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INSIDEThe countrys most at-risk minority groups

Cuisine festival boasts diversity

Kevin Ponniah and Sen David

SMALL plastic packets filled with a mix of pills of various sizes, shapes and colours sit piled on

the counter of a pharmacy in Phnom Penhs Meanchey dis-trict, home to several large gar-ment factories.

At 2,000 riel a pop, about 50 cents, these packs are sold as a cheap remedy for fevers, coughs or any number of ailments from

which the young and mostly female workers living nearby suffer. Theyre designed to get them back on their feet as quickly as possible.

I always mix these together and give these to customers [to take three times a day]. My husband is a doctor and he taught me, says Pheap, a kindly 67-year-old who dis-

penses the medicine at the pharmacy licensed under her husbands name.

Customers buy as many packets as they need, or can afford, and often stockpile them at home to start using again the next time they get sick, she says.

But among the jumble of six pills in each packet, cobbled

together from various unla-belled plastic tubs, one large blue and yellow pill stands out from the assortment of aspi-rins, vitamins and other over-the-counter medicines.

It is cloxacillin, a penicillin-class antibiotic for bacterial infections that should be pre-scribed by a doctor and is whol-ly ineffective for treating viral

infections like the common cold or flu. When used, a pre-scribed course is meant be fol-lowed and completed.

But Yu Manith, a 25-year-old factory worker, says she buys such mixed-medicine packets directly from pharmacies whenever she gets ill, and sim-ply takes as many as are need-ed to make her feel better.

Oh, I dont know what anti-

A recipe for disasterUnregulated medicine for the poor

Continues on page 4

May Titthara

WITH victims families still awaiting the results of an investigation into the deadly shootings during clashes on January 3, the Ministry of Inte-rior released a separate report on Wednesday accusing the opposition of sparking the vio-lence in an attempt to topple the government.

The report also accuses the Cambodia National Rescue Party, and to a lesser extent unions and unnamed NGOs, of inciting illegal and violent demonstrations that caused $100 million worth of property damage and lost garment orders since last Julys election.

The illegal demonstrations led by the CNRP was planned provo-cation aimed at toppling a legiti-mate government by inciting violent, anarchic clashes, leading to the loss of peoples lives and injuries to security personnel and civilians, the report says.

While the report, written by a ministry damage evaluation committee, references the 23 workers and unionists arrested in early January, it contains no information about an investi-gation into the authorities widely condemned firing of live ammunition on Phnom Penhs Veng Sreng Boulevard that killed at least four people and left dozens injured.

Instead, the report catalogues losses for the nations 500-plus garment factories, which it says have lost about $46 million in undelivered orders and suffered some $17 million in physical damage. Harm done to other private property, including to a medical clinic near where the

Continues on page 2

Violence blamed on CNRP

Pheap packs individual pills including cloxacillin, a penicillin-class antibiotic for bacterial infections, into medication packages at a pharmacy in Phnom Penh last week. phA LINA

page 3gather on Sunday and face consequencesnational neWS

National 2 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

cambodian shot, killed in ThailandCheang Sokha

a camBODIaN na-tional was fatally shot near the Thailand-cambodia border on

Wednesday in the latest of a string of deadly incidents along the border this month, officials said yesterday.

Theng Sokla, 27, a native of Pailin provinces Sala Krao dis-trict, was hunting for animals on a Thai farm a few hundred metres across the border when he was shot in the chest at about 3pm on Wednesday, said huy Kim Khorn, the deputy director of the cambodian-Thai Border relations Office at the Prum border checkpoint.

The body has been taken to be examined by the Thai au-thorities, and they will hand over the body to the fam-ily on Friday, he said, adding that Soklas parents found the corpse when they initiated a search a day after their son went missing.

according to Kim Khorn,

Sokla regularly crossed the border to catch wild animals.

chhim chamnan, chief of the cambodian-Thai Border relations Office for Pailin and Battambang, said that shot-guns are regularly used by farmers trying to protect their crops from animals.

We are investigating to find the farm owner and the shooter, chamnan said. We believe the victim did not die from bullets of the Thai army or from the black-clad [special forces] unit, he added.

Neth Sary, a cambodian consular official based in Thai-lands Sa Kaew province, said he had not been informed about the shooting.

This is the fourth incident this month in which cam-bodians have been shot at in Thai territory. In two separate cases, one on march 5 and one on march 12, cambodian military officials claimed Thai soldiers killed a total of 15 il-legal loggers. Thai authorities denied the claims.

Cheang Sokha

LIFE as one of the worlds longest-serving leaders can be a drag, but few labours have been more difficult to over-come for Prime minister hun Sen than quitting smoking.

Using the podium at the in-auguration of a controversial hydropower dam yesterday to voice his concerns, hun Sen said he had tried, and failed, to stub out 10 times.

Eleven, he added, was the magic number.

Now Im struggling to quit smoking cigarettes. Im not sure whether it will be suc-cessful or not because [Ive tried] about 10 times already, he said. I cut down to about

three cigarettes per day and now Im trying to stop com-pletely . . . this time should be the last one.

There would be added bo-nuses to quitting, he said, in-cluding no longer being has-sled by generals for a spare fag.

royal cambodian armed Forces commander-in-chief Pol Saroeun is the type of smoker who never has ciga-rettes and is always asking [for smokes] from others, he said.

The announcement coin-cides with a national cam-paign to ban smoking in public places.

Pm smokes final fag

cNrP blamed for violenceContinued from page 1

shootings occurred, and public property across the country has exceeded $7.5 mil-lion, according to the report.

Demonstrations affected freedom, safe-ty, public order and investments, which resulted in human rights abuses, econom-ic sabotage and political subversion, the report adds.

The illegitimate demonstrations led by the cNrP incited ethnic discrimination, divided the people and broke the law, it states.

cNrP leaders Sam rainsy and Kem Sokha are also accused in the report of cheating people both locally and abroad to amass support and resources for demonstrations at Freedom Park.

Even before the violence on January 3, the cNrP rejected suggestions that it was ral-lying garment workers, who were striking for a $160 monthly minimum wage.

at the time, the cNrP had been holding daily demonstrations demanding Prime minister hun Sens resignation and a new election. many garment workers attended opposition rallies and rainsy encouraged them to keep striking until their demands were met.

But opposition lawmaker-elect mu Sochua dismissed the report outright yes-terday, saying the cNrP could not accept an investigation that did not focus on the security forces use of live ammunition and the fate of missing teenager Khim Saphath, who was last seen on Veng Sreng Boulevard with blood pouring from his chest during the January 3 violence.

The result is that the [ministry of Interior] is accusing the cNrP, she said. mr Sar Kheng himself has to be responsible for those who had the guns and shot people.

National Police spokesman Kirt chantharith said he agreed with what was in the report, but would not comment on whether he wanted criminal charges to be pressed against the cNrP.

regarding punishment . . . that is beyond my capacity and is something only the ministry of Interior or [senior] government officials can address, he said.

Khieu Sopheak, ministry of Interior spokesman, said he had no idea wheth-er the government wanted to take the mat-ter further.

On January 12, Prime minister hun Sen announced that Interior minister Sar Kheng was leading an investigation into

the violence on Veng Sreng Boulevard. Sopheak would give no details about that

investigation yesterday, referring questions to Lour ramin, a government official on the investigating committee. When contacted, ramin referred questions back to Sopheak.

am Sam ath, senior investigator for rights group Licadho, said any investiga-tion must focus on the disappearance of Saphath and bring to justice those who shot and killed the four victims.

We should think about people who committed the crimes rather than attach it to politics and denying the victims fam-ilies justice, he said.

Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Gar-ment manufacturers association in cam-bodia, could not be reached yesterday to confirm the damage bill for factories. ADDI-TIONAL REPORTING BY SHANE WORRELL

Debris covers the floor of Ekreach Clinic in January after it was ransacked during violent riots on Veng Sreng Boulevard. SCOTT HOWES

www.phnompenhpost.comChECk thE poSt wEBSitE for BrEaking nEwS

National3THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

Prison for Thai drug traffickersButh Reaksmey Kongkea

TWO Thai women were sen-tenced to life yesterday for allegedly smuggling more than half a kilogram of cocaine from Brazil to cambodia in may last year. They were also fined $15,000 each.

Kim Dany, presiding judge of Phnom Penh municipal court, said the two women Than-yanat Sama-arphat, 31, and Wong Trakool Sangdao, 41 were charged with drug traf-ficking.

colonel Yeng Bunna, anti-drug police chief, claimed the two convicts were hired by two Nigerians, who aimed to sell the drugs in Thailand.

Information provided by their Thai counterpart led the police to arrest Thanyanat at Phnom Penh International air-port. She was arrested after the police checked her under-wear, and found . . . six pack-ages of cocaine hidden in it, Bunna said.

