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Remnants of a golden era

Kevin PonniahSiem Reap

THE ancient temples of Angkor have entered the digital age before most of modern Cam-bodia has.

From the intricate bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat to the watchful smiles of Bayon, more than 100 temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park have been digitised and mapped at a first-person perspective, meaning it’s now possible to roam the cradle of the Khmer Empire from your living room.

Since July, tech giant Google, in part-nership with the Ministry of Tourism

and the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA), has stitched together more than a million photos to create 90,000 panoramic images that allow a 360-degree vir-tual tour of Angkor.

Google funded the project – launched yesterday to a throng of international press – entirely on its own, but it is expected to be a boon for Cambodian tourism while creating a repository for Khmer culture and history.

The imagery will also be available at

the online Google Cultural Institute, where nearly 300 Angkor-related arte-facts are already displayed.

Google, which has also deployed its Street View cars to the streets of the Kingdom with an eye to adding more ground-level maps of Cambodia, remains better known for its search engine and other functional tools than its cultural contributions.

But Manik Gupta, who leads all of Google’s mapping efforts, says such cultural projects are not divorced from the company’s aim of “organising the

world’s information” and then making it freely accessible.

“Obviously, everyone knows that Angkor is the eighth wonder of the world, [but] it’s hard to imagine the sheer beauty of this site and the cul-tural significance unless you actually go visit it, and for us . . . it’s [about] really helping Asia and the rest of the world bring their culture online – that is the reason we do this,” he said.

The company has done similar projects at UNESCO World Heritage sites including the Taj Mahal in India, the Palace of Versailles in France,

Seeing Angkor from homeGoogle offers 360 ̊virtual tour

continues on page 4

Blast kills five from CambodiaVong Sokheng and Daniel Pye

AT LEAST five Cambodians, two of them children, were among those killed in a horrific accident on Wednesday when a World War II-era bomb exploded at a scrap metal warehouse in Bangkok, a Cambodian official said yesterday.

The massive 225-kilogram bomb, a remnant of Allied air raids on Thai-land’s capital, killed at least seven people and injured at least 19, accord-ing to Thai officials.

The bomb was found at a construc-tion site by builders and taken to the scrap merchant, where workers, thinking it had been defused, tried to take it apart with a blowtorch.

A video of the aftermath of the blast shows investigators picking through the rubble amid thick smoke and a huge crater in the centre of what used to be the warehouse.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Min-istry of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday that the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok had told his office that five

continues on page 6a Google employee wearing a camera backpack referred to as a ‘trekker’ walks around angkor wat in Siem reap province yesterday demonstrating methods used to digitally map the temple complex. PHA LINA

Daniel Pye

AUSTRALIA’S immigration minister, Scott Morrison, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng in Phnom Penh yesterday for talks following a contro-versial request by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in February for Cambodia to take in some of its refugees.

The closed-door meeting at the Ministry of Interior came a day after Morrison signed a deal that would allow refugees housed in Australia’s controversial offshore Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guin-ea to be resettled in that country.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong yesterday confirmed that the meeting had taken place.

“Australian Immigration Minister [Morrison] met with Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng [yesterday] morn-ing at the Interior Ministry,” he said, adding that he could not go into the details of what was discussed.

Morrison’s office said in a statement yesterday that he was in Phnom Penh to “further discussions on regional cooperation on people-smuggling issues, following on from the earlier visit by [Bishop]”.

“Australia has ongoing engagement with countries across our region on strengthening border protection and deterring the illegal movement of people across borders,” the state-ment reads.

Phay Siphan, spokesman at the Council of Ministers, said he had not been briefed on the meeting but that the Foreign Ministry may release information at a later date.

“I haven’t yet heard the comments [from the meeting]. [The Foreign Min-istry] may respond to the proposal on the refugee issue,” he said.

Australian Embassy officials did not respond to requests for comment yes-terday, and Morrison declined to take a call from a Post reporter to his hotel room. Cambodian Foreign Minister

continues on page 6

Sar Kheng meets with Oz official

National 2 THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Sen David

aBOUT 150 garment workers fainted at two factories owned by the same firm in the capi-tal’s por Sen Chey district yes-terday, after lunch provided to employees allegedly caused food poisoning.

Workers at the Shen Zhou and Daqian Textile factories, both owned by Shen Zhou Group and both suppliers to puma, adidas and Nike, began fainting at about 8am yester-day, Worker Friendship Union Federation president Seang Sambath said.

“i suggest the company ex-amines the meals they provide workers, especially the chick-en,” Sambath said yesterday. “The company must ensure hygienic meals.”

Many employees at Daqian, which accounted for about 100 of the faintings, started showing symptoms of food poisoning, including diar-rhoea, soon after eating lunch on Tuesday, said Vey Srey Moa, a worker there.

Most worked through the sickness after eating the ques-tionable meat, Srey Moa said as she recovered at Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.

“We ate chicken at lunch, and i thought the chicken looked sour,” she said. “after

eating it, we got diarrhoea, and two days later, we fainted.”

about 61 employees at the Shen Zhou factory had first fainted on Tuesday after eat-ing the same chicken.

Then, approximately 50 Shen Zhou workers still feel-ing the effects of the meal fainted yesterday morning, Chan Soda, an employee who collapsed yesterday, said.

“i had no strength and could not stand up at work,” Soda added.

Those who fainted were brought to Khmer-Soviet, in-dependence clinic, Mol Met clinic and Choam Chao clinic, por Sen Chey District Gover-nor Hem Darith said.

Yesterday’s incident oc-curred two days after about 50 employees at the New Wide factory in por Sen Chey fainted after allegedly being exposed to insecticide fumes.

The high volume of workers fainting highlights the need for more meticulous work-place inspections and higher wages, which would enable workers to buy healthier food, Yeng Virak, executive director for the Community legal Edu-cation Center, said.

Managers at Shen Zhou and Daqian could not be reached yesterday. ADDITIONAL REPORTING

BY SEAN TEEHAN

illness, faintings after factory-funded meals

Garment workers are treated at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh yesterday after fainting. VIREAK MAI

licadho data ‘not real’: gov’tMay Titthara and Alice Cuddy

THE government yesterday ac-cused licadho of producing wildly misleading figures on land grabs, following the rights group’s

announcement earlier this week that land conflicts in Cambodia have affected more than half a million people since 2000.

Speaking at a press conference yester-day, Sar Sovan, secretary of state at the Ministry of land Management, Urban planning and Construction, said the min-istry does not accept the NGO’s findings, adding that the government has its own, more accurate figures.

“The ministry does not recognise this figure, because it is not real. The figure we have in our hands now is not research. it’s real, and i have enough numbers to prove it,” Sovan said.

But licadho director Naly pilorge slammed the ministry’s dismissal.

“[Yesterday’s] reaction is a typical denial by a government that consistently ignores evidence-based criticism whilst failing to address the hard facts,” she said.

“The government, and in particular the land Ministry, would do better to spend its time coming up with lasting so-lutions to the problem of land grabbing than holding press conferences to deny the undeniable.”

in May 2012, prime Minister Hun Sen issued a moratorium on new economic land concessions, and initiated a land-titling scheme shortly thereafter.

according to figures collected by the ministry since then, “of every 1,000 land titles [issued, there are just] three or four conflicts”, Sovan said.

Sovan added that in the 357 communes across the country in which land-titling has taken place, land conflicts are not a major problem.

“On average, one village has disputes [affecting] less than one person,” he said.

“The accusation of failure is not real.”according to licadho, however, the

“shameful milestone” of half a million conflicts only scratches the surface of the problem.

“The figure of half a million Cambodi-ans affected is based only on land con-flicts that have been investigated by li-cadho’s 13 provincial offices over the past 13 years,” pilorge said.

“This is only half the country and as such the figure does not begin to repre-sent the true number of individuals af-fected throughout the country.”

People involved in a land row work in Koh Kong last month on a boat that a family has been using for shelter after Union Development Group allegedly burned down their house. HENG CHIVOAN

APOLOGYThe Phnom Penh Post would like to apolo-gise for using art developed by Our Books in an in-house advertisement yesterday without prior consultation.

National3THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Continued from page 1

Pompeii in Italy and Mount Fuji in Japan, though the Ang-kor temples are the largest cul-tural artefacts that have been mapped in this way, the com-pany says.

Gupta admits that Cambo-dia’s low internet penetration – 2.7 million web users out of 14 million people as of 2012 – means the imagery will largely be accessed by foreign users, but says he hopes Cambodians will feel “proud they have these iconic temples available” to the world.

The imagery offers high-def-inition, close-up views of intri-cate carvings such as the cele-brated Churning of the Sea of Milk bas-relief at Angkor Wat, which depicts Lord Vishnu coaxing demons and gods into churning the ocean to produce the elixir of immortality.

But it also provides a glimpse into the monuments’ more recent past. A piece of graffiti carved into a column at Angkor Wat by a French traveller marked “Le 8 Novembre 1885” was clearly visible during a dig-ital tour.

In order to capture temple interiors and exteriors where Street View cars can’t travel, a

team of five Cambodians work-ing for Google traversed the sites on foot, wearing camera-laden backpacks known as Trekkers.

Weighing 18kg, with 15 cam-era lenses sitting well above the wearer’s head and shooting pictures every 2.5 seconds, it is these camera platforms that create the 360-degree pano-ramic views from every ledge, crevice and stairway of the centuries-old temples.

Orm Rotha, a 34-year-old from Pailin, was one of those who spent months slowly walk-ing around the temples with a Trekker, but he laughs away the idea that it was a physically gruelling job.

“I am very happy to work with Google and especially to bring the beautiful images of Cambodia, such as Angkor Wat, to the world to let them know better about what Cambodia [has to offer],” he says, standing at the foot of the temple, remaining enthusiastic after hours of helping curious jour-nalists try on the gear.

“I never thought that our country will have these Street View images like in other coun-tries . . . and I am so grateful and proud that I can bring the image of Cambodia to the world.”

This imagery, while hope-fully finally defeating the notion that Angkor encompasses only the single site of Angkor Wat, will also hopefully bump up tourist numbers, said Khoun Khun Neay, deputy director-general of the Authority for Protection and Management of

Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA).

“The collection of images will show anyone with an internet connection the intricacy, beau-ty and sheer scale of the site, which measures more than 400 square kilometres,” he says.

“This constitutes a tool for promotion of tourism. I sup-pose that people everywhere can [view this] virtually . . . and after that they would like to come to see [in person]. It’s a way for promotion of the site.”

Skyrocketing numbers of tourists visiting the temples in recent years has led to con-cerns that the ancient monu-ments, particularly Angkor Wat, are being damaged.

“Tourists coming more and more, of course this becomes a problem for us . . . but it’s a matter of management, and we are working on that,” Khun Neay says.

“[But] let’s make a compari-son, Pompeii in Italy, they receive regularly, every year, 10 million tourists [and] the site is very small in comparison with Angkor. Now we are 2.5 million [here], I think we have more room to take in more tourists.”

In a statement, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon praised the technology for allowing Cambodia to share its “breath-taking wonders” and said the virtual imagery would not only result in more tourists, but also tourists visiting more diverse areas.

Sun Chanthol, minister for commerce, said the project “will surely contribute to the growth of our tourism industry, an industry that is already driv-ing significant economic growth and employment in Cambodia”.

Amit Sood, director of the Google Cultural Institute, admits that a digital rendering of Ang-kor, no matter how high-defini-tion or detailed, will never be able to match the real thing.

“Watching the sunset over Angkor Wat is a physical, beau-tiful, emotional experience that I don’t think can be replicated online. So if you ask me, ‘Hey, you’re doing all this, is this

going to replicate the physical?’ I don’t think it can. It never will. These places have stood for hundreds of years . . . purely because the physical is criti-cal.”

But to Sood, that doesn’t mean that culture should be excluded from those who can’t afford to make the trip.

“There are millions and millions of people who just don’t have access to any of this stuff, physically, either for financial reasons or just a lack of being able to travel to these locations. And those are the people that I’m very interested in connecting with this information.”

Khun Neay, from the APSARA Authority, puts it more simply.

“I think it’s important to let people have a choice . . . you know you see a picture of a lady, but if you meet her in person it’s a different feeling. We don’t fear that problem.” ADDITIONAL

REPORTING BY KOAM CHANRASMEY

National 4 THE PHNOM PENH POST APRIL 4, 2014

Google’s virtual tour

A Google employee wearing a camera backpack walks around Angkor Wat in Siem Reap yesterday. PHA LINA

A Google Street View car, which will be used to photograph the streets of Cambodia, parked in front of Angkor Wat yesterday. PHA LINA

Sochua hits road after park ousterKhouth Sophak Chakryaand Alice Cuddy

OPPOSITION lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua protested for her “right to freedom” for the third day running at Freedom Park

yesterday and was once again forcibly ejected from the area by security forces.

But the now-familiar encounter de-parted from the script when she left the area and went on a walk across the city, running into various authorities along the way.

Sochua arrived at the park near Wat Phnom at about 8:20am yesterday and was met by supporters of her solo cam-paign to express her rights in an area that she said should stand for “freedom of expression”.

“I didn’t see the [security forces] drill-ing, so I rushed into the middle of the park and was surrounded by the same security forces as before. I sat down and was physically lifted up,” she said.

Sochua, who was also removed from

the park on Tuesday and Wednesday, said she managed to hold her ground for about 45 minutes before once again be-ing moved on.

Video of the scene was posted to her Facebook page later in the day.

After leaving, Sochua began a chaotic walk to the Cambodia National Rescue Party headquarters.

Outside the Ministry of Education, she said she was met by about 10 armed police officers. “They tried to make me take a detour. I told them I have a right to walk.”

She was later stopped in front of Min-ister of Interior Sar Kheng’s house by se-curity forces, while military police out-side Prime Minister Hun Sen’s home let her pass.

Sochua said she was also met by police and security forces when she stopped at Independence Monument to “thank the King for giving us independence”.

It was about 11:45am when she eventu-ally made it to her party’s headquarters.

City Hall banned public gatherings in

Phnom Penh following violent clashes in early January and the clearing of a pro-test camp in Freedom Park. The ban was subsequently lifted across the city with the exception of the park, which remains off-limits to protesters.

Long Dimanche, spokesman for Phnom Penh Municipal Hall, said Soch-ua had once again provoked the security forces into action.

“[She] attempted to provoke the peo-ple to protest in Freedom Park, which we have banned until the investigation committee releases the official result of its investigation [into January protests],” he said.

“She tried to test the capacity and ability of our security guards who stand for banning anyone who wants to protest or [exercise] their freedom of ex-pression there.”

Sochua said she would return to the park today but that it will be the last time until after Khmer New Year.

“When I return, I will do exactly the same thing every day.”

Phak Seangly

THE Areng Chorng ethnic mi-nority group yesterday submit-ted five petitions – addressed to the UN office in Cambodia and four government institu-tions – seeking a halt to the Sinohydro dam project in Koh Kong province.

