Penh Thmey commune yesterday as evictees from a formerly united community were blocked from reclaiming their land by the very woman who once represented them. Dozens of villagers, representing 163 families who were forcibly evicted from the area in 2005, descended on the site of their former homes yesterday morning, armed with tools and pieces of wood, ready to rebuild their lives. “We will return to live on our land,” they announced in a letter sent earlier this week to Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatevong. But hopes of a triumphant return were soon destroyed, as their former representative, 56-year-old Chea Sarom, blocked their attempts to build. Sarom, who represented the evictees in their dispute with businesswoman Keo Neam, led them to victory in 2011, when the Supreme Court ruled that they owned the land. But the families say that Sarom has since proved a turncoat, and prevented them from returning. Evictees accuse their former representative of putting false names on official documents so that she could claim ownership of the entire plot Current representative Preoung Socheat told the Post yesterday that all 163 families had been left off of the land documents submitted to the court. “Chea Sarom had been our representative, but when the court awarded us the land, she claimed to own it. She falsified the names of 163 families,” Socheat said. Villagers yesterday faced off with their former comrade, who was flanked by a small group of people she said were the real evictees, but who villagers’ claimed were members of her family and hired thugs.

Drunken driving at night

National Police are citing drunken drivers en route from nightclubs as responsible for the rise in road accidents last year. An estimated 80 per cent of 2014’s more than 4,800 traffic accidents occurred after midnight and involved drunken drivers, and often those leaving from entertainment clubs, according to National Police Chief Neth Savoeun. “So we must take necessary measures and strategies to prevent accidents at nighttime,” he said, urging traffic police nationwide to take action, including tightening controls on speeding, increasing the monitoring of drunk driving and improving traffic law enforcement. According to the most recently available, but not yet final, government figures, there were 4,840 accidents last year, killing 2,148 people and injuring 8,047. More than 80 per cent of the fatal accidents involved motorcycles. Last year’s accident tally, which may not yet include all the figures, represents another bump in the trend of growing accident rates. In 2013, there were 4,322 accidents which claimed 1,901 lives and injured 7,208 people. To address the growing number of accidents, last month, lawmakers passed a landmark traffic bill that road safety proponents hope will cut the number of road fatalities. By 2020, the government wants road deaths to decrease by 50 per cent. The new law requires passengers on motorbikes to wear helmets and limits the number of riders to one adult and one child. It also raises fines for drunken driving up to $1,000. “Through the new law enforcement, the authorities expect they will reduce 10 per cent of the annual fatalities,” said Him Yan, deputy police chief in charge of public order. But law enforcement can’t single-handedly resolve the nation’s continually escalating accident rates, an expert said.

Minister says 23

The government revoked 23 economic land concessions covering an area almost the size of Hong Kong last year after the concession-holders failed to develop the land, Minister of Environment Say Sam Al said yesterday. The ministry reviewed 113 economic land concessions (ELCs) in 2014, he said during a press conference, and found grounds for cancelling 23 concessions adding up to more than 90,000 hectares of land. Of the ELCs cancelled last year, two belonged to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s adviser and notorious logging tycoon Try Pheap, with one in Ratanakkiri province’s Virachey National Park and another in Thmor Da district in Pursat province. Four other firms had their concessions put under government supervision for between six months and one year. “For me, cleaning up the ELCs provides a welcoming environment for investors, so they understand that the land we have [for lease] does not affect the people,” Sam Al said. “We have also examined the legal aspects in terms of both the ministry’s and investors’ obligations. We have looked at them comprehensively before seizure.” The seized land was taken from companies that said they were investing in agriculture, eco-tourism, special economic zones and conservation in 12 provinces, largely in Cambodia’s south, north and east. “We took the land back so it is under the control of the Ministry of Environment; this was the key goal that the ministry achieved in 2014,” he added. Despite Sam Al heralding the scheme as a breakthrough in pro-poor land policy in Cambodia, land dispute victims and campaigners said the measures were too little, too late.