Police later detained anoth-er suspect, Wong, at a hotel in Phnom Penh, Bunna added. Lawyer for the defence Lay Nora declined to comment yesterday.

Peoples congress bannedMeas Sokchea

PrImE minister hun Sen yesterday warned the opposition that legal action will be tak-

en if they press ahead with their plan to hold a public gathering in the capitals Freedom Park on Sunday.

The speech was followed by a meeting between cambodia National rescue Party leaders and Phnom Penh city officials, who rejected the oppositions plan for a peoples congress and said security forces would intervene if it is attempted.

Speaking during the opening of the Stung atai hydropower plant in Pursat province yester-day, hun Sen said he would not tolerate the opposition party working outside the law.

We are still being tolerant . . . The law has limitations. It does not mean that [you] can go outside the law, he said. The country has a constitution. Our country has laws . . . if people deviate from the laws into vio-lence, there will be no tolerance. The law must take action.

hun Sens comments were dismissed by cNrP vice-pres-ident Kem Sokha yesterday as a strategy of buying, division and intimidation.

Phnom Penh municipality yesterday, after meeting with opposition leaders, announced it had rejected a cNrP request to hold a peoples congress in Freedom Park on Sunday.

city hall spokesman Long Di-manche yesterday said the re-

quest for a gathering had been rejected because of an ongoing investigation into violence on Veng Sreng Blvd and in Free-dom Park on January 2 and 3.

On January 2, military po-lice killed at least four striking workers in Phnom Penhs Por

Sen chey district. The following day, private security and men thought to be ruling cambo-dian Peoples Party supporters violently evicted cNrP sup-porters from Freedom Park.

We will not allow [the cNrP] to have a gathering in Freedom

Park as long as the result of the investigation has not been issued, Dimanche said.

[The court] is investigating to find out who shoulders respon-sibility, he added. We will seek answers until we find out who affected the peoples right to enjoy freedom . . . We will take measures to block [protesters].

No timeline for the investiga-tion has yet been established and the cNrP has publicly questioned whether it is even taking place.

Sokha said the cNrP would reconsider its strategy for the meeting on Sunday following the rejection of the request, without going into the details.

We were going to [hold the congress], we still will, but we will re-discuss how will we do it, he said.

International law must open freedoms for citizens, not bans. [hun Sen] bans [citizens] from doing [demonstrations] and at the same time he tells citizens to respect the law.

Ou Virak, former president of the cambodian center for hu-man rights, said the citys ban violated the constitution and the demonstration law.

Why did [city hall] ban this? There is not any reason to insti-tute a ban, he said.

Municipal security personnel stand at a barricade in Freedom Park earlier this month where they quashed a planned International Womens Day demonstration. hoNG MENEA

National 4 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

Unregulated pills a recipe for disasterContinued from page 1

biotics are, and I dont care. I just follow the instructions to take whatever the pharmacy gives me until I get better. It works so fast. I dont want to go to the doctor, because I dont want to spend money.

Whenever antibiotics are used especially if improperly or unnecessarily there are risks that some bacteria, due to a genetic mutation, wont be killed by the medicine.

These resistant bacteria can quickly replicate and spread, creating a vicious cycle where different, stronger and more expensive antibiotics might be needed for effective treatment, possibly inducing further resistance.

The World health Organiza-tion has warned that antimicro-bial resistance (amr), which encompasses antibiotic, antivi-ral and anti-malarial resistance, puts the achievements of mod-ern medicine at risk and requires urgent global action.

an estimated 25,000 people die each year in Europe from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to medical journal The Lancet.

Though a lack of data exists for poorer nations, it is expect-ed that the costs are greater in developing countries like cam-bodia due to a higher burden of infectious disease and less access to new antibiotics.

a crisis looms. In the very near and rapidly approaching future, the wonder drugs of the 20th century, antibiotics, may cease to be useful, the journal warned in an editorial last year.

Everything starts with using antibiotics

Easy, unrestricted access to antibiotics over the counter is fuelling amr in cambodia, health experts say.

Everything starts with using antibiotics. Over the past dec-ade, people have become a lit-tle bit richer, access to drugs has become more easy . . . the idea has grown that when you are sick you need an antibiot-ic, says Erika Vlieghe, a researcher from the Institute of

Tropical medicine (ITm) in antwerp, Belgium.

a particular problem is that people buy only as much as they can afford instead of what they need, she says, with low doses of just a few pills creating the ideal circumstances for resistant bacteria to flourish.

Pheap, who prepares the packets that each hold one tab-let of cloxacillin, agrees, saying that how much customers take depends on how serious or not serious their illness is and whether they have money or no money.

appropriate antibiotic treat-ment must account for the pres-ence of resistant bacteria, pub-lic health researchers say, but little is known about patterns of resistance in poorer countries like cambodia, which lack well-functioning laboratories.

as part of her PhD research, Vlieghe studied blood samples from all patients who checked in to the Sihanouk hospital center of hope between 2007 and 2010 with fever the first time such large-scale blood sampling had occurred in cambodia, according to ITm.

roughly 500 patients had bloodstream infections, most of which were caused by E coli and other intestinal bacterium, but many could not be treated with commonly used antibiotics.

Sixty to 70 per cent of patients who attended with a serial bacterial infection could not be treated anymore with a general, broad-spectrum anti-biotic, which was pretty shock-ing, Vlieghe says.

Such resistant bacteria, which render first-line treat-ments ineffective and increase the financial burden on fami-lies and societies can quickly spread in densely populated areas, including crowded hos-pital rooms and family homes, she adds.

The customers always rightaccording to the ministry of

health, there were 1,795 licensed pharmacies operating in cambodia last year, with no illegal pharmacies operating since 2011.

Several pharmacists around

Phnom Penh the Post spoke to said they were well aware that it was dangerous to give out antibiotics without a prescrip-tion or in incomplete doses, and that they tried to avoid doing so when possible.

according to one Tonle Bassac commune pharmacist, its up to the customer ordering, if they ask for one they know works, we give it to them. [But] without the customer asking specifically or without a doctors prescription, I do not dare to give it to them.

This is the culture. So if the customers want to buy it, I have to sell it. most pharmacies do like this; its OK under the law, she said.

according to Dr chou moni-darin, vice-dean of the faculty of pharmacy at the University of health Sciences, 400 stu-dents were admitted to phar-macy training courses in cam-bodia this academic year, 160 of those at UhS.

although his university is confident that its graduating students fully understand the risks of dispensing antibiotics without a prescription, he admits he cannot be sure that those who go on to open pri-

vate pharmacies will follow what they have learned.

When they finish pharmacy school and open private phar-macies, they really respect and abide by what they have learned. But unfortunately, if they respect everything, they will lose a lot [financially],

because they must not sell any antibiotics without a prescrip-tion, and almost no customers come in with a prescription.

Government policy states that all levels of pharmacies will sell medicines only with prescriptions, except over-the-counter medicines as specified by the ministry of health.

But according to Dr Or Oudam roath, head of the Essential Drug Bureau at the Department of Drugs and Food, this policy has yet to be fully implemented at private pharmacies.

In the policy, it is already mentioned like this. But now we cannot do this yet [at all pri-vately owned pharmacies], she says.

The role of the pharmacy in the private sector cannot con-tinue to be [directly] treating people . . . In the future, step-by-step, this should change when people understand they should see the doctor first before going to buy medicine.

But in the public sector, we have guidelines [already], and they are respected.

Overused, misunderstoodPublic health facilities have

doctors prescribing medicines, roath says, meaning patients receive appropriate antibiotics and proper guidelines for use.

But hospitals contribute to amr mainly through poor infection prevention and con-trol (IPc) practices, research-ers say.

Dr chhorvoin Om, who is researching antibiotic pre-scription practices in cambo-dia at the University of New

South Wales, said that awfully poor IPc in almost all cambo-dian hospitals, which includes hospital hygiene, medical equipment sterilisation and health waste management practices, means that antibiot-ics are over-prescribed.

This is an important factor

to push physicians to unnec-essarily and excessively pre-scribe antibiotics . . . physi-cians are scared of treatment outcomes if they dont pre-scribe antibiotics.

Inappropriate use of antibi-otics, however, is not limited to humans.

With cambodia transition-ing into more organised meth-ods of farming, a wide range of antibiotics are starting to be used on animals, Vlieghe, of the ITm, says.

There is a lack of hard data on the use of antibiotics in ani-mal sectors. [But we suspect] that all types of combinations are being used, with a strong overlap in antibiotics used for humans and in agriculture.

Drug-resistant bacteria are passed on to humans through direct contact with animals and animal products, including at markets, through faecal prod-ucts and waste, and through the environment, including water sources.

In cambodia, certain spe-cific pathogens which we know are typically infecting pigs are also now entering humans, she said.