After blocking Sinohydro from entering the dam site in the Areng Valley for four weeks, six representatives of the 600 affected families ap-proached the UN office, the National Assembly, the Minis-try of Environment, the Min-istry of Mines and Energy and the Council for the Develop-ment of Cambodia, said Ven Vorn, one of the representa-tives sent to Phnom Penh.

Today, they plan to submit the same letter to the Chinese

embassy and the Council of Ministers, asking for the can-cellation of all studies and construction involved with the Areng Valley dam.

According to the petition, the project would lead to the eviction of 600 ethnic families as well as the destruction of 20,000 hectares of forest, and with it the habitat of numer-ous endangered fauna.

“We do not want the com-pensation . . . What we want is no dam to be built, as the dam will destroy our life, animals, and wild forest,” representa-tive Hing Pov said.

Pov expressed hope yester-day the institutions would take the group’s concerns seriously.

The recipients will investi-gate to find a solution for the people, government adviser Thoeuk Kroeun Vutha said.

Ethnic group petitions UN to halt Areng dam

National 5THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Bus strikeDrivers seek more pay, less liability

MORE THAN 60 wor-kers employed by Phnom Penh Sorya

Transportation Company in the capital’s Russey Keo dis-trict went on strike yesterday with a litany of demands, including a $60 monthly wage increase, workers and com-pany representatives said.

Workers also called for an end to a company policy requiring employees to shoul-der a deposit ranging from $100-$500, in case of an acci-dent, and a fine of about $750 if caught transporting people or goods without a ticket.

During the three-hour negotiation yesterday, Chan Sophanna, the company ma-nager, agreed to cancel the $750 fine, leading about 20 employees to return to work.

However, Doch Saron, 43, an employee at Soraya, said he and about 60 others will continue striking until they receive a raise, overtime, and a $6 tip during each shift.

Sophanna said workers already receive overtime, and tips amounting to up to $100 depending on their schedule. KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA

National6 THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

polonsky extradition reviewed

Krom families protest eviction

Kim Sarom

THE Supreme Court heard an appeal on Wednesday against a lower court’s decision to suspend the extradition of property tycoon Sergei polonsky to his native russia, where he is want-ed on charges of fraud.

Supreme Court prosecutor Seng Bun Kheang said the Court of appeal’s decision in January not to extradite polonsky until he faces court over a separate crim-inal case here did not comply with Cambodian law.

“The Court of appeal has abused the law by overturning the case,” Bun Kheang said. “i would like the council judges [of the Supreme Court] to recon-sider this case.”

Supreme Court judge Kim Sathavy confirmed yesterday that a hearing had taken place on Wednesday following a

request from the court’s general prosecutor Chea leang.

But polonsky’s defence lawyer Benson Samay said yesterday that a court prosecutor had “no right to intervene personally”.

“i think that the request is not

official,” Samay said. “it is a pri-vate request. if it is an official request, it will be made through the government.”

a decision is expected on april 25.

polonsky, who owns Koh Dek Koul, an island off Cambodia’s coast, faces charges related to an unfinished $176 million devel-opment project in Moscow.

The businessman was arrested in December, accused of being

violent towards six boatmen dur-ing a cruise near his island. He was held in prison for more than three months over the incident, before being released on bail on the condition he remain in the country. in the ensuing months, he travelled to israel before returning to the Kingdom.

He was arrested again in November after russia released a warrant for his arrest and his details were posted on interpol’s website.

The Court of appeal released him on bail in January after the decision was made to suspend his extradition. No date has been set for his trial in Cambodia.

Since his first arrest in Cambo-dia, polonsky – reportedly a bil-lionaire before the global finan-cial crisis – has frequently used social media to protest his inno-cence and document his time in prison.

Chhay Channyda and Laignee Barron

SiXTY-EiGHT Khmer Krom families in Takeo province allege they are being forcibly evicted, charged by fishery authorities with illegally occupying a nature preserve.

Yesterday, three representatives from the Borei Choslar district, Sangkum Meanchey village were summonsed to court.

“We were afraid we would be arrested, so we had to thumbprint a statement agreeing that we will not go to work on our rice fields again,” said Vy Chan, 56, one of the Khmer Krom rep-resentatives. “But, we will still go to work on our fields, because we have grown them since the 1990s.”

The villagers, who immigrated to the area from Can Tho, Veitnam, claim squatter’s rights on the land, which a 2007 sub-decree established as a 8,000-hectare wildlife sanctuary.

“Don’t say [the villagers] came first. They came to clear the land after we [installed] a protected area,” said Sao Kosal, deputy director of the pro-vincial fisheries administration.

But land officials say the villagers may have grounds to contest the eviction orders.

“There are laws and guidelines protecting local communities’ rights,” said Beng Hong Socheat Khemro, a spokesman for the Ministry of land Management. “[Forestry officials] can-not just put up a fence and call it a protected area.”

The villagers plan to file a complaint with pro-vincial authorities next week, and rights groups have agreed to help.

“We are concerned for their case, because they don’t have any lawyers to represent them before the court and their case is not being treated fairly,” said ang Chanrith, executive director of the Minority rights Organization.

Sar Kheng meetingContinued from page 1

Hor Namhong said in February that Bishop had proposed Cambodia resettle refugees in a meeting with prime Minister Hun Sen.

australia neither confirmed nor denied the request had been made, while Cambodia later said that it would not welcome refugees who wished to use the country as a “springboard” for political activities, raising ques-tions about what protection Cambodia could offer.

phil robertson, deputy direc-tor of Human rights Watch’s asia division, said Morrison’s visit showed the abbott gov-ernment’s “shameful” stance on refugees.

“The abbott government’s shameful, rights abusing behaviour regarding refugees and asylum seekers apparently has no limits, and the arrival of Scott Morrison in phnom penh indicates the thoroughly bad idea of transferring australia’s responsibilities to Cambodia is still alive and kicking,” he said in an email.

“it’s time for UNHCr to stand up and say that this is unacceptable, and for Cambo-dia to drop the proposal alto-gether.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY

SHANE WORRELL

Thai blast kills five CambodiansContinued from page 1 Cambodian nationals were among as many as 10 con-firmed killed in the blast.

“We received information from our embassy in Bangkok, confirming that five Cambo-dian people were killed, two children being among them,” he said. “Five Thais were also killed, 16 wounded, and two are missing.”

The warehouse in Soi lat plakhao 72 in Bang Khen dis-trict was operating without a licence, according to Thai offi-cials, but had been in business for more than 10 years.

Bangkok deputy police chief ake angsananond said yester-day that the body parts of a young girl, who would be the eighth victim, were discovered as police continued to search the building debris. He said up to 20 people were now thought to have been injured.

local media reported four of the Cambodian victims were from Oddar Meanchey prov-ince’s preah Neth preah district and a fifth from Siem reap province’s Krolanh district.

a spokeswoman for Bang-kok’s Erewan Emergency Center, where the injured are being treated, told the Post yesterday afternoon that sev-

en deaths had been confirmed and another, a young girl, was presumed dead.

There are “19 injured and seven dead”, the spokeswom-an said. “Eight [are thought to be dead], but we have not confirmed this.”

“The workers at the ware-house thought the bomb was no longer active, so they used a metal cutter to cut into it, causing the explosion,” local

police commander Virasak Foythong said.

The Thai Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Kuong said his office had not yet received detailed informa-tion about the deceased.

“We don’t have detailed in-formation about the incident yet as our ambassador has been working with his Thai counterparts at the site of the

explosion,” he added.The deaths come after sev-

en Cambodians were killed by a falling beam at a con-struction site in Thailand’s Samut prakan province in February. Four of the seven – employed by italian-Thai Development Co – were later revealed to have crossed into Thailand illegally to work. AD-

DITIONAL REPORTING BY BANGKOK POST

AND AFP

A Thai fireman stands inside a scrap metal warehouse after a large World War II bomb that workers tried to cut open exploded in Bangkok on Wednesday. AFP

The Court of Appeal has abused the law by overturning this

case

National 7THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Pair hits bottom of barrel with fake noteA SLAB of beer turned out to be the undoing of a pair of Kampot men passing counter-feit bills on Tuesday. Police said the duo stopped into a Kam-pong district shop and pur-chased the suds with a crisp $100 note. After they left, closer examination by the suspicious cashier revealed the truth and a call was made to police. Thir-ty minutes later, they were in custody, though both said they were unaware the cash was fake. RASmei KAmPucheA

Big boozy brawl ruins a night on the tilesA DRiNK denied, like a moto untended, has all-too-predicta-ble consequences. So learned two men on Tuesday night in Banteay meanchey’s monkul Borei district. Police said the duo was walking past a local watering hole when a pair of overzealous boozers, ones they’d tussled with in the past, insisted they sit down for a drink. The subsequent refusal set our suspects’ blood boiling and the row soon escalated into an attack. Both victims were sent to hospital, while the attackers were arrested that same night. RASmei KAmPucheA

Brutal cleaver attack leaves man bloodiedA FOOD vendor’s trip to the market ended in bloody violence yesterday in Kampong cham town during an attempted moto theft. Police said the 40-year-old man was driving with his wife to buy food at about 5am when three men with a cleaver over-took them on a motorbike, blocking their way, and then hacked at the man, leaving him unconscious and bloodied as they sped off on his moto. Police are now looking for the three louts, and the victim is recover-ing in hospital. KOh SANTePheAP

RCAF military might too much for mere thugsAN OFF-DuTY RcAF officer out with his wife and daughter is recovering from minor injuries after a brush with danger on Tuesday night. Police said the officer was driving on a side street in the capital’s meanchey district when three “gangsters” blocked his way and began cursing at him. When he pro-tested, they began to punch and slap him and made a grab for his gun. During the struggle, the gun fired into the air, bringing nearby military police running and sending the suspects flee-ing into the night. KOh SANTePheAP

Raucous robbers rouse snoozing moto owner FiVe noisy thieves saw their plan to steal five motorbikes crumble in the wee hours yes-terday in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district. Police said the gang, aged 18 to 22, were half-way home in their theft attempt when they awoke the home’s owner, who called police. As cops swooped in, three of the men bolted on one of the motos, leaving behind four of their would-be rides and two com-panions. The duo in custody confessed, saying it was their first offence. Deum AmPiL

Translated by Phak Seangly

PolicebloTTer

assembly OKs law to patch up roadwaysMeas Sokchea

a DraFT law meant to improve the maintenance and construc-tion of Cambodia’s dilapidating roads was passed yesterday in a one-sided session of the National assembly that saw rul-ing party lawmakers lambast public Works and Transport Minister Tram iv Tek for his allegedly poor stewardship.

iv Tek acknowledged yester-day that the companies building the roads were not held to a high enough standard – something he would be empowered to take action against under the new law – and maintained that roads were mostly damaged by over-loaded trucks that went unpun-ished by corrupt weigh station operators, who would also be punished under the law.

The opposition Cambodia National rescue party was not at the session, but Cambodian people’s party lawmaker loy Sophat called the practice of shoddily repairing shoddily built roads a waste of resources.

“if the old roads are seriously damaged, and we spend money to fix them again and again, we will not be able to collect money to build new roads,” he said.

Cpp lawmaker pen panha said it didn’t matter where the minister stood on the issue as it was his job to go after cor-ruption in his ministry.

“i agree with a few lawmakers who say that it doesn’t matter if you’re a white cat or a black cat provided you can catch a mouse,” panha said.

Men sit next to a truck after it ran off the road in Mondulkiri province last year. hONG meNeA

Traffic fatalities on riseMom Kunthear

FaTaliTiES on Cam-bodia’s roadways in-creased 3.5 per cent in the first three months

of the year compared to the same period in 2013, an offi-cial said yesterday.

road accidents as a whole rose nearly 10 per cent.

“The main causes for the ac-cidents were speeding drivers,

carelessness, alcohol and a lack of respect for traffic laws,” said preap Chanvibol, director of the land transport depart-ment at the Ministry of public Works and Transport.

Chanvibol said that from January through March, traf-fic accidents jumped to 1,273 cases from 1,159 in the same 2013 period. road fatalities rose from 556 last year to 576 during the same period this year.

a final discussion regarding new traffic legislation, which would, among other changes, raise fines for violations and require passengers on motor-bikes to wear helmets, is slated to take place at the Ministry of Justice today, Chanvibol said.

“Then we will send it for discussion between [relevant] ministries, and after that to the Council of Ministers and on to the National assembly.”

buth reaksmey Kongkea

a CapTaiN in the royal Cam-bodian armed Forces was convicted by the phnom penh Municipal Court yesterday of running an illegal cockfighting ring.

presiding judge Suos Sam ath fined Captain Tuy pha, 46, 5 million riel ($1,250) and sentenced him to one year in prison – but suspended all but the roughly three months already served – for operating an illegal cockfighting arena in the capital’s Sen Sok district.

Sen Sok district police chief Mak Hong said yesterday pha was arrested on January 18.

“He was arrested while po-lice raided his cockfighting arena . . . and while he was bet-ting on the cockfighting.”

During the raid, he con-tinued, police arrested eight participants – including pha – and confiscated six fight-ing cocks, steel spurs worn by the animals to inflict greater damage and other materials related to the activity.

The other seven people ar-rested were released after they were educated about the il-legality of cockfighting and signed a contract promising never to participate in it again. pha could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Mom Kunthear

a raiNSTOrM that hit Ban-teay Meanchey on Tuesday caused a wall at the ancient Banteay Chmar Temple com-plex to collapse.

Officials said yesterday that the damage to the angkor-era temple in Thma puok district near the Thai border was not considered serious, and no one was injured.

“We are sorry that the rain-storm damaged this ancient temple,” said Yan Tangkouy, acting director of the provin-cial department of Culture and Fine arts, adding that he did not yet have a time frame for repairs.

in 2006, a storm destroyed one of the remote temple complex’s eight remaining towers, according to a 2013 UNESCO report.

rCaF captain guilty in outlawed birds’ battle

rain topples temple wall

This week in biz

Cambodia rice exports decline 11 per cent in Q1CAMBODIA’s milled rice exports declined 11 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2013, according to industry officials. Data from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality this week showed that Cambodia exported some 84,330 tons of rice between January and March, down from 95,228 tons in the same period last year.

Aeon MFI to expand in Cambodia as loans riseAEON Microfinance (Cambodia) will increase the number of Cambodian branches this year and expand its portfolio to allow agricultural equipment and machinery loans, company officials said this week. Daisuke Maeda, managing director of Aeon, said the expansion comes off the back of a five-fold loan portfolio increase since 2012, to $10.9 million at the end of 2013.

Rubber price declines stoke industry concernRUBBER price declines triggered concerns from the Cambodian government and industry this week. While the Kingdom’s rubber cultivating land has increased 17 per cent since 2012, natural rubber prices have fallen from $4500 per ton in 2011 to about $1800 per ton in 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Industry officials said Cambodian farmers are seeing falling revenue levels as a result of the price decline and a continued over-reliance on Chinese exports.

