A European Union (EU) delegation here on Friday expressed doubt
about the land concession policy ofthe Cambodian government and
also provided ways to address its negative effect.
Some companies with land concessions from the government have
been exploiting the soil and the people originally living there,
said Harmurt Nassauer, chairman of the delegation of the European
Parliament, the executive body of EU, for relations with the
countries of the Association of the Southeast Asia Nations
(ASEAN).
Their exploitation has led to confrontation and deprived the
country of chances for sustainable development, he said at a press
conference held upon the delegation's conclusion of its five-day
visit to the kingdom.
"Field trips to some provinces told us that the land concession
policy has become nightmare for the forestry-dependent
communities," he said.
However, he added, the tension can be removed if both sides have
good will and the companies do more good things to benefit the
local communities.
Meanwhile, vice chairwoman Giovanna Corda told the press
conference that some companies with land concessions have been
exploiting the land through logging, which is negative for
Cambodia.
The government must not allow them to ruin the country and
proper management should be in place to protect these precious
assets for all of us, she said.
The companies should help the local communities, like building
schools and health care centers, but not destroy the nature and the
people's living environment without thinking about the future, she
added.
During its visit, the delegation respectively met Prime Minister
Hun Sen, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, Minister of Commerce Cham
Prasidh and other government and parliamentary leaders.
It also traveled to Kampong Chhnang and Pursat provinces and
visited some EU-funded forestry projects, according to the
release.
Cambodia has more than 200 kinds of trees, but the tree coverage
rate has decrease from 70 percent to the current 35 percent due to
lack of protection and over logging.
Major developer can have hundreds of hectares of land for
development if the government approves his plan. Concession period
used to reach 99 years for such developers.
(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2008)