As complex as climate changeWhile the main driver of amr

appears to be pretty clear-cut inappropriate and overuse of antimicrobials the solutions are complex and the scale of the problem daunting.

With its global consequences and need for action at all levels, The Lancet Infectious Diseases commission goes so far as to compare it to climate change.

an amr working group was

established under the ministry of health in 2012 and is in the final stages of reviewing both a national policy and five-year strategic plan to combat amr, with the assistance of the World health Organization.

mOh regards amr as a pri-ority and fully abides by the 6-point policy package of the WhO, working group chair-man Dr Sok Touch said, add-ing that members from 19 entities, including the minis-try of agriculture, were part of the group.

The WhO policy package includes regulating and pro-moting the rational use of anti-microbials, including in animal husbandry, and enhancing infection prevention and con-trol in healthcare settings.

But according to Vlieghe, cambodia needs a national program.

a working group doesnt have the power or line manage-ment such as you have with national programs for tubercu-losis, hIV or malaria. Its a big challenge and many actors need to be involved, she says.

They should be getting more money and more power to work. Its quite urgent and a very complicated problem.

While addressing amr will take time, pushing cambodi-ans to stop buying and selling antibiotics without a prescrip-tion would go a long way in addressing a major root cause, says UhSs monidarin, who sits on the amr working group.

We would like to push and include in the strategy one issue in particular. No prescrip-tion, no antibiotics. We need to work a lot on this point and express [its importance] to all stakeholders patients, clini-cians and pharmacists.

Given the lax attitudes of pharmacists who should know better but arent forced to com-ply with the medicines policy, monidarin might have his work cut out.

as one Tuol Tom Poung pharmacist says: We should sell [antibiotics] according to a doctors prescription, but here, people can mostly still buy it. If they want to get it, Ill still sell it.

Women buy medicine at a pharmacy in Phnom Penhs Russey Keo district yesterday. hoNG MENEA

Packages of pills sit on the counter of a pharmacy in Phnom Penhs Meanchey district last week. phA LINA

If the customer wants to buy it, I have to sell it. Most

pharmacies do like this; its OK under the law

National 5THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

Forecast: coast in dangerLaignee Barron

rESIDENTS along cambodias coastline may want to relocate to higher ground in the wake of a climate change assess-ment that predicts much of the Kingdoms coast could be sub-merged by rising sea levels.

Based on predictive models that take into account global temperature trends and melt-ing ice caps, the scenarios proposed by the draft Second National communication on climate change forecast a loss of coastal land 10 times the size of Paris and half the size of Singapore.

By 2100, more than 38,000 hectares of cambodias beaches will be permanently inundated if sea levels rise by two metres, and about 25,000 hectares will be subsumed by a one-metre rise, the draft report indicates.

cambodias coastal zone is one of the most vulnerable ar-eas to climate change impacts in the country, said Setsuko Yamazaki, country director for the United Nations Develop-ment Programme, in a state-ment made on Tuesday. It is crucial that measures are put in place to minimise these im-pacts of climate change.

representatives from the ministry of the Environment and the cambodian National

climate change committee declined yesterday to com-ment on the draft report or when it would be published.

a ministry representative who asked not to be named as he lacked authority to speak with the media confirmed the land loss figures, however, and said that the government is committed to increasing the climate resilience of its coastal regions.

The governments predictive findings echo the Intergov-ernmental Panel on climate changes newest assessment unveiled earlier this week, which warns that asias coasts

will bear the brunt of climate change impacts.

cambodias coast has pre-viously been identified as a global warming flashpoint as the nations economy and food supply rely on agricultural pro-duction concentrated in the flood-prone costal zones.

climate change is no lon-ger a remote case, but is af-fecting all of us in the present and [becoming] one of the grave challenges that must be addressed in the 21st cen-tury, Prime minister hun Sen said at the Third National Forum on climate change in November.

A girl walks through floodwaters in Niroth commune, in Phnom Penhs Meanchey district, in late 2012. VIREAK MAI

Expulsion of Uighurs still denied by officialsStuart White

BOrDEr police yester-day continued to deny their alleged involve-ment in detaining and

subsequently deporting a group of 15 ethnic Uighurs to Thai-land where they were arrest-ed even as a prominent Uighur rights group con-demned the Kingdoms track record in dealing with the Tur-kic ethnic minority.

human rights Watch, citing sources in the Thai government, said on Wednesday that 15 Uighurs detained in Thailand on Sunday had been first detained in Banteay meanchey provinces border town of Poipet, an account corroborated by an eyewitness statement provided to the Post.

But So channary, command-er of Banteay meancheys 911 border police unit, maintained that his forces never arrested

any of them, recently or now.We never netted them at all,

he went on to say. But the denials didnt spare

the government any criticism.Time and again, cambodia

failed to protect Uyghur refugees by refusing to uphold its obliga-tions under the UN refugee convention which it ratified, World Uyghur congress spokes-man alim Seytoff said via email yesterday. cambodia should be condemned for its violation

of international law and com-plete disregard of the UN refu-gee convention.

Now it is Thailands duty to protect these Uyghur refugees.

Vivian Tan, a spokesperson for the UNhcr office in Bangkok, said that she had received no word of an asylum request from the 15, but noted that people fleeing persecution sometimes opt not to seek asylum.

and while she had no firsthand

knowledge of the case, Tan added that Thailand has accepted more than a million refugees in recent decades.

Thailand has not acceded to the 1951 refugee convention, but it has been hosting refugees for a very long time, Tan said, admitting that occasionally it can be challenging, because the country lacks national leg-islation or a national system to process asylum cases.

hrWs Deputy asia Director Phil robertson said yesterday that he had received no new word on the 15 Uighurs. robert-son also pointed to Thailands very mixed record on asylum seekers, noting that, for Uighurs, Thailand has often failed to provide them with sup-port and protection.

Nonetheless, the Uighurs would have been no better off in cambodia, he said.

The fact that Uighurs from china, and dissidents, bloggers, and Khmer Krom activists from Vietnam flee through cambodia to Thailand should tell you something about how poor cambodias record is in refugee protection. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHEANG SOKHA AND KEVIN PONNIAH

Time and again, Cambodia failed to protect Uyghur refugees by refusing to

uphold its obligations . . .

National6 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

Wedding brawler nabbed six years after said brawlALL eyes were taken off the bride and groom when a booze-fuelled reveller turned their wedding party into a battle royal back in 2008. Six years on, the 22-year-old man behind the wedding night violence in Kam-pong Chhnangs Boribor district was finally charged on Wednes-day after police found him hid-ing out in his home, safe in his belief that they would have for-gotten all about the incident. With no escape, the man admit-ted that after having one-too-many drinks, he had argued with a group of guests and attacked two of them with a wooden stick. noKorWAt

Take note: guesthouse no drug signs enforcedPoLICE nabbed a drug-dealing duo in Kampong Chhnang on Wednesday with a little help from a disgruntled guesthouse owner. the 31-year-old man and his female partner-in-crime obviously didnt check out the rules when they checked in for the night. When the owner realised they were carrying drugs, he called the cops who raided the pairs room, finding 15 packages of ya ma and a walkie-talkie. Both are awaiting court dates. noKorWAt

If youre going to steal a gun, try a shop, not a cop A WAStE picker in Phnom Penhs Prampi Makara district learned on Wednesday that a policemans gun is not for recy-cling. Police say the 30-year-old man was standing near the scene of a bust when he sud-denly grabbed the gun from an officer and made a run for it. When police caught up with him, they forced him to return the weapon and brought him back to the station for further questioning. Koh SAntEPhEAP

A little flirting never hurt anyone, until it did InnoCEnt flirtation turned dangerous at a pre-Khmer new Year party in Phnom Penhs Por Sen Chey district on Wednesday night when two people were attacked by a local gang. Police said the celebrations came to an abrupt end after one of the revellers enlisted three friends to attack the partys host, a 26-year-old garment worker accused of flirting with the sus-pects girlfriend. they then attacked a bystander outside of the party. Police quickly cuffed the gang and took them into custody. Koh SAntEPhEAP

General rule: dont wave a machete at a policemanA MAChEtE-WIELDInG farmer in Kampong Cham wound up in hospital on tuesday after pick-ing a fight with a police officer. After a drinking session landed the farmer in trouble with his 41-year-old female neighbour, he came to her house brandish-ing a machete. When a police-man was called in to stop the disturbance, the farmer turned on him. A violent scuffle left the farmer seriously injured and under arrest. But while his inju-ries have kept him out of a cell for now, police say they will not forget. rASMEI KAMPuChEA

Translated by Phak Seangly

PolicebloTTer

The Ministry Of Health the honor to inform all domestic and foreign suppliers that Ministry intends to supply Diesel Oil rst semester & Oxygene which are described in Technical Specication .