ADB downgrades GDP estimates amid unrestASIAN Development Bank (ADB) downgraded Cambodia’s GDP growth estimates this week from 7.2 per cent in 2013 to seven per cent in 2014 citing foreign investment declines, political instability and garment sector unrest as key reasons for the revised figure. The ADB estimates inflation will rise 3.5 per cent this year from three per cent in 2013 due to tightening of customs procedures.

8 THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

BusinessUSD / JPY

103.88

USD / SGD

1.2616

USD /CNY

6.209

USD / HKD

7.7569

USD / THB

32.44

AUD / USD

0.9227

NZD / USD

0.8557

EUR / USD

1.376

GBP / USD

1.6647

Indicative Exchange Rates as of 3/4/2014. Please contact ANZ Royal Global Markets on 023 999 910 for real time rates.

USD / KHR

4,000

Tourists swim at a beach along the coast of Preah Sihanouk province in November 2011. hONG MENEA

Seaside officials call for actionChan Muyhong

KOH Kong and Kam-pot province tourism departments both registered sharp de-

clines in visitor numbers dur-ing the first three months of 2014 compared to the same period last year, prompting a call for improved road and transport infrastructure.

about 28,300 tourists visited Koh Kong province between January and March this year, according to the Koh Kong provincial Department of Tourism. The figure repre-sents an 18 per cent drop compared to Q1 in 2013.

Meanwhile, Kampot prov-ince recorded a 14 per cent decline in tourist arrivals over the past three months, with about 300,000, compared to 350,000 during the same pe-riod in 2013.

Chhun Samkhit, vice ad-ministrator of the Koh Kong

provincial tourism depart-ment said the decline was caused by the long distance by road from phnom penh and poor road conditions within the province, which connect the seaside to the Cardamom Mountains where most tour-ists like to visit.

“Koh Kong is much further away by road compared to the other coastal provinces and there are no air or sea travel options for tourists. This is likely to be the main reason that tourists numbers are dropping,” Samkhit said.

Soy Sinol, director of Kam-pot province tourism depart-ment, said the 14 per cent drop in tourism figures was due largely to a decline in Bokor Mountain visitors.

“last year, a lot of people came here to visit Bokor mountain. This period, it seems they have changed their destination to some-where else,” he said.

Meanwhile, in neighbour-ing coastal provinces, preah Sihanouk and Kep, tourism has continued to see positive numbers of tourists.

preah Sihanouk tourism of-ficials said tourists over the past three months totaled 445,037, an increase of 26 per cent compared to the same time in 2013.

Seemingly bolstering Sam-khit’s argument that limited transport infrastructure and poor road conditions were hampering tourism num-bers in Koh Kong, one preah Sihanouk tourism official who asked not to be named said the province’s continued growth was a direct result of having reliable air, sea and road transport options avail-able to domestic and interna-tional travelers.

Som Chenda, director of tourism for the Kep tourism department said tourist arriv-als had increased 20 per cent

over the past three months primarily due to road works leading to the province.

“The road to Kep province is much better now. Meanwhile, more tourists are becoming aware of Kep as a travel desti-nation,” he said.

He added that maintaining safety for tourists also contrib-uted to the increase, but did not detail how or why safety needed to be improved.

ang Kim Eang, president of Cambodia of association of Travel and agent (CaTa) ral-lied behind Koh Kong tourism official’s concerns, saying the lack of reliable transport infrastructure such as roads is the primary factor for the sharp decline.

Eang called on local officials and the Cambodian govern-ment to improve road qual-ity and connectivity in all four coastal areas in order to boost tourist numbers.

Kim Borey, director gen-

eral of the Ministry of public Works and Transport, said road issues are just one fac-tor effecting tourism in Koh Kong province.

“it may also be because there are not many places to visit in Koh Kong. There is a safari and waterfalls, but maybe the weather is too hot.”

He said the Ministry pays at-tention to improving roads to tourist destinations, however, local government officials are better placed to fix the issue.

“The local department should look at the problem and take care of it. it is within their authority,” he said.

The country’s damaged, time consuming road net-work is the subject of a new law currently being debated by the National assembly. The new law says transport of-ficials must regularly check roads for damage and call out dodgy contractors using poor quality materials.

9THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Business

Chan Muyhong

CaMBODiaN fishery exports rose slightly during the first three months of the year,

according to a report by the Ministry of agriculture, For-estry and Fisheries.

The report, which was re-leased yesterday, says that fish exports reached 4,800 tonnes in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 6.6 per cent.

The export total includes 3,100 tonnes of freshly caught fish and 1,700 tonnes of pro-cessed catches. Cambodia earned more than $3.5 mil-lion from fish exports during the period.

But experts say the num-ber does not reflect the real potential of the Kingdom’s fishery sector.

Som Nouv, former deputy director at the Fisheries administration, said yes-terday that the rise is small and does not say anything about the growth of the fishery trade.

“The export increase is only 300 tonnes. This is a very little increase and it does not reflect anything,” he said.

Om Savath, executive di-rector of Fisheries action

Coalition Team, said the dis-appointing figures are the re-sult of poorly enforced laws designed to stamp out illegal fishing.

“illegal fishing remains a problem and no matter how many times the government sets legislation, the enforce-ment lasts only two or three months,” Savath said.

The majority of Cam-bodia’s fish exports are to australia, Vietnam, Thailand,

China, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

last month, the European Union banned fish imports from Cambodia as punish-ment for the country’s failure to tackle illegal fishing.

Nouv at the time said that the fishing vessels in ques-tion, which the EU suspect-ed of fishing illegally, did not belong to Cambodia and that the EU should investi-gate whether the boats were

flying Cambodian flags to avoid punishment.

Savath called Nouv’s re-sponse to the ban “not prof-itable” to Cambodia’s rela-tionship with the EU.

“Cambodia could’ve earned a lot of income by export-ing fish products to the EU without paying tax,” he said, referring to the Kingdom’s Everything But arms status, which allows duty-free ex-ports to EU nations.

Fish in a holding tank are sorted by a man in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district in December. HONG MENEA

Fish exports fail to impressMay Kunmakara

THE Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SEC-Cambodia) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC-Thailand) have signed a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) bolstering cooperation between the neighbouring markets.

The MoU, which marks another step towards devel-oping an integrated aSEaN capital market, commits both regulators to sharing information on daily trends, trades and general market information, according to the requirements outlined in the agreement.

Ming Bankosal, director-general of SEC-Cambodia, signed the MoU with SEC-Thailand secretary-general Vorapol Socatiyanurak in phnom penh on Wednesday.

Bankosal said SEC-Thai-land had already been assist-ing in training SEC-Cambo-dia officials in the past.

“The MoU will provide a window for the two regula-tory authorities to promote each other’s markets in great-er cooperation,” he said.

Stephen Hsu, CEO of

phnom penh Securities, at-tended Wednesday’s signing along with fund managers, investment companies and securities firms from the two countries. He welcomed the move, saying that it opens the doors for investors in both countries to explore re-gional investments.

“Currently, Thai investors are looking for more invest-ment outside Thailand, but they need confidence in in-vestment too.”

“[The MoU] will make Thai investors, especial institu-tional investors, understand more about trading rules and opportunities in the Cambodian stock market,” Hsu said.

The Cambodia Securi-ties Exchange (CSX), which is part-owned by Korea Exchange, officially com-menced trading in april 2012 when the state-owned phnom penh Water Supply listed on the bourse.

Taiwanese-owned gar-ment manufacturer Grand Twins international (GTi) last month confirmed it would start trading in May. Upon listing, GTi will become the first privately owned compa-ny to go public on the CSX.

Cambodia, Thai bourse to exchange trade info

This week, Post reporter Hor Kimsay speaks with Mong Chanthol, the youngest son of agriculture business tycoon Mong Reththy. As the manager of Mong Reththy Group’s man-go plantation and soon-to-be built mango packaging plant in Preah Sihanouk province, Chanthol says Cambodia is on its way to becoming the home of one of the world’s most luxuriously priced fruits – the Irwin mango.

What is the Irwin mango? How did you come to begin planting this “luxury fruit”?

It is the first breed of Mango that Mong Reththy brought to Cambodia from Taiwan. It is already known among buyers in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore. In Japan, we have seen the Irwin sell for $45 each. When we start to export the Irwin mango, we envisage it will be sold for $20 per kilo. Our farm currently has about 80,000 trees of Irwin man-go and we will add another 50,000 trees by the end of this

year. We plan to spread out the Irwin breed to other farmers after we fill up the land that we have.

If you do sell the Irwin to other farmers, how much can they expect to pay for it?

It is too early to say. We are

not sure whether we will sell it or we will instead employ con-tract farmers, who would grow the new breed and sell the fruit back to us only. This might be an option, but we will make that decision later.

Tell us about the Mango pack-aging plant you are building

to export the Irwin mangoes.

We have already signed the MoU with an investment partner from Singapore. We are currently building the $2 million packaging and clean-ing plant here at our Preah Si-hanouk estate and we plan to finish by the end of this year.

From there, we hope to export 4,000 tonnes of the mangoes within the first year.

Will the factory only package Irwin mangoes picked on your farm or will you also buy Keo Romeat mangoes from other farmers to export?

It depends on the market. If the market needs more of the Cambodian Keo Romeat mango breed, we may buy and package them for export. But as far as I know, the Irwin mango is already popular, in high demand overseas and at-tracts a premium price.

Tell us about the Mong Reth-thy Group’s businesses here in Preah Sihanouk.

Over the 30,000-hectare es-tate, we have a pig farm, palm oil, rubber and now mango plantations. About 60 people are employed in the mango business already. Maybe 250 people are employed in our pig farming operation and more than 5,000 in the palm oil operations during the high season.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Mangoes to fetch high prices

Mong Chanthol, manager of Mong Reththy Group’s pig and mango farms, inspects a mango at one of the company’s properties in Preah Sihanouk province late last month. hENG ChIVOAN

Markets10 THE PHNOM PENH POST APRIl 4, 2014

BusinessTea time

Little payoff in anti-bribe campaign

MANY listed firms are not ready to stop paying “tea money” for fear of

disrupting their working practi-ces, which could prevent projects finishing on time and hurt com-petitiveness, a senior Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand official says.

The number of listed firms ready to commit to good corporate governance and to reject corruption has dropped as many are unwilling to stay away from bribery, said senior assistant secretary-general Chalee Chantanayingyong.

As of Wednesday, 302 firms had declared their commit-ment to not get involved in corruption or fraud. However, only nine have been fully cer-tified by the Collective Action Coalition Against Corruption, which is endorsed by the Thai Institute of Directors.

Chalee cited the World Bank as saying that inefficient law enforcement and corruption are weak areas for Thailand. Lenient law enforcement for stock investment is highligh-ted by the fact only seven per cent of 382 investigated cases resulted in any punishment.

Food giants raided in S Africa collusion probeSOUTH Africa’s Competition Commission said yesterday it raided the local offices of food manufacturers Unilever and Malaysia’s Sime Darby as part of a probe into collusion. The commission conducted the “search and seizure operation” as part of an investigation into collusion in the manufacture and supply of edible oil and margarine, it said. “The commission has reasonable grounds to believe that information relevant to this investigation is in the possession of employees of the two companies,” it added, referring to Anglo-Dutch Unilever and Malaysia-based Sime Darby. Afp

Lee not linked to India court case: SamsungSOUTH Korea’s Samsung Electronics said yesterday its chairman, Lee Kun-hee, had no link “whatsoever” to a case that has led India’s Supreme Court to demand his appearance at a trial hearing. The court ruled this week that Lee should appear before the court on the outskirts of New Delhi in the next six weeks. Dating back to 2002, the case stems from a complaint by a New Delhi firm accusing Samsung of “cheating” it out of $1.4 million by failing to honour a commitment to pay a bill. Afp

CHINA has outlined a new pack-age of measures including rail-way spending and tax relief to support the economy and cre-

ate jobs after a slowdown endangered Premier Li Keqiang’s target of 7.5 per cent growth this year.

The government will sell 150 billion yuan ($24 billion) of bonds this year to help build railways mainly in the less-developed central and western regions, the State Council said in a statement last night after a meeting led by Li. Authori-ties will also create a development fund of 200 billion yuan to 300 billion yuan a year to increase sources of rail financing.

The measures expand on the cabinet’s plans to speed up construction proj-ects after slowdowns in manufacturing, retail sales and investment pointed to unexpectedly weak growth. The world’s second-largest economy probably grew 7.4 per cent last quarter from a year ear-lier, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News in March, down from a previous median estimate of 7.6 per cent.

“It’s a mini-stimulus package designed to stabilise growth,” said Xu Gao, chief economist with Everbright Securities Co. in Beijing. “As the growth rate is decel-erating to the lower end of a reasonable range, Premier Li is trying to do some-thing to get growth back on track.”

The State Council said the nation will extend a preferential tax policy to more small companies and increase financing to build low-income housing until 2016.

It also said 6,600 kilometres (4,100 miles) of new railway lines will come into

operation this year, 1,000 kilometres more than in 2013. The plan will also see the creation of a railway fund that will receive between 200-300 billion yuan ($32-$48 billion) each year, the statement said.

However, there was no mention of plans for monetary policy, such as a reduction in the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve, a cut in interest rates or a drive to get banks lending more. Investors were unmoved by the announcement, with Shanghai’s benchmark composite index

down 0.15 per cent in the morning session.The state-run Xinhua news agency

quoted officials at the meeting as saying the government will take other steps this year including stimulating enterprises and boosting domestic consumption and employment. China’s leadership says it wants to transform the country’s growth model from an over-reliance on often wasteful investment, instead making pri-vate demand the driver for more sustain-able development. bLOOMbErg /Afp

11THE PHNOM PENH POST APrIL 4, 2014

BusinessGM action ‘a criminal deception’ SENATOrS accused General Motors of “criminal deception” over a decade-long ignition problem linked to 13 deaths, as the US automaker’s boss faced a second day of congressional anger on Wednesday.

Defending her company’s battered reputation, chief exec Mary Barra repeated her vow that GM will be forthcoming with results of a sweeping inter-nal probe into what led it to keep using ignition switches it knew were faulty for years, then change the parts without alert-ing the public or regulators.

Senator Kelly Ayotte zeroed in on claims that when GM changed the ignition switches in 2006, it kept the ID for the new part identical to that of the original switch, a decision that may have allowed the firm to avoid a costly recall.

“I don’t see this as anything but criminal,” Ayotte fumed. “This is criminal deception.”

Barra acknowledged her own surprise that the part number was not changed. “I want to understand why those actions were taken,” she said.

Thirteen deaths have been linked to the ignition prob-lems. Afp

Beijing back at stimulus well

A new Chinese stimulus package includes the laying of 6,600 kilometres of railway. bLOOMbErg

INVITATION FOR BIDTENDER No: PSK-IFB-SEC-24-03-14

PSK is an independent, non-governmental organization specializing in social marketing and health service delivery. PSK has received a grant from multiple donors and it is intended that part of the proceeds of the grant will be applied to eligible payments under the contract for procurement of Security Services at PSK Head Office and Warehouse.

In this regards, we wishes to invite all qualified vendors to contact the Procurement Department at the address below to receive Bid Document (this document are available for free of charge).

