FOX News : Health

21 July, 2010

Abhisit: Thailand objects to Cambodian plan for Preah Vihear area management

Source: MCOT, July 18 2010

BANGKOK, July 18 - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday reiterated that Thailand would object the World Heritage Committee (WHC) when it meets later this month to discuss a management plan around Preah Vihear ancient temple, earlier granted the World Heritage status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Mr Abhisit said during his weekly TV and radio address that his government would continue to object a management plan around the 11th century temple during the WHC meeting in Brazil between July 25 to August 3, for Thailand and its neighbour Cambodia still have to resolve their border demarcation problem.

Thailand continues to insist on using watershed mark as the border between the two countries, said Mr Abhisit, adding that Thai people should not worry that the country would lose some of its territory to Phnom Penh.

The Thai government’s stance on the Thai-Cambodian border remains unchanged, except that of the Preah Vihear temple as the International Court of Justice has already ruled that the temple belongs to Cambodia and the Thai government has to obey the order, he said.

The UNESCO has about two years ago listed the temple as the World Heritage site while the site was awarded to Phnom Penh by the International Court of Justice in 1962 in a decision rankling with most Thais.

Armed clashes of the two countries have occurred frequently after the listing of the temple as World Heritage site, while Cambodia maintains the demarcation of the disputed area, which it says has to be based on a map drawn in 1908.

Both Thailand and Cambodia have historically laid claim to the temple site, which sits on Cambodian soil but can only be easily accessed from Thailand.

Mr Abhisit said although clashes occurred from time to time but generally speaking both sides try to refrain from fighting.

Thailand has informed several countries that as long as border dispute continues to exist, it is inappropriate for Cambodia to handle the management plan around the Preah Vihear temple, he said.

The WHC will meet for its 34th annual session and Suwit Khunkitti, minister of Natural Resources and Environment, is expected to head the Thai delegation at the meeting.

Cambodia is scheduled to submit its management plan expected to involve the 4.6-square kilometre overlapping area near Preah Vihear Temple to UNESCO during the meeting.

Mr Suwit earlier notified the cabinet that he will ask the committee to postpone its consideration of the Cambodian management plan as there has not been a resolution of the territorial dispute between the two countries regarding the area. (MCOT online news)

14 July, 2010

Bangkok denies torturing Cambodian man

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 15:03 Cameron Wells .
The Phnom Penh Post

THE Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed allegations by government officials that a Cambodian man detained during antigovernment protests in Bangkok in May was tortured by Thai police, saying there was “no indication” the man had been mistreated.

Last week, Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said that Thai police had tortured Cambodian national San Mony Peth, 27, who was arrested on May 19 on suspicion of being involved in an arson attack.

The attack allegedly took place as the Thai military broke up antigovernment Red Shirt protests in the Thai capital, triggering mass looting and acts of arson.

“He suffered from torture before the Cambodian embassy visited him,” Koy Kuong said last week. “He had wounds on his chin and his chest.”

He also said San Mony Peth had been imprisoned despite not being charged with any crime, and that he was “not sure” what San Mony Peth had been accused of.

False allegations
But Thani Thongpakdi, spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry, said late Monday night that there was no evidence of San Mony Peth’s having been tortured by police since his arrest. “The Royal Thai Government is fully committed to upholding the principles of human rights,” he said.

“From the information we have received, there is no indication that [San Mony Peth] has in any way been tortured during his detention.”

He also responded to the claim that San Mony Peth had not been charged, saying evidence suggested the prisoner had set fire to the Phra Khanong branch of the Bangkok Bank.

“Based on evidence, the police have charged [San Mony Peth] with arson,” he said.

Thani added that San Mony Peth would receive a fair trial in accordance with the relevant Thai laws, and that his case would go forward in line with “due legal process”.

But Koy Kuong yesterday stood by information he had received from officials at the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok, and reiterated his earlier allegation that San Mony Peth had been tortured before embassy officials visited him shortly after he was detained.

“When they visited San Mony Peth, he had wounds on his chin and his chest,” he said. “We don’t know what he has been charged with yet. It is up to the courts to decide.”

San Mony Peth, originally from Battambang province, had been living and working in Thailand for around five years prior to his arrest.