Bids forms could be obtained from the Ministry Of Health at the following addresses :

Procurement Unit Ministry of Health # 151 153 Avenue Kampuchea Krom Phnom Penh Cambodia ,

Tel : 023 723 849

Bids must be delivered to the Ministry Of Health, Procurement Unit at the above address before 14 h 30 Oclock on 28 / 05 / 2014 .

Bids will be opened at the same address at 14 h 30 Oclock on 28 / 05 / 2014 in the present of the Bidders representatives who wish to attend.

INVITATION FOR BIDS

relocated need moreSen David

mINISTEr of En-vironment Say Sam El has urged economic land

concessionaire Union Develop-ment Group (UDG) the mega-resort developer at the centre of a long-running Koh Kong prov-ince land dispute to provide sufficient infrastructure in the relocation areas provided for residents it displaced, a minis-try spokesman said yesterday.

according to spokesman Sao Sopheap, at a meeting between the ministry, the company and provincial authorities, Sam El advised UDG to build a school, market, hospital and sufficient infrastructure to meet relo-cated villagers needs with the hope that hold-out villagers still occupying disputed land would decide to relocate peacefully.

The minister urged the com-pany to build some infrastruc-ture at the new village where the evictees moved, and [to build] things that satisfy basic needs to make it easy for resi-dents to live, Sopheap said.

Though UDGs relocation package is more generous on paper than that offered by oth-er concessionaires, multiple outside observers have found its implementation to be spot-

ty, and the firm was accused in January of burning down 45 homes belonging to hold-outs.

In Kong chet, provincial co-ordinator with rights group Licadho, said that even though the lack of infrastructure at the relocation site was a common complaint among those there, building it wouldnt compen-sate those who lost homes.

The minister suggested the company help those who were evicted violently, but he did not order them to find a solu-tion for those whose houses were burned, he said.

Even so, relocated villager Khat Eang, 57, said that resi-

dents had long asked for bet-ter infrastructure, and said that new amenities might be enough to convince the hold-outs.

Theres nothing at the new village. It is far from the market, the hospital and the school, and theres no clean water, electricity or crops, he said. If the new village was easy to live in, I think that other villagers who have not yet moved will decide to move and live there.

On Phearak, governor of Bot-om Sakor district, home to part of UDGs concession, said yes-terday that the local authorities are gradually working towards a solution to the dispute.

A man washes clothes earlier this month at a relocation site built by Union Development Group in Koh Kong province. SrEnG MEnG Srun

chhay channyda

ThE minister of Education proposed yesterday that do-nation boxes for teachers be installed in schools across the country, but stressed their aim would be to diminish rather than grow a culture of bribery in the system.

Education minister hang chuon Naron presented the idea for the equity foundation boxes during the capitals first forum between teachers, par-ents and students at hun Sen Bun rany high School.

[Donating] money to the equity foundation boxes has to be transparent. Students can-not think it should be used to buy [better] scores on [tests or in class], chuon Naron said. Giving donations should be given voluntarily and not pressured.

But some forum participants said the government should raise salaries rather than intro-duce a donation system.

according to a grade 12 teach-er, low salaries were the cause of many problems in schools and must be increased.

If teachers had a better liv-ing wage we would pay more attention to [better] teaching our students, he said. If Ex-cellency [chuon Naron] wants

to strengthen the quality of ed-ucation, he has to boost teach-er salaries first, he said.

The minimum wage for teachers increased in January from about $80 a month to $100, according to the Teach-ers association of cambodia.

ros Sopheap, executive di-rector of NGO Gender and Development for cambo-dia, said yesterday that the amount of money that teach-ers were paid was not in synch with reality.

how can the minister say education is a priority for this country when teachers are so undervalued by the system that they have to ask for bribes from their students to support themselves? she said.

Phay Vanna, 45, barely makes do on his monthly salary of $160. To supplement his in-come, he teaches extra classes each month, he told the Post.

If teachers salaries ranged from $250 to $500 we could survive. I dont want to teach extra classes because it leaves no time to rest. We deserve a [liveable] salary, too, he said.

The ministry announced this week that exam proctors would be paid twice as much as last year in an attempt to stamp out bribery. ADDItIonAL rEPortInG BY AMELIA WooDSIDE

buth reaksmey Kongkea

a FOrmEr canadia Bank employee accused of stealing $2.7 million from the bank last year was tried by Phnom Penh municipal court yesterday.

Former chief accountant Yet Sopheaktra, 30, was charged with breach of trust for theft of company finances, said pre-siding judge Kor Vandy.

Sun Saonin, 33, the boyfriend of Sopheaktra, along with her mother, chak Kimheng, 59, have also been charged as ac-complices, along with former canadia Bank aTm control-ler Leng Sunly, 34.

Sopheaktra and her boy-friend Sun Saonin are gam-blers. They stole money from canadia Bank to play games at a casino in Phnom Penh, said Vandy, adding that all four were arrested on October 3.

During the hearing yester-day, Sopheaktra admitted to

withdrawing the enormous sum by creating two bank cards for Kimheng and three for her friend Tep Winchanthy, who remains at large.

I withdrew $2.3 million from canadia Bank between march and October to buy land in Kampong chhang and Kampong cham provinces. I spent the rest gambling in a casino, she said, adding that she was solely responsible for withdrawing the cash.

Saonin admitted that he knew Sopheaktra had with-drawn $10,000 last year.

Sunly, Saonin, and Kimheng denied any involvement dur-ing the trial yesterday.

canadia Bank representative child Vann said yesterday that technology experts had spot-ted the accounting discrep-ancy and reported the missing money to branch managers.

The verdict is to be delivered on april 25.

Boxes for donations,not bribes: minister

canadia teller tried for nearly $3 million heist

7THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

Business

This week in biz

Royal Group says ANZ relationship is healthyROYAL Group of Companies chief financial officer Mark Hanna quelled rumours on Tuesday when he said that the Cambodian conglomerate had a strong relationship with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited and there were no plans to break up their joint venture, ANZ Royal Bank. He added, however, that Royal Group would have to consider an offer if it were very high, but that no deals were on the table.

Strategies to take on IP theft raised in programOFFICIALS from Cambodia, Laos and the United States gathered in Phnom Penh on Tuesday for a training program on the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. Hosted by representatives from the US Department of State, US Department of Homeland Security and US Patent and Trademark Office, the three-day event at the Hotel le Royal in Phnom Penh focused on techniques to crack down on intellectual property.

Cambodia improves on logistics performance THOUGH Cambodia stil lags behind regional peers, streamlined customs procedures and enhancements to port infrastructure have lifted its ranking to 83 on the World Banks 2014 Logistics Performance Index (LPI), according to a trade specialist in the World Bank.

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Healthy Homes Cambodia, 325 Mao Tse Toung Blvd,Building II, 1st Floor,Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

A teller counts Philippine peso banknotes inside a Bank of the Philippine Islands branch in Manila last year. BLOOMBERG

Peso status raises questionsKarl Lester M Yap

ThE Philippine pesos failure to strengthen in the face of data showing a widening

current-account surplus and an upgraded credit rating has stoked concern that imports are being under-reported due to smuggling.

Philippine import data may have been understated since as early as 2007, partly be-cause of smuggling, under-mining the strength of the nations current-account sur-plus and the peso, Deutsche Bank aG and credit Suisse

Group aG said in recent reports.

There are sizable differenc-es between official import figures reported by the Phil-ippines and exports recorded by some of its trading part-ners including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, according to credit Suisse.

I wouldnt be surprised if the current account could fall into a deficit in two to three years if the trajectory of trade gaps continues, said michael Wan, a Singapore-based economist at credit Suisse.

The discrepancies under-

score doubts with the trade and current-account data and highlights challenges facing President Benigno aquino, who has criticised the Bureau of customs for revenue lost to smuggling and unveiled measures to limit corruption within the agency.

In the past 12 months, the peso has dropped 9.3 per cent against the dollar, com-pared with a 9.6 per cent de-cline for the Indian rupee. India had a record $88 bil-lion deficit in the fiscal year through march 2013, com-pared with a reported $9.4

billion surplus for the Philip-pines last year.

Philippine import data are sourced from the customs bureau. In response to a question about discrepan-cies in the figures, customs commissioner Sunny Sevilla told Bloomberg on Wednes-day: We are committed to eradicating smuggling and corruption. There are no friends nor sacred cows. Everyone will be held accountable.

While trade-data differenc-es occur in other nations, the gaps in the Philippine num-bers are sizable compared

to countries such as Thai-land, and have been widen-ing since 2007 for some of its trading partners including Japan, Wan said in a report this month. Deutsche Bank estimates the Philippines has posted a current-account deficit since 2012, contrary to the surpluses officially reported for at least eight years.