Bids must be delivered to our organization at the address below no later than Friday, 25 April 2014 at 4:00pm local time in a sealed envelope marked “IFB for Security Services at PSK Head Office and Warehouse”.

A Pre-bid meeting to all Suppliers will be held on 9 April 2014 at 10:00 am in the PSK Meeting Room, Office of PSK.

Please note that only quotes, which are materially compliant with the specifications and requirements as outlined in the IFB Documents, may be accepted.

Population Services Khmer (PSK)House #29, Street 334, Boeung Keng Kang I, Chamcar Mon,

Phnom Pehn, CambodiaTel: 855-23 210 814, Fax: 855-23 218 735.

Attn: Mr. Chea RatanaProcurement Manager

Email: [email protected]

JOB ANNOUNCEMENTGL FINANCE PLC. is a subsidiary of the leading leasing company in Thailand Group Lease PCL., quoted on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. GL Finance is the first financial leasing service in Cambodia since 2012, and provides financing on motorcycles and agricultural machinery through partnerships with industry leaders (Honda, Kubota).

GL Finance covers the entire territory of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and is facing a number of challenges in its fast pace growth.

We are now seeking qualified and passionate individuals to support our expansion.Position : Sales Supervisor

Location : Head Office, Phnom Penh Salary : 400$ - 700$ depending on qualifications1. RESPONSIBILITIES:

Visit, control and improve sales forces efficiency on the field (nationwide) Evaluate and improve on-site marketing in each point of sales Insure a satisfying relationship between GL Finance and its commercial partners Recommend appropriate communication / advertising channels for each province Maintain an updated benchmark of GL Finance’s market Provide continuous leadership, supervision, training and development of operation staff ensuring an effective and motivated team.

2. REQUIREMENTS:

Experienced candidates are preferred; outstanding unexperienced candidates will be consideredInterest in marketing and creative personality, market analysis skills, leadership Very good Khmer and English expression Very frequent trip to province Ability to work in a multicultural environment

More detail please contact GL Finance HR and Admin Department:Tel: 066 669 327/ 098 505 559/ 097 500 5559E-mail Address: [email protected]: www.gl-f.com

��ឹះ��នហិរ��វត�� ជីអិល ��យ��ន ភីអិលសុីGL Finance PLC

Markets12 THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Business

International commoditiesEnergy

Agriculture

Markets

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Singapore Malaysia

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Japan Taiwan

Thai Set 50 Index, Apr 2

FTSE Straits Times Index, Apr 2 FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, Apr 2

Hang Seng Index, Apr 2 CSI 300 Index, Apr 2

Nikkei 225, Apr 2 Taiwan Taiex Index, Apr 2

Ho Chi Minh Stock Index, Apr 2

15,071.88

2,165.0122,565.08

1,851.703,218.72

589.44947.29

8,888.54

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KOSPI Index, Apr 2 PSEI - Philippine Se Idx, Apr 2

Laos Composite Index, Apr 2 Jakarta Composite Index, Apr 2

BSE Sensex 30 Index, Apr 2 Karachi 100 Index, Apr 2

S&P/ASX 200 Index, Apr 2 NZX 50 Index, Apr 2

5,409.89

28,371.0822,435.81

4,881.171,323.69

6,587.081,993.70

5,122.37

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. 99.17 -0.45 -0.45% 4:26:09

Crude Oil (Brent) USD/bbl. 104.49 -0.3 -0.29% 4:25:12

NYMEX Natural Gas USD/MMBtu 4.35 -0.01 -0.27% 4:24:07

RBOB Gasoline USd/gal. 286.29 -0.68 -0.24% 4:26:05

NYMEX Heating Oil USd/gal. 285.77 -3.01 -1.04% 4:26:02

ICE Gasoil USD/MT 875.75 1.75 0.20% 4:24:54

CommodIty UnIts PrICE ChAngE % ChAngE tImE(Et)

CBOT Rough Rice USD/cwt 15.65 -0.01 -0.03% 3:50:59

CME Lumber USD/tbf 334.2 -0.4 -0.12% 4:13:17

Aya Takada

HirOTaKa Sekiguchi dress-es his Wagyu calves in T-shirts and jackets to protect them against

Japan’s spring chill and an expected avalanche of cheap foreign beef.

The 59-year-old Sekiguchi pampers the 320 cattle on his feedlot in Kami-sato township north of Tokyo with customised meals and private stalls to ensure they develop the kind of marbled, melt-in-your-mouth meat that fetches almost twice the price of silver in Hong Kong.

Wagyu farmers are betting that ris-ing wealth in asia will expand the market for premium beef and quad-ruple annual exports to ¥25 billion ($240 million) by 2020. New buyers are needed as australia and the US press prime Minister Shinzo abe to cut tariffs on imported meat, which the government estimates could undercut as much as 68 per cent of domestic beef sales.

“The operators of huge farms over-seas can’t give the individual care that we do,” said Sekiguchi, who tends his herd with his wife and sons. “To get the best beef, the most important things are to keep them healthy, make each animal eat as much as it can, and let them sleep for as long as they want.”

Wagyu, which literally means “Jap-anese cow” or “Japanese cattle”, are characterised by their heavily mar-bled flesh and intramuscular fat that produce soft, sweet meat. The Kobe beef well known outside of Japan is one variety of Wagyu.

at the interContinental Hotel Steak House in Hong Kong, the 14-ounce Wagyu rib-eye from Japan tops the price list at HK$2,400 ($310). The most costly bite-for-bite is a tender-loin weighing eight standard ounces going for HK$2,180, the equivalent of $38.54 per troy ounce, the unit of measurement for precious metals. Silver traded yesterday at about $19.95 per troy ounce.

Exports climbed 14 per cent last year to ¥5.8 billion as demand for Japan’s premium meat increased, led by asian sales in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. at the same time, competition in domestic markets is limited by the government’s 38.5 per cent levy on beef imports.

abe is moving to ease restrictions on foreign meat as he overhauls policies that protected domestic farmers for generations, keeping food prices high. He set a goal of more than doubling food exports to ¥1 trillion by 2020 as part of an economic growth strategy that began with unprecedented mon-etary easing and fiscal stimulus.

For cattle producers, increased competition tests the viability of an industry in which many switched from lower-cost breeds to the high-end Wagyu herds after an agreement with the US in 1988 eliminated a ceil-ing on beef imports. Japan is review-ing new trade deals with the US, the world’s biggest beef producer and the fourth-largest exporter.

The Steak House in Hong Kong also serves cuts from australia, the US,

Canada and argentina. a 32-ounce Tomahawk australian Wagyu costs HK$2,080 while the same weight of New York Strip sells for HK$1,808. Chef Calvin Choi said some custom-ers come three or four times a week, and always order Japanese Wagyu.

“inside the mouth, 10 seconds, it is melting to nothing,” Choi said. “Japa-nese beef, they eat the texture. amer-ican and australian beef, the main thing is the flavour.” BLOOMBERG

Betting the farm on steak worth more than silver

Fourteen-ounce steaks from Wagyu beef cattle like those at sekiguchi Farm (above) sell at restaurants in hong Kong for more than $300 a piece. BLOOMBERG

Dan De Luce

US officialS on Wednesday offered to help aSEaN countries prepare

for the devastating effects of climate change, urging stron-ger cooperation among armies and emergency agencies.

Pentagon chief chuck Ha-gel and other top officials discussed the danger posed by rising global temperatures with aSEaN defence ministers in Honolulu, home to a major US weather research centre that tracks sea levels and tsu-namis in the Pacific ocean.

“The more we can under-stand the science behind these natural disasters, the more we can coordinate and commu-nicate our efforts to help each other,” Hagel told his counter-parts from the association of Southeast asian Nations.

Hagel said that coopera-tion among aSEaN militaries for humanitarian operations was steadily growing but that more collaboration was need-ed as scientists predict more typhoons and other natural disasters will hit the region.

“We can do more. We will do more,” Hagel said.

The head of the US agency for international Develop-ment, Rajiv Shah, told the ministers that a report this week from a UN expert pan-el on climate change made it clear that erratic weather would “wreak havoc on soci-eties all around the world”.

“What that report also high-lighted is that the asia-Pacific is hit by more than 70 per cent of all of these natural disas-ters,” Shah said. “and so you bear a greater brunt of the bur-den of those consequences.”

Shah said governments had

to collaborate and rehearse for typhoons, flooding and other “extreme weather events” that are expected to become more frequent in coming decades.

The United States was “fully committed to working with and supporting you in this ef-fort,” he said.

The ministers were given a tour of a new regional centre for the National oceanic and atmospheric administration, which houses scientists who track typhoons, tsunamis and rising sea levels across the Pacific.

The gathering of defence ministers marked the first time the United States had hosted an aSEaN meeting, and US officials said it was the latest example of a stra-tegic “rebalance” aimed at countering china’s growing military might and assertive territorial claims.

over the past decade, the

US military has expanded its disaster relief operations in asia, deploying ships and aircraft to carry out rescues and to deliver food, water and supplies.

US forces deployed in large numbers to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan struck the country in November, killing thousands.

apart from saving lives, hu-manitarian operations offer Washington a way of culti-vating trust among countries that are anxious about china but are wary of entering into an open alliance that might antagonise Beijing, analysts and officials say.

Hagel later led his coun-terparts on a tour of a new amphibious ship, the USS Anchorage, a vessel equipped with aircraft and vehicles that military officers say are well-suited for both combat and disaster relief efforts.

after the aSEaN talks were to wrap up yesterday, Hagel was due to travel to Japan and china, amid tensions be-tween the two asian powers over disputed islands in the East china Sea.

as part of its “pivot” to asia, the United States has vowed to move more of its warships and aircraft to the Pacific re-gion, but budget pressures have threatened to slow down the shift.

Hagel, however, insisted the rebalance was well under way and would not be de-railed, citing the deployment of a US Marine contingent in australia and combat ships to Singapore, as well as stepped up exercises.

“i think it’s pretty clear even with budget restraints – we’ll live with those – this is a priority. We’ll fulfill the com-mitments that we’ve made,” Hagel said. AFP

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13THE PHNOM PENH POST aPRil 4, 2014

World

aT lEaST 200,000 people will show up at tomorrow’s pro-government rally in Bangkok’s Phuthamonthon area, anuwat Tinarat, a core member of the “red shirt” United front for Democracy against Dictator-ship (UDD), said yesterday.

“at least 200,000 people from the northeastern prov-inces will travel to aksa Road tomorrow,” anuwat said.

“Each province will send 300 to 400 security guards and medical personnel to look af-ter the red shirt supporters’ safety and well-being.”

The number of people who will join the red shirt rally this weekend will outnumber the number of anti-government protesters at the lumpini rally site, he said.

The UDD core member said the objective of this rally is to show the People’s Democratic Reform committee (PDRc) that the majority of Thais do not agree with the group’s di-rection and ideology.

He said PDRc secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban’s announcement that the PDRc will topple the caretaker gov-ernment before the Songkran festival on april 13-16 was of no significance since he had repeatedly made similar calls and had not succeeded.

“People will join [tomor-row’s] rally to show that they cannot accept different independent agencies’ effort to quickly remove caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shi-nawatra and her govern-ment,” anuwat added.

Tension was expected to build after the constitutional court yesterday agreed to rule on the status of care-taker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over the removal

order she issued against Na-tional Security council (NSc) chief Thawil Pliensri.

Several government figures are warning that the court’s decision to consider if Ying-luck has breached the consti-tution in the Thawil case will bring the country closer to a violent confrontation.

They also say that the court’s rulings are not quite in line with the law.

caretaker Education Minis-ter chaturon chaisaeng con-ceded a negative ruling by the constitutional court would bring down the Yingluck ad-ministration faster than the rice-pledging scheme.

“Things will look really bad if an ‘outsider’ government takes office. There will be fierce objections,” he said.

chaturon said the court has so far ruled as it pleases, rather than going by law. “if it rules against the government it could all come to an end this month, perhaps before Songkran,” he said.

caretaker foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said yesterday that red shirts might stage a demo that could turn violent if the constitu-tional court rules against the caretaker premier. Referring to the protest by the red shirts planned for tomorrow, he said “it was definitely possible [violence could take place]”.

“Such a vacuum is not healthy and chaos will almost surely follow,” he said, adding that “i’m not trying to instigate violence but i see the pressure and that Thais are hot-tem-pered. chaos can break out at any time. i am not threat-ening the court, i am just speaking the truth,” he said. BAngkok Post

Bangkok rally to draw ‘200,000’ ‘red shirts’

US urges aSEaN on disasters

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a news conference on the flight deck of the USS Anchorage after a tour with counterparts from Southeast Asia on Wednesday. AFP

China pressed Malaysia yester-day to rescue a Chinese tourist who was abducted along with a Filipina from a diving resort

by gunmen, further straining relations already tested by the crisis over miss-ing Flight Mh370.

The two women were abducted in Ma-laysia’s eastern state of Sabah, which is known for its natural attractions such as world-class scuba diving, but is also notorious for lawlessness and recurring kidnappings blamed on bandits from the Muslim southern Philippines.

Gao huayuan, 29, a tourist from Shang-hai, was taken along with Filipina hotel employee Marcy Dayawan, 40, in a raid by about six gunmen at around 10:30pm (1430 GMT) on Wednesday, Malaysian media reports said.

The raid occurred at the Singamata Reef Resort near the town of Semporna on Borneo island. Malaysia Prime Min-ister najib Razak said the attack could be an attempt to stir up more trouble between China and Malaysia.

“The government does not rule out the possibility that the kidnappings in Semporna were done by certain parties to muddy Malaysia-China relations,” najib said. he spoke while on a visit to the australian staging base for the mas-sive search for missing Malaysia airlines flight Mh370, the majority of whose pas-sengers were Chinese.

it was not known who the kidnappers were or where the victims were taken. Bandits have in the past abducted tour-

ists and fisherman in the area and taken them to nearby Philippine islands. But China urged Malaysian police to rescue its citizen and ensure safety.

“We sent staff to the site and ask the lo-cal police to make an all-out rescue effort while ensuring the security of Chinese citizens and taking effective measures to safeguard the security of Chinese tour-ists,” foreign ministry spokesman hong Lei told reporters. it said China would “follow this incident closely”.

Malaysian police have declined to comment, and resort staff could not

immediately be reached. The incident is another blow for the image of Sabah, and for Malaysian tourism, already blackened by the Mh370 tragedy.

More than 200 armed islamic gueril-las from the Philippines staged a bizarre invasion of eastern Sabah last year, and were crushed by Malaysian armed forces after a month-long siege. Dozens of peo-ple were killed. Malaysia ratcheted up security in the area afterwards and has repeatedly pledged it is safe for visitors. But abductions and other incidents have still continued. AFP

World14 THE PHNOM PENH POST aPRiL 4, 2014

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a SoLDieR with “mental health issues” killed three people and wounded 16 be-fore turning the gun on him-self on Wednesday at Fort hood, the US military base devastated by a deadly 2009 shooting rampage.

