Loggers let off hook + Ratanakkiri villagers claim mountain

[geovalin]

Loggers let off hook

Fri, 12 September 2014

Phak Seangly

In a surprising twist, border police detained 16 illegal rosewood loggers on Wednesday, but rather than making any arrests, they released the men and paid for their fare home.

Thirteen of the loggers were detained while en route from Oddar Meanchey’s Anlong Veng district to Thailand, while the other three were caught attempting to smuggle nearly 500 kilograms of rosewood into Cambodia, said Chhit Chhorn, deputy chief of staff at the provincial police office.

“Their village is on the border, so they clearly know the location of the rosewood and climb Dangrek Mountain to log in Thailand easily,” Chhorn said.

All the men are from Oddar Meanchey’s Samrong town.

In addition to 47 pieces of luxury rosewood, border police seized two motorbikes, six axes, four hand saws and other logging equipment from the men. The 16 were questioned and released. Only timber was confiscated, while the other items were returned to the loggers.

The provincial authorities also gave each of the men $5 to pay for the car ride back to their hometown. The provincial police department declined to explain why the men were treated with such unusual leniency.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Ratanakkiri villagers claim mountain

Fri, 12 September 2014

Sen David

Minority villagers from Ratanakkiri’s O’Chum district climbed up a mountain to a community forest yesterday morning to challenge a company they claim is illegally felling their trees.

One of the villagers, 40-year-old Kamplor Sernor, told the Post that 78 Kroeung minority villagers gathered on the mountain yesterday morning in a bid to prevent CRD Company from clearing any more of their land.

“We protested many times since the company started to clear our community forest last year, but they did not stop. They have already cleared 200 hectares to plant rubber,” he explained.

“We need our land for the next generation,” said fellow villager Tames Lum Av, 42.

But Chhay Thy, a coordinator with rights group Adhoc, said there was confusion about who owned the land.

“The company claims that the area belongs to them be­cause the state provided it as a land concession, and the minority group claims that it is a community forest that the state provided,” he said.

Saing Chanta, an employee of CRD Company, could not be reached for comment.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national