The current account, which measures trade and finan-cial flows including interest and dividend payments, is used by investors to gauge a nations resilience to a crisis. BLOOMBERG

USD / JPY

102.3

USD / SGD

1.2671

USD /CNY

6.2073

USD / HKD

7.7579

USD / THB

32.57

AUD / USD

0.919

NZD / USD

0.8595

EUR / USD

1.3809

GBP / USD

1.6519

Indicative Exchange Rates as of 26/3/2014. Please contact ANZ Royal Global Markets on 023 999 910 for real time rates.

USD / KHR

3,999

As the financial sector expands, more money is flowing into a more complex economy. Loans are increasing along with con-cerns about long-term risk. In this weeks CEO Talk, Chea Serey, a long-time official at the National Bank of Cambodia who was appointed to the posi-tion of director general late last year, discusses aspects of the changing economy with the Posts Chan Muyhong.

How is Cambodias financial sector progressing at the moment?

The banking sector has pro-gressed very well. Every year, we have seen an average 30 per cent increase in deposits. More deposits mean a higher level of trust from people. Last year, however, deposits rose only 12.5 per cent amid the election and political instabil-ity. Still, this reflects the trend that more and more Cambo-dians are joining this formal sector.

There are an estimated 2.3 million people with bank ac-counts, out of a population of

14 million. If we can get a ratio of 10 million out of 14 million, that will be a good thing. We have more commercial banks, but they are amassed only in crowded urban areas.

Credit is also increasing. Access to financing in Cambo-dia has become much eaiser, for one reason: the existence of more microfinance institu-tions, which are located almost everywhere throughout the country, meaning more busi-ness activity is happening.

Our financial sector has just started. We are behind other countries in the region, but it doesnt mean that we are weaker than the others. We have just started to run, but we have been running quite fast through these years.

In 2013, loans increased 25 per cent compared to the previous year, while the rate of savings increased to only 12.5 per cent. Does this number imply risk in the financial sector, and has the central bank taken steps to tighten lending?

This number does not say anything. The number of loans reflects the level of the whole economy. When a countrys economy is rising, usually more capital is needed

for investment. So companies borrow more money from the bank to expand their opera-tions. This is simple.

In our country, we see very high growth, but the ques-tion is from what base we are increasing. We have to ac-knowledge that we have just recovered from wars. We need capital to rebuild infrastruc-ture and so on, which requires more loans from the bank.

Loans for real estate have also

noticeably increased. Could this pose any long-term prob-lems for the economy?

Our young people now tend to want to live indepen-dently from their parents. This mindset of owning a house has become more common among new couples. So they can achieve it now because the bank offers loans. Housing loans have risen recently, but I am not very nervous about this, because the question we

need to ask is whether they are buying to live or to speculate.

What we fear more is people speculating in real estate. But so far, more people are using the loans to get a house for their family, they will not risk losing their property to the bank. This is a good thing hap-pening to Cambodians.

You have to understand that before 2003, not many people deposited their money in the bank. People started to get their savings and invest them in houses and land. That is why we saw the price of prop-erty rise later.

What happened in 2008 was not a bubble bursting, because property values at that time increased and have not come down yet. The property values remain the same, its just that there is not as much buying and selling activity as in the past five years.

Looking at the rest of 2014, what is the outlook for the banking sector?

So far we have seen wide-spread access to loans among the people. What we need to do is keep this momentum, meaning the good quality of our credit. We now have the Credit Bureau, where details

and history of clients are being kept and used by the banks. We want to raise awareness that the bureau is a very important tool for them to access loans without necessarily using col-lateral. We also want financial institutions to be transparent to their clients about the risks regarding loans.

Are you concerned about criti-cism that you obtained your new position late last year because of your father, who is the governor of the bank?

It is not something new. I will leave others to judge me on this, on whether I am quali-fied or deserve the chair. This is inevitable. I am the daughter of the governor, and this is the fact I cannot deny.

But what is more important is whether I can do the task on my desk or not, whether my colleagues approve of my work or not, and whether I can con-tribute to the improvement of my institution or not. If I can-not do it, I think I do not de-serve the chair and I am more than willing to resign from this position. I will leave you to judge.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Markets8 THE PHNOM PENH POST MArCH 28, 2014Business

Central bank official on economic climate

Chea Serey, director general of the National Bank of Cambodia, talks to the Post from her office in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. VIREAK MAI

9THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014Business

Prune Perromat

KING Digital, maker of the wildly popu-lar Candy Crush video game, got a

sour welcome on Wall Street on Wednesday as shares tumbled some 15 per cent in their first trading day.

Kings initial public offer-ing (IPO) raised $500 million from the sale of 22.2 million shares, as the British compa-ny sought to capitalise on the popularity of Candy Crush Saga, which boasts some 97 million players worldwide.

The shares trading under the symbol KING opened lower than the offering price of $22.50, and ended the ses-sion on the New York Stock Exchange with a loss of 15.56 per cent at $19.00.

The slump gives King a market value of $5.98 billion, below the optimistic esti-mate of $7.6 billion.

This is not a surprise, said Trip Chowdhry, analyst at Global Equities Research, who said King was seeking to cash in on a fad.

This company is going to be the next Zynga unless they do something very different, Chowdhry said, referring to

the somewhat troubled so-cial games maker. This is a peak, the only way they can go from here is down.

The business makes money from players buying hints and other help to aid their climb through some 500 levels of the Tetris-like game.

But some analysts have questioned Kings staying power on the back of a game whose popularity could wane over time as users tire of it.

The companys follow-up games have not attained the same level of popularity.

IHS mobile analyst Jack Kent said the success of Candy Crush has made the company the leader in mobile games, but added that Candy Crush Saga will not remain a per-manent cash cow and King must prove it can repeat this success with new titles.

The company says its games, which also include Farm Heroes and Pet Rescue, are installed on 600 million mobile devices, and played over 1.4 billion times a day, more than one billion alone for Candy Crush.

Profits in the fourth quarter reached $159 million.

The King IPO comes amid a sharp uptick in new com-

panies entering the market.The US IPO count stood at

46 through March 11 which is the highest level for this time of year since 2007, ac-cording to Dealogic.

Kings arrival comes as in-vestors are keen to buy into the next rising technology star but are wary of young companies being overval-ued, especially in the world of gaming where popularity can be fleeting.

Some analysts also fear that the rush of IPOs may signal an overvalued market simi-lar to the tech bubble that burst in the early 2000s.

Zynga, creator of the once-mighty FarmVille game, lost 40 per cent of its value after entering the market in December 2011 with a valua-tion of $7 billion.

King said in a securities filing that the company be-lieves it has a repeatable and

scalable game development process that is unparalleled in our industry.

A key principle for King is that no individual game ses-sion should take more than a few minutes, King Digital chief executive Riccardo Zac-coni said in the filing.

King said the proceeds from the IPO would go for general corporate purpos-es, possibly including ac-quisitions. AFP

SettlementBofA to shell out billions on securities

BANK of America will pay $9.3 billion to settle US charges that it sold bad mortgage-backed securities to mort-gage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ahead of the housing bust.

The settlement, ar-ranged with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, involves securities sold by BofA as well as by Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, which were acquired by the bank.

The agreement covers four lawsuits alleging the BofA entities misled the two US mortgage giants about the quality of the underlying mortgages tied to $57.5 billion in securities sold to Freddie and Fannie.

FHFA has acted under its statutory mandate to reco-ver losses incurred by the companies and American taxpayers and has conclu-ded that this resolution represents a reasonable and prudent settlement of these cases, said FHFA Director Melvin Watt. AFP

Markets10 THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 28, 2014Business

Sour debut for Candy Crush

Characters from King Digital Entertainments Candy Crush game stand for a photograph in front of a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Wednesday. BLOOMBERG

11THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014Business

International commoditiesEnergy

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Thai Set 50 Index, Mar 26

FTSE Straits Times Index, Mar 26 FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, Mar 26

Hang Seng Index, Mar 26 CSI 300 Index, Mar 26

Nikkei 225, Mar 26 Taiwan Taiex Index, Mar 26

Ho Chi Minh Stock Index, Mar 26

14,622.89

2,155.7121,834.45

1,840.183,165.84

590.14921.75

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KOSPI Index, Mar 26 PSEI - Philippine Se Idx, Mar 26

Laos Composite Index, Mar 26 Jakarta Composite Index, Mar 26

BSE Sensex 30 Index, Mar 26 Karachi 100 Index, Mar 26

S&P/ASX 200 Index, Mar 26 NZX 50 Index, Mar 26

5,350.09

27,150.3522,186.72

4,749.131,326.19

6,315.691,977.97

5,126.54

Item Unit Base Average (%)

Gasoline R 5250 5450 3.81 %

Diesel R 5100 5200 1.96 %

Petroleum R 5500 5500 0.00 %

Gas Chi 86000 76000 -11.63 %

Charcoal Baht 1200 1300 8.33 %

Energy

Construction equipmentItem Unit Base Average (%)