Base commander Lieuten-ant General Mark Milley said the gunman, who served in iraq in 2011, was being treat-ed for depression and anxiety, and being checked for pos-sible Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). all of the dead and wounded were mil-itary personnel. at least four of those injured were hospi-talised in a critical condition.

“at this time, there is no in-dication that this incident is related to terrorism, although we are not ruling anything out,” Milley told reporters at the sprawling US army in-stallation in Texas. We do not know a motive. We do know that this soldier had . . . men-tal health issues and was be-ing treated for that.”

The gunman – who was not immediately identified pend-ing notification of next of kin – used a .45-calibre semi-automatic pistol, which he bought recently and appar-ently smuggled onto the base.

he opened fire in a medi-cal building, got into a vehicle while still shooting and then went to another building.

The assailant shot himself in the head when he was en-gaged in a parking lot by an armed female military police-woman, Milley said.

“a military police officer re-sponded as he was approach-ing her at about 20 feet,” he said. at that point the gun-man “put his hands up, then reached under his jacket, pulled out the [gun]. She pulled out her weapon, she engaged; he put the weapon to his head and died of a self-inflicted wound”, he said.

Milley said the Fort hood gunman was “currently un-der diagnosis for PTSD but had not been diagnosed with PTSD”. The shooter, who was married, was on medication and had reportedly told of-ficials that he had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

CBS news and other me-dia, citing unnamed sources, identified the shooter as a 34-year-old army specialist.

The US army base remained on lockdown for a couple of hours, but personnel and family members were later given the all-clear. AFP

Four dead in latest Fort hood shooting Malaysia pressed on kidnap

Malaysians hold banners during a protest accusing US news channels of unprofessional reporting on missing flight MH370 outside the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. AFP

Minor tsunami hits Japan after quakeSMaLL tsunami waves hit northern Japan early yesterday following a powerful 8.2-mag-nitude earthquake thousands of kilometres away across the Pacific ocean in Chile after officials issued an evacuation advisory for certain areas.

The Japan Meteorological agency said waves of 40 centi-metres were monitored in Kuji, iwate prefecture, at 7:39am (2239 GMT on Wednesday) about an hour after the first 20-centimetre tsunami was recorded there.

Waves of up to 30 centime-

tres were also monitored in other areas of northern Japan, the agency said, adding that bigger waves could hit later.

earlier yesterday, Japan issued a tsunami advisory, say-ing waves of up to a metre above normal sea levels could hit eastern Pacific coast regions, but were unlikely to cause damage. The advisory was lifted entirely at 6pm.

Large areas of the coastline covered by the advisory were damaged by the 2011 quake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people and trig-

gered a nuclear accident in Fukushima.

The agency advised people to leave the coast but said it did not expect damage from the waves. Local authorities issued evacuation advisories to more than 22,000 people living near the coastline in iwate prefecture, public broadcaster nhK said.

Before dawn a tsunami warning siren echoed over ishinomaki, another city hit hard by the tsunami three years ago, and some local bus services were cancelled.

Waves of up to half a metre had been expected to hit indo-nesia’s eastern region of Papua early yesterday morning, but officials said nothing had been detected so far.

“Until now there are no signs of even a small tsunami. We are monitoring closely,” Frang-ky Ulus from the indonesia Tsunami early Warning Sys-tem in Jayapura, Papua, said.

authorities in 19 provinces of indonesia were alerted ear-lier as a precaution and peo-ple were urged to stay away from beaches. AFP

THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

World15

World16 THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Iraq forces kill dozens of militants near BaghdadIraqI soldiers killed more than 40 militants when they attacked an army camp near Baghdad yesterday as anti-government fighters edged close to the capital just weeks before national parliamentary elections. The firefight was the latest in a surge in bloodshed over the past year, amid fears insurgents could seek to destabilise the april 30 polls by upping the pace of attacks with violence already at its worst since 2008. The bloodshed comes with campaigning under way ahead of the elections. aFP

S Sudan facing worst famine since ’80s: UNWar-Torn South Sudan could become the scene of the worst famine catastrophe in africa in decades without more aid and a ceasefire to let farmers reach their fields, the Un warned yesterday. “If we miss the planting season, there will be a catastrophic decline in food security,” Toby Lanzer, the Un’s top aid official in the country, said. “What will strike that country, and it will hit about seven million people, will be more grave than anything that continent has seen since the mid-1980s,” he warned, referring to the massive famine in Ethiopia that shocked the world’s conscience. aFP

Satellites of love

Technology set to save Pompeii

Ground sensors and satellites will be deployed in a new bid to keep the

ancient roman city of Pompeii from crumbling following a series of recent collapses at the sprawling and long-neglected site near naples.

Italian aerospace and defence giant Finmeccanica yesterday said it was donating the technol-ogy to the culture ministry in a €1.7 million ($2.3 million) project entitled “Pompeii: Give it a Future”. The main aims are to assess “risks of hydrogeological instability” at the sprawling site, boost security and test the solidity of structures, as well as set up an early warning system to flag up possible collapses.

Finmeccanica said the project would last three years and that the results of satellite monitor-ing of a network of wireless sen-sors installed around the roman ruins would be made available via the internet.

Security guards will be supplied with special radio equipment as well as smartphone apps to improve communication that can pinpoint their position and the type of intervention required, Finmeccanica said. aFP

Kiev holds 12 police for shootings

a dozen Ukrainian police officers have been detained on suspicion of shoot-

ing at protesters during vio-lent clashes that shook Kiev in February, the country’s new interior minister an-nounced yesterday.

arsen avakov said that the former interior minister Vitali zakharchenko, currently on the run, was directly involved in giving orders to shoot at protesters, along with the SBU security services.

Valentyn nalivaichenko, the new head of the SBU, added that a number of officers from russia’s FSB had been con-sulting with the SBU in Kiev in december and January, and that russian citizens were present at SBU headquarters. He also claimed that explo-sives and weapons were deliv-ered to Ukraine from russia during the protest period.

More than 100 people were killed during February’s vio-lence. The ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, denied he had any involvement in or-dering the sniper attacks dur-ing an interview yesterday. Yanukovych fled Kiev shortly after the shootings and even-tually left Ukraine for russia, where he is now living.

He still claims to be the legit-

imate president of Ukraine, al-though even his own party has disowned him. He confirmed on Wednesday that he had asked russia to send troops to Crimea, a decision he now says was a mistake, after Mos-cow moved to annex the terri-tory last month.

The Kremlin has put forward a completely different version of events, alleging the violence which spurred Yanukovych’s downfall was organised by far-right radical protest groups keen to radicalise the situation. on Sunday, russia’s foreign minister Sergei lavrov said Moscow had evidence Ukrai-nian nationalist groups were behind the sniper attacks.

in an interview with rus-sian media, he said while he could not be 100 per cent cer-tain, but “many factors point to this”. lavrov said he has repeatedly raised the allega-tions with western partners and hoped they would not be swept under the carpet. There is also footage that purport-edly shows snipers shooting at both protesters and riot po-lice, which russia says is evi-dence that the violence was carried out by “provocateurs”.

a recording of a phone call between the eU foreign af-fairs chief, Catherine ashton, and estonia’s foreign minis-ter, Urmas paet, was leaked last month – with suspicions

falling on russian intelli-gence or organistaions close to it – in which the pair dis-cussed the theory that the opposition itself was respon-sible for the snipers.

paet tells ashton he had heard discussions in Kiev in which people claimed possible involvement, to which ashton responds with surprise. rus-sian media have seized on the call as evidence there has been a western cover-up about sup-posed involvement.

Yesterday, Ukrainian offi-cials said their investigation had determined some, but not all, of the sniper locations, and that 12 people had been ar-rested after thousands of riot police were questioned. offi-cials said some of the Berkut (special police) officers whom Kiev wants to arrest are cur-rently in Crimea. Hundreds of Berkut returned to the penin-sula after the violence in Kiev and were treated as heroes.

after the new government disbanded the regiment, rus-sia said it would give Berkut officers passports and inte-grate them into russian se-curity services, while former Berkut officers played a part in the Crimean “self-defence” forces that sprung up ahead of russian moves to annex the territory. ThE gUardIan

A wounded activist lies next to the bodies of people killed by snipers, during clashes between protesters and riot police on February 20. aFP

World17THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

pakistan’s former military ruler pervez Musharraf, who is on trial for treason, narrowly escaped an assassination at-tempt as a bomb went off shortly before his convoy was due to pass early yesterday, police said.

the bomb was planted on Musharraf’s route from an army hospital in rawalpindi where he has been staying since January to his home on the outskirts of islamabad and went off at around 2am (2100 GMt on Wednesday).

nobody was injured and there have so far been no claims of responsibility.

“Four kilograms of explo-sive device planted in a pipe-line under a bridge exploded around 20 minutes before the former president was supposed to cross the spot,” senior police official liaqat niazi said.

niazi said the former presi-dent was then taken home via an alternative route.

Muhammad naeem, a spokesman for the islamabad police, confirmed the incident, saying a bomb disposal squad had cordoned off the area after the blast and searched for ad-ditional explosives. “nobody

was injured in the blast,” he said, adding that Musharraf was the intended target.

the taliban have also vowed to send a squad of suicide bombers to kill him, and se-curity threats have prevented him from appearing at all but two of his treason hearings.

it was the fourth attempt on his life, with the first three oc-curring while he was in office.

prior to his hospitalisation in January for a heart condi-tion, several small bombs were discovered by officials near his villa, with some un-connected to detonators.

some commentators said those bombs may have been deliberately planted by his own team in order to exagger-ate the threat to Musharraf’s life and expedite his safe pas-sage out of the country.

Musharraf had sought per-mission to leave the country to see his ailing mother in the United arab Emirates, lead-ing to renewed speculation a deal to allow all sides to save face was imminent.

However the government on Wednesday refused to end a travel ban preventing Musharraf from leaving the country. AFP

Musharraf survives bomb attempt: cops

stolen Gauguin found in italian kitchen

italy said it has recov-ered a painting worth millions of euros by paul Gauguin, stolen in

london in 1970, bought by an italian factory worker for a pittance and hung in his kitchen for almost 40 years.

the artist’s Fruit on a Table or Small Dog was stolen from a house in the British capital along with Woman With Two Chairs by fellow Frenchman pierre Bonnard and were recovered together in italy from the pensioner, who used to work for italian car giant Fiat.

the Gauguin painting is worth €10-30 million ($13-41 million), while the Bon-nard work is valued at about €600,000, italy’s heritage po-lice said at a press conference on Wednesday.

the paintings turned up in a lost property department at a train station and were sold at auction in 1975 to a worker for italian auto giant Fiat, who bought them for 45,000 italian lire, or €23.

the paintings by the French artists were found last month after a lengthy investigation, which began when police received a tip-off from the retired worker’s son that they may have been stolen. it was the architecture student in si-

racusa in sicily who called in experts to evaluate his father’s collection and flagged up the incredible find to the police, italian media reports said.

investigators trawled through back catalogues of exhibitions, from which the 1889 Gauguin mysteriously disappeared af-ter it was stolen.

they then used newspaper reports about the 1970s theft in the New York Times and a singaporean paper to trace the paintings back to the lon-don-based family and uncov-er the details of the heist.

On the day of the robbery, three men posing as burglar-alarm engineers called at the regent’s park property and

began working on the alarm in the presence of the housekeep-er, said the New York Times ar-ticle, dated June 8, 1970.

“they asked her to make a cup of tea, and when she re-turned the paintings had been taken from their frames and the men were gone,” it said.

Who now owns the artworks, taken to sicily by the worker when he retired, is unclear.

the house – and paintings – belonged to american author terence kennedy and his wife Mathilda Marks, daughter of businessman Michael Marks – a co-founder of British retail chain Marks & spencer.

But both have since died and investigators have yet to

uncover an heir, said Mariano Mossa, who heads up the her-itage police.

the Gauguin had been cut out of its frame and now measures 46.5 centimetres by 53 centimetres, down from its original size of 49 centimetres by 54 centimetres.

italy in 1969 opened a spe-cial department to investigate art thefts, the first in the world, which is situated in a Baroque palace in the middle of rome’s bustling tourist centre.

the heritage police manages the largest data bank on stolen art in the world, with details on some 5.7 million objects.

last year they found a paint-ing by russian-born Jewish artist Marc Chagall, Le Nu au Bouquet, in a private collec-tor’s home in Bologna that had been stolen from a Us tycoon’s yacht in italy in 2002.

they also investigated the theft of possibly thousands of rare books from the Girola-mini library in naples, which were allegedly smuggled out and sold internationally by its former director.

Mossa said in January that “the turnover generated by the illegal sale of works of art comes fourth on a world level behind the sale of weapons, drugs and financial prod-ucts”. AFP

Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini stands next to Fruit on a Table or Small Dog by Paul Gauguin on Wednesday. AFP

World18 THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

Science19THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

How the zebra earned its stripesRichard Ingham

Zebras have stripes to deter the tsetse and other blood-sucking flies, accord-

ing to a fresh bid to settle a debate that has raged among biologists for over 140 years.

since the 1870s, in a dis-pute sparked by the found-ers of evolutionary theory Charles Darwin and alfred russel Wallace, scientists have squabbled over how the zebra got its trademark look.

are its stripes for camou-flage, protecting the zebra with a “motion dazzle confu-sion effect” against hyenas, lions and other predators in the savannah?

Do the stripes radiate heat to keep the zebra cool?

Or do they have a social role – for group identity, per-haps, or mating?

but a new study, published in the journal Nature Com-munications this week, says the strongest likelihood is that the stripes discourage parasitic flies.

The finding was intriguing-ly thrown up by lab experi-ments in 2012 that showed how blood-feeding flies shun stripey surfaces and prefer instead to land on uniform

colours. researchers led by Tim Caro of the University of California at Davis, say there is no black-and-white answer to the “Great stripe riddle” – but the insect theory is by far the best bet.

“a solution to the riddle of zebra stripes, discussed by Wallace and Darwin, is at hand,” they write.

The team found a strong geographical overlap be-tween zebras and the two groups of biting flies, Ta-banus and Glossina, that feed on equid species, which explains why zebras would need a shield against this pest. There is also plenty of indirect evidence, they say.

Other equid species, such

as wild horses, are far more likely to be plagued by bit-ing insects.

researchers find compara-tively little blood from zebras in tsetse flies, even though the zebra has a thin coat with hair strands that are shorter and finer than those of gi-raffes and antelopes.

at the same time, zebras are far less susceptible to sleeping sickness, a tsetse-borne disease that is wide-spread among many other african equids.

The correlation between reduced biting-fly nuisance and stripes is “significant,” says the study.

