Polluting Chinese Casino in Cambodia Ordered Closed

[geovalin]

Officials in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville province have ordered a Chinese casino and hotel accused of ruining the beauty of a local beach by pouring raw sewage into the sea to close following complaints by area residents and inspections by authorities.

The Jin Ding Hotel and Casino, which registered to do business on Koh Rong Samloem Island in April 2018 and opened only recently, had become a major cause of concern for island residents, who feared damage to the environment and a drop in tourist business.

In a letter seen on Wednesday by RFA’s Khmer Service, provincial authorities said Jin Ding must now shut down, citing multiple violations by the casino of the law, the playing of loud music on the beach, and the promotion of illegal online betting games.

On one occasion, the casino’s security chief had also fired gunshots into the air, the letter ordering the casino’s closing said.

Speaking to RFA on March 13, Leang Sopheary--a youth volunteer who visited the island in February and posted photos of the polluted water on social media--called on authorities to examine larger areas of beachfront now also under threat.

“I want them to come here and prevent the draining of polluted water into the sea before it’s too late, so that the sea remains clean,” she said.

Other local businesses and entertainment centers should meanwhile be inspected for violations, environmental activist Thorn Ratha said, also speaking to RFA on Wednesday. And the owner of the Jin Ding Casino should now be brought to court to face charges, he said.

“Cambodia is a country with laws and a criminal code, so the authorities must hand down serious punishment for the owner of this club,” Thorn Ratha said, adding, “This would serve as a warning to other business owners who break Cambodian law.”

“There should also be an investigation into any government official who might have been involved in these [violations] and allowed them to happen for years,” he said.

Sihanoukville provincial governor Yun Min and provincial government spokesman Or Saroeun could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Zhou Jianhua, owner of the Jin Ding Casino, was also unavailable for comment.

Reported by Vanrith Chea for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/closed-03132019170125.html

Copyright © 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036

[natway09]

Great,,, there must be more of it instead of bowing down to the almighty dollar

[balo]

6 hours ago, geovalin said:

Sihanoukville provincial governor Yun Min

This is the problem, a governor with a Chinese family name.  Probably as corrupt as it gets.  Nothing will change in Cambodia unless the military takes control over the area to get rid of the illegal Chinese casinos. 

 

I consider this whole area as ruined, no Westerners will set foot there anymore. 

 

 

[from the home of CC]

the chinese invented corruption, they'll be back very soon..

[just bob]

Meanwhile, Thai authorities are too busy to bother checking out the creek flowing into Ao Nang Beach that is now a stinking black sewer.  Surprising that Cambo has us beat on enforcement.

 

[ross163103]

As I've said before about the Chinese issue; "Be careful who you get into bed with." Pollution will be the least of these countries worries if the Chinese have their way.

[Burma Bill]

See link - this is the beach!

 

[UPDEHSOI]

20 hours ago, balo said:

This is the problem, a governor with a Chinese family name.  Probably as corrupt as it gets.  Nothing will change in Cambodia unless the military takes control over the area to get rid of the illegal Chinese casinos. 

 

I consider this whole area as ruined, no Westerners will set foot there anymore. 

 

 

Not me, that's for sure. And I used to love Snookyville.

[expat1010]

Sihanoukville has been ruined in my opinion. I used to love the beach just down the road from the lions, but all the small businesses have been closed and bulldozed. Otres 1 and 2 are toast as well with mega resorts going in. They had a good thing going with low impact small owner operated development and lots of jobs for locals. That is gone now in pursuit of the almighty Yuan and their Chinese gamblers.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Stargeezr]

Sounds like the Casino developers, did not include any thing for pollution control. Keep the casino closed until proper sewage and other systems are built..

Geezer

[impulse]

51 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Sounds like the Casino developers, did not include any thing for pollution control. Keep the casino closed until proper sewage and other systems are built..

Geezer

 

More likely they didn't include enough for the red envelopes.

 

As much as I'd like to think this is about pollution and preserving the resource, it rarely is in this part of the world.

 

[Tomtomtom69]

Now these casinos are spreading to Koh Rong Samloen? That's an abomination. Sihanoukville may be ruined (although I don't think any of their beaches were that spectacular, even before the influx of Chinese casinos) but to ruin Koh Rong Samloen like this is another thing. People go there for the beaches and the low key atmosphere, a casino is just wrong. Glad to hear this casino was shut down, but I hope this will set a precedent that such businesses should NOT be welcome on these islands.