Rice 1 R/Kg 2800 2780 -0.71 %Rice 2 R/Kg 2200 2280 3.64 %Paddy R/Kg 1800 1840 2.22 %Peanuts R/Kg 8000 8100 1.25 %Maize 2 R/Kg 2000 2080 4.00 %Cashew nut R/Kg 4000 4220 5.50 %Pepper R/Kg 40000 24000 -40.00 %Beef R/Kg 33000 33600 1.82 %Pork R/Kg 17000 18200 7.06 %Mud Fish R/Kg 12000 12400 3.33 %Chicken R/Kg 18000 20800 15.56 %Duck R/Kg 13000 13100 0.77 %

Item Unit Base Average (%)

Steel 12 R/Kg 3000 3100 3.33 %

Cement R/Sac 19000 19500 2.63 %

Food -Cereals -Vegetables - Fruits

Cambodian commodities(Base rate taken on January 1, 2012)

CommodIty UnIts PrICE ChAngE % ChAngE tImE(Et)

Crude Oil (WTI) USD/bbl. 100.21 1.02 1.03% 4:01:37

Crude Oil (Brent) USD/bbl. 106.93 -0.1 -0.09% 4:01:37

NYMEX Natural Gas USD/MMBtu 4.38 -0.02 -0.50% 3:55:12

RBOB Gasoline USd/gal. 290.71 -0.18 -0.06% 4:03:00

NYMEX Heating Oil USd/gal. 292.25 0.31 0.11% 2:39:20

ICE Gasoil USD/MT 896.25 3 0.34% 4:01:13

CommodIty UnIts PrICE ChAngE % ChAngE tImE(Et)

CBOT Rough Rice USD/cwt 15.38 -0.01 -0.06% 21:01:17

CME Lumber USD/tbf 326.5 -4.1 -1.24% 3:44:30

AdvertisementVacancy Announcement

National AIDS Authority (NAA)The ofce of sub-recipient for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria

The National AIDS Authority (NAA) is designated as the Sub-recipient to receive grant from PR/NCHADS on behalf of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. The Program Title Continued achievement of Universal Access of HIV/STI prevention, treatment and care services in Cambodia. The NAA invite applications from qualied and experienced candidates to apply for the position of: Drivers (4 Persons)

I. Duties and ResponsibilitiesUnder the general supervision of the functional director of department, the incumbent performs the following duties: - Drivers the National AIDS Authority Ofcials and staff within Phnom Penh and to provinces. - Collects and delivers mail or documents when required - Responsible for day-to-day maintenance of the assigned vehicle, checks oil, water, battery, brakes, tires etc., performs minor repairs and arranges other repairs and ensures the vehicle is clean. - Logs ofcial trips, daily mileage, gas consumption, oil changes, greasing etc. - Ensures that the steps required by rules and regulations are taken in case of involvement in accident. - Performs other duties required by Director of Administrator and Finance Department. - Duty station National AIDS Authority, Phnom Penh II. Qualications - Cambodian - Knowledge and skills in secondary education - Valid drivers license - Skills in minor vehicle repair - Well knowledge on streets in Phnom Penh and ProvinceApplicants without prior knowledge of TOR will not be accepted. Interested candidates should submit their CVs, including a cover letter, by Thursday, 10th April 2014 at 17:00 pm with attention to: Ms. Muth Seineada, Administrative Ofcer Email: mseineada@yahoo.comNational AIDS Authority ,Building #16, Street corner 271 & 150, Sangkat Toek La-ark 2, Khan Toul Kork.

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David Voreacos and Renee Dudley

Wal-mart, the worlds largest retailer, said it spent $439 mil-

lion in the past two years to investigate the possible pay-ment of foreign bribes, mak-ing it one of the most expen-sive probes in US history.

the company spent $282 million in the fiscal year end-ed January 31 and $157 mil-lion the previous year, and expenses will continue to rise, according to an annual report filed on march 21.

On February 20, Wal-mart projected Foreign corrupt Practices act probe and com-pliance costs would be $200 million to $240 million for fis-cal 2015.

In November 2011, Wal-mart disclosed possible violations in mexico to the US Justice Department and Securities and Ex- change commission.

the New York Times report-ed in 2012 that the retailer paid $24 million in alleged bribes in mexico.

the probe expanded to other countries, including china, India and Brazil, the retailer said in 2012.

the US is investigating pos-sible violations of the Foreign corrupt Practices act, which bans payments by compa-

nies or their agents to foreign governments to obtain or retain business.

Such probes typically end in settlements, with compa-nies paying fines and admit-ting wrongdoing.

mexican authorities are also investigating, while Wal-mart faces shareholder law-suits and is examining its global anti-corruption com-pliance programs.

While we believe that it is probable that we will incur a loss from these matters, given the ongoing nature and com-

plexity of the review, inquir-ies and investigations, we cannot reasonably estimate any loss or range of loss that may arise from these mat-ters, according to the filing.

David tovar, a spokesman for Bentonville, arkansas-based Wal-mart, said it would be inappropriate to com-ment on the investigation before it is concluded.

We are working aggres-sively to enhance our global compliance program and are committed to having a strong and effective program in

every market in which we operate, tovar said yester-day in an email.

Wal-marts fourth-quarter net income fell 21 per cent to $4.43 billion, or $1.36 a share, from $5.61 billion, or $1.67, a year earlier, the company said in its most recent earn-ings release.

the company forecast profit in the year through January 2015 that trailed ana-lysts estimates.

In addition to the $24 mil-lion in alleged bribes, Wal-mart made $16 million in

donations to mexican local governments as late as 2005 to speed store expansions, the New York Times reported in april 2012.

the company also failed to examine fully claims by a company lawyer in 2005 that he funnelled bribes to mexican officials, the news-paper reported.

Its relatively safe to assume that this is one of the highest pre-enforcement-action professional fees and expenses ever reported, said michael Koehler, a law pro-fessor at Southern Illinois University who writes the FcPa Professor blog.

In 2008, Siemens aG, Europes largest engineering company, agreed to pay $800 million to the US and $814 million to German authori-ties as part of a crackdown on bribery. During the course of the investigation, Siemens spent $1 billion on attorneys and accountants and its internal controls.

companies under FcPa scrutiny have to take it seri-ously and hire lawyers, audi-tors and compliance special-ists, Koehler said.

But when companies are paying more than $1 million per working day, one can legitimately ask the ques-tion: has this turned into a boondoggle for everyone involved? BLOOMBERG

Wal-mart spends big in probe

A Wal-mart customer loads groceries into her car outside a Wal-mart in san Lorenzo, California. AFP

12 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

World

Seeking Expressions of Interest from Research Firm or Individual Consultant

Market Research, Analysis, and Design of Themes for a Forestry and Biodiversity

Awareness Raising Campaign

The USAID Supporting Forests and Biodiversity Project is being implemented by Winrock International and a consortium of partners.The Projects goal is to improve conservation and governance of the Eastern Plains and Prey Lang Landscapes to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity.The Project seeks expressions of interest from rms or individual consultants to perform rapid market research and analysis to inform the design of the campaign. The activity will be completed in 30 days from contract signing and identify the target audience and general themes of the campaign.If you have practical experience in this field, please submit a cover letter explaining relevant experience to smom@winrock.org or deliver the letter to the USAID Supporting Forests and Biodiversity Project ofce at the Phnom Penh Center, Building F, Room 588, Sothearos Blvd, Phnom Penh.Project ofce telephone is 023 220 714. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Closing date for proposals is April 3, 2014.

hunt on for mh370 boxesJustin McCurry

Un d e r w a t e r scanners for find-ing the black box flight recorders

from the missing malaysia airlines flight mh370 have ar-rived at the search headquar-ters as crews pin their hopes on new satellite images show-ing 122 pieces of possible de-bris in the area of the Indian Ocean where the plane is pre-sumed to have gone down.

an australian navy ship will sweep the seabed by towing an underwater listening de-vice deep below the surface in the hope of picking up an ultrasonic signal from one or both of the recorders, while a small submersible drone will be used to scan the sea floor for signs of wreckage.

the search for the plane, involving 11 planes and five ships, resumed yesterday in an area of the vast southern Indian Ocean where officials believe the plane ran out of fuel and crashed, killing all 239 people aboard.

the objects captured in satellite images on march 23 have been described by se-nior malaysian officials as the most credible lead yet as to the jetliners whereabouts.

malaysias transport minis-ter hishammuddin hussein said the images had been cap-tured by airbus defence and Space in France and covered an area of about 400 square kilometres located 2,557 kilo-metres from Perth.

the operation involves planes and ships from the US, china, Japan, South Korea, australia and new Zealand.

Officials from the austra-lian maritime Safety author-ity said the search yesterday

had been split into two areas totalling 78,000 square kilo-metres (30,000 square miles).