“Conversely, there is no consistent support for cam-ouflage, predator avoidance, heat management or social interaction hypothesis.”

parasitic flies can hand on a range of diseases when they bite their prey, and their appetite can be enormous.

experiments with horse-flies carried out in the United states found that cows can lose between 200 and 500 cubic centimetres (0.4 and 1.05 pints) of blood per day to the insects, and as much as 16.9 kilos (37.2 pounds) in weight over eight weeks. AFP

A Grevy’s zebra in Mulhouse zoo in eastern France. Since the 1870s scientists have squabbled over how the zebra got its distinctive look. AFP

THe Moon was formed about 95 million years after the birth of our solar system, in a collision that also settled the structure of earth as we know it, according to the latest at-tempt at dating that impact.

a study in the journal Na-ture said the crash between an early, proto-earth and a Mars-sized object that dis-lodged what would become the Moon, happened some 4.470 billion years ago – give or take 32 million years.

apart from creating our sat-ellite, the event is also believed to have marked the final phase of earth’s core formation from molten metals sinking to the centre from a superhot sur-face. previous estimates had ranged from an “early” impact about 30 million years after the start of the solar system, to a later one as much as 200 million years after.

The solar system itself is known to be 4.567 billion years old thanks to accurate dating of some components of mete-orites – the oldest materials to be found on our planet.

earth is believed to have formed at some time during the first 150 million years.

For the study published in Nature, a team of planetary

scientists from France, Ger-many and the Us created a computer model of how dust and rock accumulated in the early solar system to form tiny planets called planetesimals.

These grew into “planetary embryos” that ended up as the rocky planets we know today – Mercury, Venus, earth and Mars – through a succes-sion of giant impacts, accord-ing to the new model.

each massive collision al-lowed the planets to “accrete” or accumulate matter. in earth’s case, the lunar impact marked its final major growth event. The team also looked at the chemical composition of the earth’s mantle to trace the amount of material the planet accumulated after the impact – only about 0.5 per cent of its total mass.

if the impact had hap-pened early in the solar sys-tem’s history, there would still have been many free-floating planetesimals for the earth to sweep up, and if it was later, fewer. The evidence suggest-ed earth took 95 million years to form, “which confirms it as the planet in our solar system that took the longest to form”, study co-author alessandro Morbidelli said. AFP

scientists date Moon at 4.470bn years old

Opinion20 THE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014

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it is easy, particularly for dedi-cated readers of Ms Magazine and people who educate them-selves about rape as a matter of

conscience, to wince at the sight of angelina Jolie at the side of the British foreign secretary, William Hague, travelling to Bosnia to meet rape vic-tims in her role as a special envoy of the United Nations High Commis-sioner for refugees.

Jolie, who specialises in films where the camera seems unable to leave her face, has reinvented herself as a phil-anthropic lobbyist of the most celes-tial kind. together she and Hague seek to eradicate rape as an instru-ment of war.

Hague might do as well to stay in Britain and investigate – and even lobby against – the annihilation of support services for raped British women and victims of domestic vio-lence generally, which has happened under the government of which he is a member. Or perhaps he could really stretch his philanthropic wings – and do both?

Only yesterday a report from the Commons work and pensions com-mittee noted that not all victims of domestic abuse are exempt from the bedroom tax. But then the presiding member of parliament, labour’s anne Begg, is rather less photogenic than Jolie, who does not sit on the Commons work and pensions com-mittee. although i rather wish she did, because perhaps then Hague would endorse the report.

in any case, the cause is less dra-matic, and will not win Hague votes in his constituency of richmond, Yorkshire, which is nowhere near Bosnia. “this [rape] is something that has been out of sight and out of mind for most people in the world,” Hague told the BBC in a short joint interview unfortunately headlined: “angelina Jolie and William Hague tackle Bosnia war rapes”.

it is hard to disagree with the foreign secretary here, but we are in satirical lands nonetheless. these are a dysto-pia seething with hypocrisy and soaked with vanity; a place where sacha Baron Cohen, as his alter ego Brüno – a newly hatched celebrity in search of a cause – can tell us: “Cloon-ey’s got Darfur, sting’s got the amazon, and Bono’s got aiDs!” Jolie and Hague, who have also travelled to the Demo-cratic republic of the Congo together, will co-host a conference on global sexual violence in london in June, to which Hague has invited representa-tives from 137 countries. Because Jolie will be present, they will come.

Hague’s hypocrisy is predictable and easily explained; but what drives Jolie’s philanthropy? it is, again, easy to dismiss her charity work as a rational extension of her own narcis-sism, which is almost pitiable in itself – it is a truism that it is almost impos-sible to recover from fame. Her inten-tions would be more palatable if she had not agreed to accept quite such a clutch of philanthropic awards at quite so many gala dinners; and if she shed fewer tears in Hello! magazine while dressed in a black robe so ostentatious it looks like a costume. Do the rape victims of Bosnia really need more tears?

Celebrity endorsement is the super- weapon of modern humanitarianism – three-quarters of Britain’s 30 largest charities (excluding housing and care trusts) have full-time celebrity liaison managers to ease the celebrities on and off aeroplanes in and out of hell. this is a shame, because when the trivial touches the important, it too becomes trivial.

When sport relief asked celebrities to bake for africa, it only seemed depraved. Do you remember when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went to UNiCEF’s emergency supply

centre in Copenhagen to pack a box of supplies for malnourished chil-dren in East africa? it seemed hard to believe that their dedication to UNiCEF would outlast their actual presence in the depot, particularly when you consider their personal profligacy. at such affairs, elites seem more robust than ever, as they ape the medieval royal practice of the laying on of hands.

Celebrity endorsement can go bad-ly wrong, and often does, because our gods have feet of clay. they do not operate effectively on planet Earth, because that is not the point of them; and so why, in an arena where exper-tise is so essential, do we not seek professional advocates, rather than wandering stars?

Naomi Campbell campaigned for people for the Ethical treatment of animals, saying she would “rather go naked than wear fur” – and then wore fur. perhaps she forgot her oath? scarlett Johansson had to retire from Oxfam when her endorsement of sodastream, an israeli-based company with a facto-ry on the West Bank, contradicted the charity’s stated aims. Bono (or paul Hewson as i would rather call

him) has a particularly fascinating case of what paul theroux calls “mythomania”, a condition that afflicts “people who wish to con-vince the world of their worth”. Hewson is a hypocrite with a limited understanding of what africa needs, even if he is so drugged by his own possibilities he would never recog-nise himself in that description.

theroux believes that Jolie and her husband, Brad pitt, are likewise mythomaniacs. “Cuddling african children and lecturing the world on charity,” he wrote, “the image that immediately sprang to my mind was tarzan and Jane.” this is clearly an extension of their original vocation, which is drama. None of it can hap-pen without a compliant audience; and in that lies the shame.

Celebrity culture is anti-culture; and it is, sadly, the dominant culture. i have never understood why actors, whose professional vocation is to erase themselves, are to be idolised, but maybe that itself is the reason. Even so, it feels peculiarly self-hat-ing, even for a self-hating species. THE GUARDIAN

CommentTanya Gold

The curse of good causes

Actress Angelina Jolie and UK Foreign Secretary William Hague pay their respects at the Srebrenica-Potocari Genocide Memorial cemetery in March. Jolie and Hague were in Sarajevo for a conference on sexual violence in war organised by Bosnia’s defence ministry. AFP

tanya gold is a london-based freelance writer.

TravelTHE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014 21

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULEFROM PHNOM PENH TO PHNOM PENHFlighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival

PHNOM PENH - BANGKOK BANGKOK - PHNOM PENH

K6 720 Daily 12:05 01:10 K6 721 Daily 02:25 03:30

PG 938 Daily 06:40 08:15 PG 931 Daily 07:55 09:05

PG 932 Daily 09:55 11:10 TG 580 Daily 07:55 09:05

TG 581 Daily 10:05 11:10 PG 933 Daily 13:30 14:40

PG 934 Daily 15:30 16:40 FD 3616 Daily 15:15 16:20

FD 3617 Daily 17:05 18:15 PG 935 Daily 17:30 18:40

PG 936 Daily 19:30 20:40 TG 584 Daily 18:25 19:40

TG 585 Daily 20:40 21:45 PG 937 Daily 20:15 21:50

PHNOM PENH - BEIJING BEIJING - PHNOM PENH

CZ 324 Daily 08:00 16:05 CZ 323 Daily 14:30 20:50

PHNOM PENH - DOHA ( Via HCMC) DOHA - PHNOM PENH ( Via HCMC)

QR 965 ..34..7 16:10 22:45 QR 964 ..34..7 01:05 14:30

QR 967 12...6. 22:40 05:20+1 QR 966 12...6. 07:25 20:50

PHNOM PENH - GUANGZHOU GUANGZHOU - PHNOM PENH

CZ 324 Daily 08:00 11:40 CZ 6059 2.4.7 12:00 13:45

CZ 6060 2.4.7 14:45 18:10 CZ 323 Daily 19:05 20:50

PHNOM PENH - HANOI HANOI - PHNOM PENH

VN 840 Daily 17:30 20:35 VN 841 Daily 09:40 13:00

PHNOM PENH - HO CHI MINH CITY HO CHI MINH CITY - PHNOM PENH

QR 965 ..34..7 16:10 17:10 QR 604 ..34..7 13:30 14:30

QR 967 12...6. 22:40 23:40 QR 966 12...6. 19:50 20:50

VN 841 Daily 14:00 14:45 VN 920 Daily 15:50 16:30

VN 3856 Daily 19:20 20:05 VN 3857 Daily 18:00 18:45

PHNOM PENH - HONG KONG HONG KONG - PHNOM PENH

KA 207 1.2.4.7 11:25 15:05 KA 208 1.2.4.6.7 08:50 10:25

KA 207 6 11:45 22:25 KA 206 3.5.7 14:30 16:05

KA 209 1 18:30 22:05 KA 206 1 15:25 17:00

KA 209 3.5.7 17:25 21:00 KA 206 2 15:50 17:25

KA 205 2 19:00 22:35 - - - -

PHNOM PENH - INCHEON INCHEON - PHNOM PENH

KE 690 Daily 23:40 06:40 KE 689 Daily 18:30 22:20

OZ 740 Daily 23:50 06:50 OZ 739 Daily 19:10 22:50

PHNOM PENH - KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR - PHNOM PENH

AK 1473 Daily 08:35 11:20 AK 1474 Daily 15:15 16:00

MH 755 Daily 11:10 14:00 MH 754 Daily 09:30 10:20

MH 763 Daily 17:10 20:00 MH 762 Daily 3:20 4:10

PHNOM PENH- PARIS PHNOM PENH - PARIS

AF 273 2 20:05 06:05 AF 273 2 20:05 06:05

PHNOM PENH - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI - PHNOM PENH

FM 833 2.3.4.5.7 19:50 23:05 FM 833 2.3.4.5.7 19:30 22:40

PHNOM PENH - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE - PHNOM PENH

MI 601 1.3.5.6.7 09:30 12:30 MI 602 1.3.5.6.7 07:40 08:40

MI 622 2.4 12:20 15:20 MI 622 2.4 08:40 11:25

3K 594 1234..7 15:25 18:20 3K 593 Daily 13:30 14:40

3K 594 ....56. 15:25 18:10 - - - -

MI 607 Daily 18:10 21:10 MI 608 Daily 16:20 17:15

2817 1.3 16:40 19:40 2816 1.3 15:00 15:50

2817 2.4.5 09:10 12:00 2816 2.4.5 07:20 08:10

2817 6 14:50 17:50 2816 6 13:00 14:00

2817 7 13:20 16:10 2816 7 11:30 12:30

PHNOM PENH -TAIPEI TAIPEI - PHNOM PENH

BR 266 Daily 12:45 17:05 BR 265 Daily 09:10 11:35

PHNOM PENH - VIENTIANE VIENTIANE - PHNOM PENH

VN 840 Daily 17:30 18:50 VN 841 Daily 11:30 13:00

QV 920 Daily 17:50 19:10 QV 921 Daily 11:45 13:15

PHNOM PENH - YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP

8M 402 1.3.6 13:30 14:55 8M 401 1.3.6 08:20 10:45

SIEM REAP - PHNOM PENH

8M 401 1.3.6 11:45 12:30

SIEM REAP - BANGKOK BANGKOK - SIEM REAP

Flighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival

K6 700 Daily 12:50 2:00 K6 701 Daily 02:55 04:05

PG 924 Daily 09:45 11:10 PG 903 Daily 08:00 09:00

PG 906 Daily 13:15 14:40 PG 905 Daily 11:35 12:45

PG 914 Daily 15:20 16:45 PG 913 Daily 13:35 14:35

PG 908 Daily 18:50 20:15 PG 907 Daily 17:00 18:10

PG 910 Daily 20:30 21:55 PG 909 Daily 18:45 19:55

SIEM REAP - GUANGZHOU GUANGZHOU - SIEM REAP

CZ 3054 2.4.6 11:25 15:35 CZ 3053 2.4.6 08:45 10:30

CZ 3054 1.3.5.7 19:25 23:20 CZ 3053 1.3.5.7 16:35 18:30

SIEM REAP -HANOI HANOI - SIEM REAP

K6 850 Daily 06:50 08:30 K6 851 Daily 19:30 21:15

VN 868 1.2.3.5.6 12:40 15:35 VN 843 Daily 15:25 17:10

VN 842 Daily 18:05 19:45 VN 845 Daily 17:05 18:50

VN 844 Daily 19:45 21:25 VN 845 Daily 17:45 19:30

VN 800 Daily 21:00 22:40 VN 801 Daily 18:20 20:00

SIEM REAP - HO CHI MINH CITY HO CHI MINH CITY - SIEM REAP

VN 3818 Daily 11:10 12:30 VN 3809 Daily 09:15 10:35

VN 826 Daily 13:30 14:40 VN 827 Daily 11:35 12:35

VN 3820 Daily 17:45 18:45 VN 3821 Daily 15:55 16:55

VN 828 Daily 18:20 19:20 VN 829 Daily 16:20 17:40

VN 3822 Daily 21:35 22:35 VN 3823 Daily 19:45 20:45

SIEM REAP - INCHEON INCHEON - SIEM REAP

KE 688 Daily 23:15 06:10 KE 687 Daily 18:30 22:15

OZ 738 Daily 23:40 07:10 OZ 737 Daily 19:20 22:40

SIEM REAP - KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR - SIEM REAP

AK 281 Daily 08:35 11:35 AK 280 Daily 06:50 07:50

MH 765 3.5.7 14:15 17:25 MH 764 3.5.7 12:10 13:15

FLY DIRECT TO MYANMAR MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY

YANGON - PHNOM PENH PHNOM PENH - YANGONFLY DIRECT TO SIEM REAP MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & SATURDAYSIEM REAP - YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP

#90+92+94Eo, St. 217, Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.Tel 023 881 178 | Fax 023 886 677 | www.maiair.com

REGULAR SHIPPING LINES SCHEDULES CALLING PORT ROTATION

LINE CALLING SCHEDULES FREEQUENCY ROTATION PORTS

RCL (12calls/moth)

1 Wed, 08:00 - Thu 16:00 1 Call/week SIN-SHV-SGZ-SIN

2 Thu, 14:00 - Fri 22:00 1 Call/week HKG-SHV-SGZ-HKG(HPH-TXGKEL)

3 Fri, 20:00 - Sat 23:59 1 Call/week SIN-SHV-SGZ-SIN

MEARSK (MCC)(4 calls/moth)

1 Th, 08:00 - 20:00 1 Call/week SGN-SHV-LZP-SGN- HKG-OSA-TYO-KOB- BUS-SGH-YAT-SGN- SIN-SHV-TPP-SIN2 Fri, 22:00- Sun 00:01 1 Call/week

SITC (BEN LINE (4 calls/onth) Sun 09:00-23:00 1 Call/week

HCM-SHV-LZP-HCM-NBO-SGH-OSA-KOB-BUS-SGH-HGK-CHM

ITL (ACL)(4 calls/month) Sat 06:00 - Sun 08:00 1 Call/week SGZ-SHV-SIN-SGZ

APL(4 calls/month) Fri, 08:00 - Sun, 06:00 1 call/week SIN-SHV-SINCOTS(2 calls/month) Irregula 2 calls/month BBK-SHV-BKK-(LZP)

34 call/monthBUS= Busan, KoreaHKG= HongKongkao=Kaoshiung, Taiwan ROCKob= Kebe, JapanKUN= Kuantan, MalaysiaLZP= Leam Chabang, ThailandNBO= Ningbo, ChinaOSA= Osaka, JapanSGN= Saigon, Vietnam

SGZ= Songkhla, ThailandSHV= Sihanoukville Port CambodiaSIN= SingaporeTPP= TanjungPelapas, Malaysia TYO= Tokyo, JapanTXG= Taichung, TaiwanYAT= Yantian, ChinaYOK= Yokohama, Japan

AIRLINES

Air Asia (AK)Room T6, PP International Airport. Tel: 023 6666 555 Fax: 023 890 071www.airasia.com

Cambodia Angkor Air (K6)PP Office, #90+92+94Eo, St.217, Sk.Orussey4, Kh. 7Makara, 023 881 178 /77-718-333. Fax:+855 23-886-677 www.cambodiaangkorair.comE: [email protected]

Qatar AirwaysNo. 296 Blvd. Mao Tse Toung (St. 245), Ground floor, Intercontinental Hotel PP Tel: +23 42 40 12/13/14www.qatarairways.com

Myanmar Airways International#90+92+94Eo, St. 217, Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.T:023 881 178 | F:023 886 677www.maiair.com

Dragon Air (KA)#168, Monireth, PPTel: 023 424 300Fax: 023 424 304 www.dragonair.com/kh

Tiger airwaysG. floor, Regency square, Suare, Suite #68/79, St.205, Sk Chamkarmorn, PPTel: (855) 95 969 888(855) 23 5515 888/5525888E: [email protected]

Koreanair (KE) Room.F3-R03, Intelligent Office Center, Monivong Blvd,PPTel: (855) 23 224 047-9www.koreanair.com

Cebu Pacific (5J)Phnom Penh: No. 333BMonivong Blvd. Tel: 023 219161Siem Reap: No. 50,Sivatha Blvd.Tel: 063 965487 E-mail: [email protected]

SilkAir (MI)Regency C,Unit 2-4, Tumnorb Teuk, Chamkarmorn Phnom PenhTel:023 988 629www.silkair.com

AIRLINES CODE COLOUR CODE2817 - 16 Tigerairways KA - Dragon Air 1 Monday

5J - CEBU Airways. MH - Malaysia Airlines 2 Tuesday

AK - Air Asia MI - SilkAir 3 Wednesday

BR - EVA Airways OZ - Asiana Airlines 4 Thursday

CI - China Airlines PG - Bangkok Airways 5 Friday

CZ - China Southern QR - Qatar Airways 6 Saturday

FD - Thai Air Asia QV - Lao Airlines 7 Sunday

FM - Shanghai Air SQ - Singapore Airlines

K6- Cambodia Angkor Air TG - Thai Airways | VN - Vietnam Airlines

This flight schedule information is updated about once a month. Further information, please contact direct to airline or a travel agent for flight schedule information.

SIEM REAP - MANILA MANILA - SIEM REAP

5J 258 2.4.7 22:30 02:11 5J 257 2.4.7 19:45 21:30

SIEM REAP - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE - SIEM REAP

MI 633 1, 6, 7 16:35 22:15 MI 633 1, 6, 7 14:35 15:45

MI 622 2.4 10:40 15:20 MI 622 2.4 08:40 09:50

MI 630 5 12:25 15:40 MI 616 7 10:40 11:50

MI 615 7 12:45 16:05 MI 636 3, 2 13:55 17:40

MI 636 3, 2 18:30 21:35 MI 630 5 07:55 11:35

MI 617 5 18:35 21:55 MI 618 5 16:35 17:45

3K 598 .2....7 15:35 18:40 3K 597 .2....7 13:45 14:50

3K 598 ...4... 15:35 18:30 3K 597 ...4... 13:45 14:50

SIEM REAP - VIENTIANE VIENTIANE - SIEM REAP

QV 522 2.4.5.7 10:05 13:00 QV 512 2.4.5.7 06:30 09:25

SIEM REAP - YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP

8M 402 1. 5 20:15 21:25 8M 401 1. 5 17:05 19:15

PREAH SIHANOUK - SIEM REAP SIEM REAP - PREAH SIHANOUK

Flighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival

K6 130 1-3-5 12:55 13:55 K6 131 1-3-5 11:20 12:20

Will Coldwell

WiTH its boule-vards of plas-tic palm trees, gleaming silver

interior and “Zen Garden” complete with lush ferns and refreshing mist machine, Dubai international is a world away from the much-maligned Heathrow airport.

However, it is not just on pomp and glamour that Brit-ain’s flagship transport hub is being outdone.

Figures for the first two months of 2014 show that Dubai has overtaken Heath-row as the airport with the largest number of inter-national passengers in the world. it dealt with almost 2 million more in the period, and with a growth rate of 13.5 per cent, it is likely to continue to outpace Heath-row, which remains Europe’s busiest airport.

But while UK politicians will be dismayed at Heath-row’s fading significance it would be nigh-on impossible for Heathrow to keep up with the aggressive expansion of the arab state.

Dubai international plans to increase its passenger numbers from 60 to 90 million over the next four years, constructing an ad-ditional terminal space and concourse twice the size of Heathrow’s terminal five. Bearing in mind that Dubai’s palatial terminal 3, exclusive-ly for the state’s own Emir-ates airline, is already the largest around – at 1,713,000

square metres, it has the second largest floor area of any building on the planet – Heathrow does start to feel a little, well, regional.

“Dubai really is in a sweet spot as far as global travel goes,” says Jim Krane, Gulf specialist at rice University’s Baker institute and author of Dubai: The story of the world’s fastest city. “While Heathrow is a break between North america and Europe, Dubai sits in between the far bigger population centres of asia; anyone flying West from asia will fly over the persian gulf. it has set itself up as a venus fly trap for in-ternational travel.”

But even Krane admits the speed of growth is impres-sive. “in the 80s, when Heath-row was already booming, the airport was just a couple of metal sheds with some guys hand-stamping tick-ets,” he says.

“Dubai couldn’t actually get enough flights to come to it, which is why they ended up founding their own airline. it really is a fairytale for them that they’ve now overtaken Heathrow.”

Expect to hear much more about the pleasures of a stopover there. Such as the opportunity to blow $266 on a raffle ticket for their roll-ing million-dollar draw, or $10,000 on a bottle of 1947 Cheval Blanc at terminal 3’s fine wine store le Clos. and nothing really says “you’re in Dubai” quite like a shop sell-ing gold bullion in the duty free. the guardian

Dubai airport named worldnumber one

At Dubai International, you can blow $266 on a ticket for a million-dollar draw. bloomberg

THE PHNOM PENH POST April 04 , 201422

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THE PHNOM PENH POST April 04 , 2014 23

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SportNOCC to honour vets at inaugural ceremonyThe National Olympic Committee of Cambodia will host a special ceremony on Monday at its headquarters at the National Sports Complex to honour the Kingdom’s sporting veterans from the 50s, ’60s and ’70s. “This ceremony is aimed at setting a good example to the new generation of athletes, to motivate them and to help them learn and respect their elders,” NOCC general secretary Vath Chamroeun told the Post. “It is not an annual celebration, but NOCC president Thong Khon is willing to make it part of our sporting tradition.” Currently only 10 veterans have been found to take part in the event, including NOCC vice secretary-general and former swimming star hem Thon, although the committee is hoping to locate more. YeUN PONLOK, TRANSLATeD BY

CheNG SeRYRITh

Going dries for 2014 Grand National raceThe turf on the Grand National horse racing course at Aintree near Liverpool continued to dry on Wednesday, and the money continued to arrive for the good-ground specialist Double Seven as punters tried to anticipate Tony McCoy’s choice of partner for tomorrow’s big race. The official going on the Grand National course changed from good-to-soft to good-to-soft, good in places, while both the Mildmay and hurdle courses are now good, good-to-soft in places. however, some rain, possibly heavy at times, was forecast for yesterday’s first day of the Grand National meeting. Tomorrow’s showpiece steeplechase is due to go off at 10:15pm Cambodian time. The GUARDIAN

SAT extends agreement of Tour qualifying schoolThe Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) has extended its partnership with the Asian Tour by signing a new six-year agreement to remain as the presenting sponsor of the Qualifying School from 2015 till 2020, officials announced yesterday. Since 2009, the SAT has fully supported the Tour’s Qualifying School, which is the gateway for golfers from all over the world to battle for playing rights on the region’s premier tour. More than 700 golfers have converged annually in Thailand over the years to play for Asian Tour cards and playing privileges on the Asian Development Tour. The ASIAN TOUR

Charity champBen Gilks (right) and his father Pete present a cheque for $45,000 to Cambodian Children’s Fund country manager Kram Sok Channoeurn during a ceremony at CCF Community Shelter 2 in Meanchey district’s Stung Meanchey commune yesterday, while surrounded by schoolchildren helped by the organisation. Gilks won a fight against Nick Adams by judges’ decision on December 7 last year at the Hand Arena in Clevedon, England, as part of the Zero to Hero amateur boxing program. The victory helped raise the already substantial total donated to the CCF. NICK SeLLS/KAMPUCheA PARTY RePUBLIC

Mercedes men eye Bahrainl

ewis Hamilton and Nico rosberg will put Mercedes’ early sea-son dominance to its

first true test on sunday at the floodlit Bahrain Grand prix on a track where both drivers have always struggled.

Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, swept to victory from pole in Malaysia last week ahead of rosberg, who clinched the championship opener in australia.

But despite their lofty posi-tions in the 2014 title race, the dust and heat of the troubled Middle east state have often choked the pair’s ambitions.

Hamilton’s best finish at the sakhir track was second in 2007 while rosberg has never made the podium; his storm-ing drive to pole position in 2013 yielded only a poor ninth place finish. His best result re-mains a humble fifth.

“i’ve finished on the podium there a couple of times but, for one reason or another, i’ve never managed to get the win,” said Hamilton, whose victory at sepang followed a retirement in australia.

“Until last week it was the same story for me with Malay-sia, so fingers crossed this can be the year of breaking those

cycles. we know it’s going to be tough to maintain our cur-rent form, particularly at a circuit where every team has had so much running time in testing over the winter, but i’ll be pushing hard to keep those results coming.”

rosberg is the champion-ship leader after two events and enjoys an 18-point cush-ion over Hamilton.

But he too is aware that Bahrain, which rarely features standout duels, has not been a happy hunting ground.

“The first two races have

been a great start to my season and i’m already look-ing forward to being back in the car and carrying on that momentum in Bahrain,” the German said.

“it’s a great track and i re-ally enjoy driving it. i’ve never had much luck on race week-ends here, but it’s definitely the one i’m best prepared for this year.

“we may be leading both championships at the mo-ment but our rivals are breathing down our necks, so we need to stay focused and

keep doing our job calmly and professionally.”

while Mercedes have shone in the early weeks of the sea-son, it’s been a tale of relative woe for world champions red Bull.

Four-time champion se-bastian Vettel failed to finish the season-opener in austra-lia before grabbing third place in Malaysia.

He sits seventh in the title race while teammate Daniel ricciardo has yet to get on the scoreboard as red Bull wilt in the shadow of Mercedes.

Vettel has looked as unset-tled as his car so far in 2014 as he lies 28 points off rosberg and with even Nico Hulken-berg of the unheralded Force india team ahead of him. He has even lambasted the new low-noise hybrid engines with an expletive while his team has grappled with a raft of techni-cal rule tweaks.

even though the German star has won the last two rac-es in Bahrain, his team boss Christian Horner is not hold-ing out a great deal of hope that Mercedes’ stranglehold will be broken this weekend.

“i think their advantage in Bahrain will possibly be larger than it was in Malaysia, be-

cause that is quite a power dominated circuit,” Horner told autosport.com.

Ferrari’s Fernando alonso, who finished fourth in austra-lia and Malaysia, has proved the master of the desert con-ditions, winning in 2005, 2006 and 2010.

But even his trademark rock-solid self-confidence has been dented by seeing both rosberg and Hamilton record runaway wins of over 35 seconds in the first two events.

“we can expect a tough race, as some of the competition is very strong and we will have to raise our game to close down the gap as quickly as possible,” the spaniard said.

away from the track, the race has once again become the fo-cus of the country’s long-run-ning civil strife.

On Tuesday, Bahrain’s shi-ite opposition called separate rallies to protest the staging of the race.

Demonstrations have been held during the weekend every year since 2011 by opponents of the ruling sunni al-Khalifa dynasty in an attempt to high-light pro-reform demands.

sunday’s race gets under way at 10pm Cambodian time. AFP

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton competes in qualifying for the 2013 Bahrain F1 Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. AFP

World Twenty20 CricketFriday April 5Semi-final India v South Africa – 8pm

Sunday April 7 Grand Final – 8pm

NCAA Men’s BasketballSunday April 7Final Four Semi-finals Florida Gators v

Connecticut Huskies – 5:09am Wisconsin Badgers v

Kentucky Wildcats – 7:49am

WeekeNd fixTures

BoxingTHE PHNOM PENH POST april 4, 2014 25

pacman v Money still a possibilityT

rainer Freddie roach says avenging losses to Timothy Bradley and Juan

Manuel Marquez are the top items on Manny pacquiao’s to-do list, but believes the Filipino will one day face Floyd Mayweather.

But Hall of Fame trainer roach said pacquaio’s legacy depends more on turning the tables on the two opponents who beat him in 2012 than on a belated, late-career tilt at Mayweather.

“in the history books you have to avenge your losses, you have to avenge your losses in life,” roach said on Wednes-day at his Wild Card gym in los angeles, where pacquiao’s me-dia workout drew a throng.

pacquiao, the former world champion in eight weight di-visions, will get his shot at ret-ribution against Bradley in las Vegas on april 12.

Both fighters are calling it a chance for redemption, after Bradley beat pacquiao by a controversial split decision in June 2012 – a bout that many observers thought pacquiao had dominated.

“We feel we got robbed in the last fight – now we need to be sure that we get the vic-

tory,” said pacquiao, 35, who will be fighting to regain the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown he sur-rendered to Bradley.