Locating and retrieving at least some of the floating ob-jects, ranging in length from one to 23 metres, could prove crucial in the absence of any physical evidence supporting the theory that mh370 ran out of fuel hours after it turned sharply off course and disap-peared from air traffic con-trollers screens over the South china Sea en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Search teams are hoping the detection equipment will be able to pick up acoustic pings emitted every second from the planes black box flight data recorder and cock-pit voice recorder.

each of the two record-ers has a beacon, attached to the outside of the black box, which once activated by

contact with water makes a sound every second.

But it is a race against time the beacons have a battery life of only 30 days, after which the pings begin to fade.

chuck Schofield of dukane Seacom, a company that has sold the pingers to malaysia airlines, said the batteries might last an additional five days before dying.

assuming the plane crashed on march 8, as malaysian officials insist, the beacons aboard mh370 will begin to fade around april 7 and could go silent around april 12.

the US navy tracking equipment a special listen-ing device known as a towed pinger locator and an un-derwater drone dubbed Blue-fin-21 has arrived in Perth, where the international effort is headquartered and is being sent to the search site.

reports said the equip-ment would be loaded on to the royal australian navys hmaS Ocean Shield, which will drag the locator through the water in the hope of pick-ing up a signal. the drone can dive to depths of about 4,500 metres, using sonar to form images of the ocean floor.

Similar technology was used to locate the main wreckage from air France flight 447 in 2011 yet it still took search-ers two years to recover the black box from the depths of the atlantic Ocean.

the operation has been hampered by bad weather and conditions were expected to deteriorate again late yester-day, prolonging the anguish of relatives after malaysian offi-cials said they had concluded that the aircraft had crashed into the sea with the loss of all on board. The guardian

Flight Lieutenant Jayson Nichols looks out of the cockpit of an RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft over cloud while searching for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean yesterday. aFP

the ImF announced yester-day a $14-18 billion bailout for Ukraine to avoid bank-ruptcy, but tied to painful and unpopular reforms amid the countrys escalating stand-off with russia.

the agreement in princi-ple worth the equivalent of 10.8-13.1 billion imposes tough economic conditions that will alter the lives Ukrai-nians who have grown ac-customed to the comforts of Soviet-era subsidies and so-cial welfare benefits.

But its also appears to her-ald a fundamental shift in Kiev from a reliance on russian help to save a crumbling sys-tem to a commitment to the types of free-market efficien-cies that could one day bring Ukraine far closer to the west.

Ukraines macroeconomic imbalances became unsus-tainable over the past year, the Funds Ukrainian mission chief nikolai Georgiyev said.

the ImFs rescue will form the heart of a broader pack-age by other governments and agencies amounting to $27 bil-lion over the next two years.

Georgiyev said the actual size of the standby arrange-ment would be determined only once the new western-backed leaders in Kiev made the first firm steps to imple-ment reforms the Fund had sought in vain from the cabi-net of Viktor Yanukovych.

that government was top-pled in February by deadly protests that claimed 100 lives and forced Yanukovych to seek shelter in russia.

the program will be ap-proved by the ImF board when the steps that I mentioned

are implemented, Georgiyev told reporters after holding a decisive round of talks with Ukrainian President arseniy Yatsenyuk on wednesday.

we expect [the approval] by the end of april.

the Fund has made an im-mediate end to Ukraines costly gas subsidies its main condition for the programs approval. It also wants the central bank to stop propping up the Ukrainian currency and the government to cut down on corruption and red tape.

the ImFs announcement came a day after Ukraines state energy company naf-togaz said it would increase domestic heating gas prices by 50 per cent on may 1.

Ukraines central bank has already limited its cur-rency interventions a deci-sion that has resulted in the hryvnia losing about a third of its value against the dollar since the start of the year.

the ImF programs formal approval in april will set in motion the release of further assistance from both washing-ton and the european Union.

economists believe that the Fund may have speeded up its procedures because of concerns that the Ukrainian government could become in-solvent within months.

Ukraines fast-depleting re-serves spent in previous years on propping up the currency at artificially high rates in or-der to avoid public discontent had reached levels sufficient to cover just two months of imports. the government needs to service $33.4 billion in interest and debt payments through 2016. aFP

ImF offers Kiev a $14bn bailout

THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

World13

Sisi quits army to run for president

Field marshal Sisi on Wednesday an-nounced he was quit-ting the army to run

for president. he is assured of winning egypts forthcom-ing presidential vote, but at the cost of reviving the era of strongman rule as he faces a dilapidated economy and ris-ing militancy.

analysts say abdel Fattah al-Sisi was certain to continue the crackdown on islamists that started when he overthrew elected president mohamed morsi in July. and, the experts say, with security issues likely to hamper Sisi from delivering on his promise of economic recovery, he could resort to repression more and more.

Sisis widely anticipated candidacy is being hailed by the millions of egyptians who are weary of more than three years of turmoil since the arab Spring overthrow of veteran strongman hosni mubarak.

But it is likely to further in-flame islamist protests and worry those secular activists who fear a return to rule by military men and the strong-arm tactics of the mubarak era. aside from morsi, every egyptian president has been drawn from, or installed by, the army.

dressed in army fatigues

for the last time in public, Sisi promised in a televised ad-dress to bolster the precari-ous economy and crush the terrorism that has surged since morsis overthrow.

michele dunne, at the car-negie endowment for Peace, said Sisis address suggested he would continue the crack-down on the islamists that has made little headway in restoring stability.

i didnt hear Field marshal Sisi say anything in the initial speech to suggest there will be a shift in the security strat-egy, she said.

Since morsis overthrow, his supporters have staged week-ly and at times violent pro-

tests, leading to the deaths of at least 1,400 people, mostly islamists, in clashes with po-lice. militants in the same period have killed more than 200 security personnel.

encouraged by many egyp-tians who view the islamists as destructive, the authorities have arrested some 15,000 people and placed thousands on trial. The unrest has bat-tered the economy, which is propped up by billions of dol-lars from friendly Gulf states.

regime human rights abus-es and islamist militant at-tacks on police are not new to egypt, having marred muba-raks three-decade presidency before his overthrow in a

popular uprising in 2011. But since morsis ousting they have surged to unprecedent-ed levels, dunne said.

egypt is now undergoing . . . the worst terrorism in de-cades dunne said. human rights are right now in a much worse state than they were under mubarak.

Sisi overthrew morsi after millions took to the streets demanding the resignation of the islamist president.

Sisis aides said the military chiefs intention was not to replace morsi but he had been swayed by popular demand.

despite assurances by Sisis camp that the mubaraks era would not be allowed to return, the cycle of violence and arrests is likely to con-tinue, analysts say, as both the state and the islamist op-position are equally opposed to serious compromise.

Prolonged unrest may ham-per Sisi from delivering on his promise of economic recov-ery, but it is unlikely to greatly erode his considerable sup-port in the short term, said Shadi hamid, an egypt expert at the Brookings institution.

if he cant deliver, which he probably wont be able to, then he will have to rely on his arsenal of repression, hamid said. AFP

Egypts Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announces his resignation from his military position on Wednesday. AFP

a NeW York jury on Wednes-day found Osama bin ladens son-in-law guilty of con-spiracy to kill americans and supporting terrorists as an im-passioned al-Qaeda spokes-man in 2001-2002. Suleiman abu Ghaith, 48, now faces life in prison after a three-week trial, which has been the high-est-profile al-Qaeda case to reach a US federal court.

The preacher from Kuwait stood impassively as the court clerk read out the verdict, declaring him guilty of con-spiracy to kill americans, conspiracy to provide mate-rial support and providing material support to terrorists.

The convict is most famous for sitting next to bin laden in a video on September 12, 2001, as the al-Qaeda mas-termind claimed the 9/11 at-tacks that killed nearly 3,000 people the day before.

Prosecutors said the first thing Bin laden did after the hijackings was recruit the tal-ented, respected orator to take al-Qaeda propaganda global.

in videos, abu Ghaith threatened a storm of air-planes, proof the government said that he was implicated in a december 2001 plot to blow up a transatlantic flight with

a shoe bomb. The 12-person jury took just four hours of de-liberations to return the unan-imous verdict. afterwards, abu Ghaith touched his heart in thanks, smiling at his lawyers. Wearing his habitual dark suit, with open-necked white shirt, he appeared relaxed despite having pleaded innocent.

The government and cam-paigners seized on the trial as proof that terror cases could be tried more effectively in ci-vilian courts as pressure builds to close Guantanamo Bay.