Six months after losing to the american, pacquiao was knocked out in the sixth round by Mexico’s Marquez in the fourth bout between the two.

if pacquiao beats Bradley and Marquez beats ameri-can Mike alvarado in May, a fifth pacquiao-Marquez fight could be on the cards.

“i’m not thinking about the next fight,” pacquiao stated. “i’m thinking about this fight.”

However, pacquiao can

never escape speculation about a matchup with un-beaten Mayweather.

in late 2009 and early 2010, pacquiao and Mayweather were considered the world’s top pound-for-pound fight-ers and record profits were expected from a showdown.

But a disagreement over

pre-fight blood testing scuttled talks. Mayweather vowed never again to do busi-ness with pacquiao promoter Bob arum, but the subject never goes away.

“i’ve thought about it so much, i’ve had dreams about that fight,” roach said.

While he added that it seems to be “getting further away in-stead of closer” roach added that he thought it would hap-pen simply because there are so few big-draw opponents for Mayweather and pac-quiao as they seek to extend their careers and cement their legacies.

“The pool’s very small for both guys,” roach said. “Somewhere they’re going to have to fight each other.”

Party with boxing’s legendsThe nevada Boxing Hall Of

Fame will hold its first event of the year, a fund-raiser de-signed to bring the boxing community together en-titled “party With Boxing’s legends” on april 11 at the Havana room of The new Tropicana in las Vegas.

already confirmed to at-tend are seven former world champions including 2014 nVBHOF inductee Corne-

lius Boza-edwards, and 2013 inductee Mike “The Body Snatcher” McCallum.

Other champions that are on hand include Sugar Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, ishe Smith, Kevin Kelley and Clarence “Bones” adams.

Two inductees in the of-ficials class, referees richard Steele and Kenny Bayless, will also be present to speak to fans, as will trainer in-ductee Miguel Diaz.

nVBHOF Founder and president rich Marotta said: “We are excited to kick off our 2014 events and especially thrilled to be hosting this event at the all-new Tropi-cana resort in las Vegas.

“Fans will absolutely be blown away by the Havana room – not only is it one of the most elegant and unique las Vegas event venues, but it’s the perfect backdrop for this night of fun and fundrais-ing,” Marotta continued.

“With the pacquiao-Brad-ley fight the next night, and the eSpn Friday show ear-lier that night, we are hop-ing boxing fans in Vegas take advantage of this unique op-portunity to engage boxing legends up close.” AFP / DAN

RILEY

Manny Pacquiao takes his media workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Wednesday in Hollywood, California. AFP


Sport

Chelsea accused of fixing Dutch Eredivisie resultEnglish Premier league giants Chelsea, which financially backs Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, have been accused of trying to fix the Dutch league. Former Vitesse owner, Merab Jordania, claimed in the daily De Telegraaf that Chelsea do not want the Dutch club to win the league because both cannot compete in the Champions league as UEFA rules prevents two clubs under the same ownership competing in the same competition. “in Arnhem, Chelsea is without doubt in control,” former club technical director Ted van leeuwen was also quoted as saying by the AnP agency. “Chelsea covers part of the Vitesse payroll and loans a certain number of its players. What counts for Chelsea is the good progress of these players and not that Vitesse are champions,” he said. This season Vitesse have four players – lucas Piazon, Bertrand Traore, Patrick van Aanholt and Christian Atsu – on loan from Chelsea while gael Kakuta and sam hutchinson were on loan in January. Meanwhile, Chelsea manager José Mourinho criticised his team’s sloppy defending and lack of a cutting edge after they went down 3-1 to Paris saint-germain in their Champions league quarter-final, first leg on Wednesday. The Premier league side recovered from the loss of an early Ezequiel lavezzi goal to equalise courtesy of an Eden hazard penalty just before the half-hour mark and the Belgian also struck the post before half-time. however, Psg seized the initiative again in the second period and a David luiz own goal put them back in front before Javier Pastore’s stoppage-time effort handed the ligue 1 leaders a potentially decisive two-goal advantage heading into next Tuesday’s return at stamford Bridge. AFP

Ronaldo injury no worry for Real coach AncelottiREAl Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted he was not concerned by an injury that forced Cristiano Ronaldo to be withdrawn 10 minutes from time as his side edged towards the Champions league semi-finals with a 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. The Portuguese scored a record-equalling 14th Champions league goal of the season to all but seal Real’s place in the last four after first-half strikes from gareth Bale and isco had put los Blancos in command. however, uncharacteristically, Ronaldo didn’t finish the 90 minutes as he was forced off by a minor knee injury that has bothered him for the past two weeks. AFP

USA settle for 2-2 draw in friendly with MexicoMExiCo rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit to earn a 2-2 draw with the United states on Wednesday in an international friendly between World Cup-bound teams. After suffering a 2-0 defeat in a friendly against Ukraine on March 5, Jurgen Klinsmann’s United states were looking for a better performance against their north American rivals, with only 10 weeks remaining before the World Cup kicks off in Brazil. AFP

leaders face tough testsH S Manjunath

Moving into the eighth week of action, the Met-fone C-league joint leaders phnom penh

Crown and naga Corp have tough as-signments this weekend ahead of the traditional break for the Khmer new Year celebrations.

at the old Stadium, naga face de-fending champions Svay rieng in Sat-urday’s second fixture in a markedly better frame of mind than their rivals, who went through a frustrating ex-perience of splitting points in a goal-less game with Western University on Wednesday.

The Svay rieng camp is determined to put that outcome behind them and work out a sound formation that can withstand and test the naga strength. The team elders believe bolstering co-ordination upfront is the key when confronting a side as well-rounded as their opponents tomorrow.

“We’re going in to fight with a big club [in naga], but i am confident as we have no suspensions or injuries,” Svay rieng coach Sam vandeth told the post.

The title holders tried out their new ivory Coast recruit James adekunle on Wednesday, although the coach revealed that it was up to the club to decide whether he would be handed a contract.

Meanwhile, naga took out a lot of positives from their last week’s robust showing against national police Com-missary and coach prak Sovannara is reasonably happy that the team is steadily grating the grooves to the lev-els he has in mind.

of some concern and anxiety in the naga camp is the side’s goal scoring average of two per game so far and, given its inherent strike force, the coach obviously expects more on the board.

Before the Svay rieng-naga clash, asia Europe University will be up against albirex niigata, who are in a jubilant mood after breaking a six-match duck with their first win of the season against Western University last week.

Four-time league winners Crown haven’t put a foot wrong in this year’s campaign so far. They take on the po-lice team at the olympic Stadium on Saturday in a secure feeling that they had won their previous encounter in the group stage of the Hun Sen Cup.

police’s eventual triumph in that competition was a milestone achieve-ment for the club, but the return to the league campaign was tinged with disappointment after the loss to naga last week.

Coach Ung Kanyanith is going back to the drawing board to work up a plan to put the side on an even keel, keeping in my mind the inescapable fact that the side is facing a formida-ble foe in Crown.

“We’ve been training for a tough fight this weekend. i admit that Crown is one of the strongest teams in MCl, but in football nobody is perfect,” he told the post.

“Every team has its strengths and weaknesses. We will look to exploit Crown’s weaknesses on the pitch, and we know our own strengths.

“We’ve not signed any new players, but unfortunately our captain Say piseth, one of the best defenders in our squad, will miss the Crown game due to an injury to his shin sustained in the previous match against naga,” added the coach.

Crown is seeking to regain its hold on the championship which slipped out of its grasp in 2012 after back-to-back triumphs

Bin Chantha Thierry’s recent foot injury will keep him out of the reckon-ing for much longer than first thought and Crown will have to do without Kim Jung-ho and ngoy Srin, both of whom are suspended.

“The rest of the group should be ready. We also have, since the very first round of the season, our Brazil-ian rafael [oliviera] 100 per cent fit and the next days training will show if he is ready for some game time,” said Crown coach Sam Schweingruber.

“For this season, we are obviously

trying to build up from the last sea-son. We have an additional assistant coach John Mcglynn on board as a real football expert and with a great tactical understanding of the game. So we believe that our team is obvi-ously getting better.

“We also have a new goalkeeper and several new foreign players who help our team in training and games.”

Saturday’s opener will be a testy one for Kirivong Sok Sen Chey, who are seemingly climbing a greasy pole. Beaten 4-1 by Svay rieng last time out, the visitors from Takeo will cross a buoyant Build Bright United for whom the past few weeks have gone very well.

Sunday’s fare at the olympic Sta-dium offers a stirring duel between Ministry of national Defence and Boeung Ket rubber Field.

While Boeung Ket is the obvious form horse, MnD have the capacity to bowl a wrong one at any time, mostly when least fancied or expected.

in their current form, Triasia should go out as favourites to down Western University in Sunday’s opening fixture.

Change of games and grassThe Football Federation of Cambo-

dia announced yesterday a change in the fixture list for the second half of

the MCl season to help accommo-date a planned installation of artificial turf at the olympic Stadium.

The redevelopment of the pitch, which has often been reduced to a quagmire during torrential down-pours during rainy season games, is being partly funded by world-govern-ing body FiFa, who will also provide technical support, according to an of-ficial FFC press release yesterday.

Construction work is expected to begin shortly after the July 27 conclu-sion of the league. ADDiTionAl REPoRTing

BY ChEng sERYRiTh

Weekend FixturesSaturday April 5At old stadium Asia Europe University v

Albirex Niigata – 1:30pm Svay Rieng v Naga Corp – 3:45pm

At olympic stadium Kirivong Sok Sen Chey v

Build Bright United – 3:30pm National Police Commissary v

Phnom Penh Crown – 6pmSunday April 6At olympic stadium TriAsia v Western University

3:30pm Ministry of National Defence v

Boeung Ket Rubber Field – 6pm

Svay Rieng’s Prak Mony Odom (left) pulls on the shorts of Naga Corp’s Anderson Zogbe during their 2013 Metfone C-League game on June 2 at Olympic Stadium. The teams will face off again in the league tomorrow at Old Stadium. sREng MEng sRUn

English Premier LeagueSaturday April 5 Man City v Southampton

6:45pm Aston Villa v Fulham – 9pm Cardiff v Crystal Palace

9pm Hull v Swansea – 9pm Newcastle v Man United

9pm Norwich v West Brom – 9pm Chelsea v Stoke – 11:30pm

Sunday April 6 Everton v Arsenal – 7:30pm West Ham v Liverpool – 10pm

Spanish La LigaSaturday April 5 Almeria v Osasuna – 2am Atletico Madrid v Villarreal

9pm Barcelona v Real Betis – 11pm

Sunday April 6 Real Sociedad v Real Madrid

1am Rayo Vallecano v

Celta de Vigo – 3am Malaga v Granada – 5pm Elche v Getafe – 10pm

Monday April 7 Sevilla v Espanyol – 12am Real Valladolid v Valencia

2am

German BundesligaSaturday April 5 Hamburg v

Bayer Leverkusen – 2:30am Nurnberg v Borussia

Mönchengladbach – 8:30pm Eintracht Frankfurt v Mainz

8:30pm Augsburg v Bayern Munich

8:30pm Werder Bremen v Schalke

8:30pm Stuttgart v Freiburg

8:30pm Borussia Dortmund v

Wolfsburg – 11:30pm Eintracht Braunschweig v

Hannover – 8:30pm Hertha Berlin v Hoffenheim

10:30pmItalian Serie ASaturday April 5 Chievo v Verona – 11pm

Sunday April 6 Inter Milan v Bologna

1:45am Lazio v Sampdoria – 5:30pm Atalanta v Sassuolo – 8pm Cagliari v Roma – 8pm Catania v Torino – 8pm Fiorentina v Udinese

8pmMonday April 7 Parma v Napoli – 1:45am

French Ligue 1Saturday April 5 Marseille v Ajaccio

1:30am Paris SG v Reims – 10pm

Sunday April 6 Bastia v Sochaux – 1am Bordeaux v Rennes – 1am Guingamp v Montpellier

1am Lorient v Evian TG – 1am Toulouse v Lille – 1am St Etienne v Nice – 7pm Valenciennes v Lyon

10pmMonday April 7 Monaco v Nantes – 2am

WEEkEnd FIxturES

British sailing great robin Knox-Johnston announced on Wednesday he planned to compete in a solo trans-

Atlantic race at the age of 75 – 45 years after he became the first man to sail alone non-stop around the world.

Knox-Johnston has entered his Open 60 yacht Grey Power into the route de rhum and should he take part he will be the oldest participant in the history of the 3,500-mile race from France to the Caribbean – an event he last entered in 1982 in his catamaran Olympus.

“Participating in the 2013 rolex sydney to hobart race reminded me how much i enjoy the excite-ment of an ocean race,” Knox-John-ston said as he announced his entry at the Endeavour Quay marina in Gosport, near Portsmouth, on Eng-land’s south coast.

“solo sailing is where i feel most at home, no one else can benefit you or let you down, it is all in my hands.

“the route de rhum is one of the classics – it is a very well-run race.

“i just feel like it, why shouldn’t one; there’s this attitude i find that once you have passed the retire-ment age of 65 the next day your brain turns to porridge and you have a heart attack every time you

come up the stairs, it doesn’t hap-pen like that.

“if you keep active and keep fit, you keep active and fit, it’s as simple as that,” the grandfather of five added.

“i lead quite an active life which i enjoy, i wouldn’t want my life any other way and i have a very low threshold of boredom hence when i get bored i think of something to do and then i spend the next year regretting i thought of it.

“Age is just a measure, it’s not a measure of your physical ability, that varies between human beings.

“i could drop dead tomorrow or i might last another 30 years, who knows, in the meantime i’m going to get on and enjoy the life i have got.

“i’m not coming out of retirement, i’ve never been in retirement.”

he added: “When i did the syd-ney-hobart i realised i have been missing my racing, i have this boat sitting in the marina at Gosport and why don’t i go and take it out and do what i really like doing and that’s single-handed and in a race so i entered the route de rhum be-cause i thought it would be a nice race and of course it’s getting a bit cold in England at that time of year and rather warmer in Guadeloupe

so i thought i would wander over to Guadeloupe in the race.

“so it’s a question of getting the boat into condition again and setting off from st Malo on November 2 and racing out to Guadeloupe which is re-ally what i enjoy.

“it’s single-handed, it’s a nice fast boat and nice to sail, she’s not as fast

as the new modern ones but then they cost £5 million ($8 million) and i do not have a spare £5 million so i took what i have got, thank you very much, and enjoy doing it.”

Knox-Johnston set his circumnavi-gation record when he finished the sunday times Golden Globe race on April 22, 1969, an event where all the

other seven competitors dropped out at various stages, by sailing his boat Suhali into Falmouth 312 days after he left the southwest English port.

Now he is competing in the latest edition of the route de rhum, which starts in st Malo, France, on Novem-ber 2, and finishes in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. AFP

27Sailing

THE PHNOM PENH POST APril 4, 2014

Knox-Johnston to sail solo at 75

British sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston celebrates his arrival at the Spanish Basque port of Getxo after finishing the Velux 5 Oceans around-the-world sailing race in May, 2007. AFP