We hope this verdict brings some small measure of comfort to the families of the victims of al-Qaedas murder-ous designs, manhattan US attorney Preet Bharara said.

defence lawyer Stanley cohen said he would appeal, accusing the judge of being coercive, and taking issue with Judge lewis Kaplans instructions to the jury and his decision not to allow pre-sumed 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh mohammed to testify.

his client was stoic and at ease, he said. he has confidence that this is not the end but the beginning. We think there are a number of compelling issues for an ap-peal, cohen said. AFP

Bin laden son-in-law found guilty of terror

World14 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

China quake activist freed after five yearsA Chinese activist who investigated whether shoddy construction caused the deaths of thousands of children when their schools collapsed in a 2008 earthquake was released yesterday after finishing a five-year jail term, his lawyer said. Writer and campaigner Tan Zuoren, 59, was sentenced for inciting subversion of state power in connection with several articles he published online about the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen square pro-democracy protests. But he was arrested while investigating the deaths of thousands of children whose schools collapsed in a huge quake in sichuan. AFP

Thai PM loses delay bidThAilAnds anti-corruption authorities rejected a request yesterday by Prime Minister Yingluck shinawatra to extend a deadline to defend herself against negligence charges that could see her banned from politics. Yingluck has been summoned to appear before the national Anti-Corruption Commission by Monday. her legal team asked the panel for 45 more days to prepare its case, according to one of her lawyers, norrawit larlaeng. They . . . said our reasons were not logical and weve had enough time, he said. AFP

a star is killed

Tiger death a show for rich: report

More than 10 tigers have been killed as visual feasts to entertain of-ficials and rich businessmen in a Chinese city, state media reported.

Police in Zhanjiang in the southern province of Guangdong seized a freshly slaughtered tiger and multiple tiger products in a raid this month, said the Nanfang Daily, the mouthpiece of the provincial Communist Party.

Local officials and successful businesspeople gathered to watch the tigers being killed as eye-openers to show off their social stature, it said.

Video footage of a killing two years ago showed a tiger, kept in an iron cage, having electrified iron prodded into its mouth with a wooden stick and passing out after being electrocuted for more than 10 seconds, the paper said.

An experienced cattle or pig slaughterer is normally hired to butcher the carcass, it said, adding that tiger bones sold for an average of 14,000 yuan ($2,300) a kilogram, while the meat fetched 1,000 yuan a kilogram.

Police said a butcher who jumped to his death evading arrest had killed more than 10 animals, Wednesdays report added. AFP

manila, rebels sign peace dealT

he biggest muslim rebel group in the Philippines signed a historic pact yester-

day to end one of asias longest and deadliest conflicts, prom-ising to give up their arms for an autonomous homeland.

Following four decades of fighting that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, the moro Islamic Liberation Front (mILF) signed the peace deal with President Benigno aqui-nos government at a high-profile ceremony in manila.

The comprehensive ag- reement on Bangsamoro is the crowning glory of our struggle, mILF chairman murad ebrahim said at the signing ceremony, using a lo-cal term that refers to a mus-lim homeland.

With this agreement the legitimate aspirations of the Bangsamoro and the commit-ment of the government of the Philippines to recognise those aspirations are now sealed.

The pact makes the mILF and the government partners in a plan to create a southern autonomous region for the Philippines muslim minority with locally elected leaders by mid-2016.

What is being presented before us now is a path that can lead to a permanent

change in muslim mindanao, aquino said at the ceremony, which was attended by more than 1,000 people.

The Bangsamoro region would cover about 10 per cent of territory in the mainly catholic Philippines. The planned region has a major-ity of muslims, but there are clusters of catholic-dominat-ed communities.

muslim rebels have been battling since the 1970s for independence or autonomy in the southern islands of the Philippines, which they re-

gard as their ancestral home-land dating back to when arabic traders arrived there in the 13th century.

The conflict has condemned millions of people across large parts of the resource-rich min-danao region to brutal pov-erty, plagued by muslim and christian warlords as well as outbreaks of fighting that has led to mass displacements.

The conflict and poverty have also been fertile condi-tions for Islamic extremism, with the al-Qaeda-linked abu Sayyaf group and other hard-

line militants making remote regions of mindanao their strongholds.

The mILF, which the mili-tary estimates has 10,000 fighters, is easily the biggest muslim rebel group in mind-anao, and the political settle-ment was greeted with relief and optimism in the south.

I am really happy. In the face of all the hardship of our parents, we, the next gen-eration, hope and pray that christians and muslims will have peace, mona rakman, 42, a mother of four who lives close to the mILF headquar-ters, said.

The autonomous region would have its own police force, a regional parliament and power to levy taxes, while revenues from the regions vast deposits of natural re-sources would be split with the national government.

It would have a secular gov-ernment, rather than being an Islamic state. The national government would retain control over such matters as defence, foreign policy, cur-rency and citizenship.

There are about 10 million muslims in the Philippines, roughly 10 per cent of the population, according to gov-ernment statistics. most live in the south of the country. AFP

Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao celebrate yesterdays signing of a peace agreement. AFP

THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

World15

Ndrangheta made more than Deutsche Bank and mcDonalds put together

The Ndrangheta mafia from southern Italy made more money last year than Deut-

sche Bank and mcDonalds put together with a turnover of 53 billion ($73 billion), a study has claimed.

The study by the Demosko-pika resea rch inst itute detailed the international crime syndicates sources of revenue, including drug traf-ficking which brought in an estimated 24.2 billion and illegal garbage disposal, which earned it 19.6 billion.

The southern Italian mafia earned the equivalent of 3.5 per cent of Italys GDP last year, said the report based on analysis of documents from Italys interior ministry and police, parliaments anti-mafia commission and the national anti-mafia task force.

The Ndrangheta is thought to have about 400 key opera-tives in 30 countries, but its activities are believed to involve as many as 60,000 people worldwide, the report said.

extortion and usury last year brought in a substantial 2.9 billion, while embezzlement earned the mafia 2.4 billion and gambling 1.3 billion.

arms sales, prostitution, counterfeiting goods and people smuggling were less lucrative, bringing in less than 1 billion together.

The Ndrangheta whose name comes from the Greek for courage or loyalty has a tight clan structure which has made it famously difficult to penetrate. With its network of hundreds of family gangs based around the southern region of calabria, it is even more feared and secretive than the Sicilian mafia.

Its roots go back to a criminal association specialised in gam-bling, the Garduna, which was created in the Spanish city of Toledo in 1412. It spread to calabria, one of Italys poorest regions, and started building up as a crime network based on kidnapping for ransom.

Pope Francis last week called on Italys mafia groups to stop doing evil as he met relatives of their victims to demonstrate the catholic churchs opposi-tion to organised crime.

There is still time to avoid ending up in hell, he warned mafiosi, telling them to relin-quish their blood-stained money which cannot be tak-en into paradise. THE GUARDIAN

a maN believed to be the worlds longest-serving death row inmate was granted a re-trial yesterday after decades in solitary confinement, in a rare about-face for Japans rigid justice system.

Shizuoka District court in central Japan ordered a fresh trial for Iwao hakamada, 78, over the grisly 1966 murder of his boss and the mans family.

Presiding judge hiroaki mu-rayama said he was concerned that investigators could have planted evidence to win a con-viction as they sought to bring closure to a crime that had shocked the country.

There is possibility that [key pieces of] evidence have been fabricated by investigative bodies, murayama said in his ruling, according to Jiji Press.

Shizuoka prosecutors, who have three days to appeal the decision, told Japanese media that the courts decision was unexpected.

apart from the US, Japan is the only major industrialised democracy to carry out capital punishment, a practice that is repeatedly protested against by european governments and human rights groups. AFP

Longest on death row wins retrial

Stuck in the middleA woman on Tuesday stands next to her house, destroyed during clashes between government forces and armed movements on March 13. The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur restarted operations immediately after the clashes between government forces and an alleged paramilitary group. The violence has displaced some 200,000 civilians in Darfur in the past month alone. Allegations have been made that the Rapid Support Forces, a part of the Sudan Armed Forces, are behind attacks on villages. Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, has described the RSF as almost like a mercenary army of 6,000 men. The unit returned to Darfur earlier this year after supporting government operations against rebels in South Kordofan state. Since then a series of attacks have occurred in North and South Darfur. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, who heads UNAMID, said anti-government rebels, who also attacked some areas recently, must also halt their aggression. They have proven incapable of defeating Sudan Armed Forces and only increase the suffering of the people of Darfur, he said. AFP

World16 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 28, 2014

Dwarf planet find hints at hidden Super EarthIan Sample

aStronomErS have in-creased the size of the ob-servable solar system after spotting a 450-kilometre-

wide object orbiting the sun. the lump of ice and rock circles the sun at a greater distance than any known object, and never gets closer than 12 billion kilometres 80 times the dis-tance from Earth to the sun.

If its size is confirmed it could qualify as a dwarf planet in the same category as Pluto. researchers said the discovery proves the existence of the inner oort cloud, a region of icy bodies that lies far beyon