Joint Program for Children, Food Security and Nutrition Launch in Svay Rieng

Svay Rieng: On 14 July 2010, Svay Rieng Pronvicial Authority in collaboration with Joint Program Provincial Coordinator held half day event for the launch of MDG-Fund Joint Program for Children, Food Security and Nutrition in Svay Rieng after its national and official launch on 8 June 2010 at Councils of Ministers.

There were over one hundred participants who are from concerned ministry line to deal with the programe workplan and action plan to improve maternal healths in order to contribute to the MDG-1 on reducing extreme poverty and hunger, MDG-4 on reduction of child mortality and MDG-5 on maternal health.

The event was presided over by H.E. Cheang Om, Governor of Svay Rieng, H.E. Pao Sopheap, Deputy Governor, and H.E. Srun Darith, Deputy Secretary-General of Council for Agriculture and Rural Development.

13 July, 2010

Imports of garment materials surge



IMPORTS of raw materials for garment manufacturing surged 45 percent in the first five months of 2010, compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary data released by the Ministry of Commerce yesterday.

Data indicated that imports increased 44.81 percent to US$794.29 million (210,286 tonnes), from $548.48 million (102,464 tonnes).

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce Director Deneral Nguon Meng Tech said the increase was linked to the recovery in demand for garments.

“Normally when our exports grow, the [raw material] imports also follow, as we don’t have our own textile or fabric factories to supply the sector,” he said.

Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia Secretary General Ken Loo said the price of raw material had recently increased, but that sales had not grown in proportion with the cost.

“I think this is the big problem for the industry,” he said.

But Nam-Shik Kang, managing director of Injae Garment Company, said his raw material imports had gone up 15 to 20 percent compared to the same period last year because of increased demand in foreign markets.

Total garment and textile exports rose by 11 percent to $1.06 billion in the first five months of 2010, up from more than $953 million last year.

Workers need a little support


100712_18
Photo by: Tracey Shelton
Garment workers attend to their jobs at a factory in Phnom Penh last year. A debate over the Kingdom’s minimum wage has provoked threats of a strike by garment workers that could further affect a sector hit hard by the global economic crisis.

On July 8, government officials, union leaders and workers’ representatives met on the campus of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training to decide upon the minimum wage for the garment industry.

After a discussion that lasted all morning, there was bitter disappointment about an outcome that revealed the government’s proposal of a mere US$5 per month increase had been settled upon, bringing the minimum wage up to just $61 per month, including living allowance.

For the more than 200 local union leaders that had gathered on the campus and lined the dusty streets outside the building to observe the meeting, the situation seemed hopeless. Eye-witnesses described the crowds as outraged as they spoke to the media about their dissatisfaction and as local affiliates were called in.

The unions’ demand of a minimum wage of $93 monthly was quite clearly never on the agenda for the pro-government members of the committee, who voted to keep the minimum wage unacceptably low.

According to research produced in 2009 by the Cambodian Institute of Development Study, the basic spending needs of garment factory workers cannot possibly be met on a monthly salary of less than $72. The study examines two scenarios regarding the minimum wage, based upon food expenses.

In the first, the estimated $1.06 spent daily on food, which is the National Institute of Statistics’ projected figure for a healthy calorie intake, brings the minimum wage by necessity to at least $71.99 per month. However, The NIS also acknowledge that in order to obtain quality food, it is necessary to spend $1.15 per day, which implies that the minimum wage should in fact be $74.85 per month.

The current salary unquestionably leads to considerable health deterioration and ensures most parents are incapable of paying their children’s school fees.

Moeun Tola, the head of the labour programme at the Community Legal Education Centre, in his initial reaction described the meeting as a “show”, where “everything is already prepared, already set up, allowing the union to talk without any real cause. Most of the representatives from the government, such as Vorng Sot, the labour minister, and His Excellency Mean Sophea, the minister of commerce, just defended the government proposal without trying to better the workers’ situation”.

Moeun Tola went on to comment on the unfair voting procedures. The high proportion of government officials on the Labor Advisory Committee (14 in total), coupled with the seven members from the Employers Association, means that even if all seven of the union members opposed the meeting’s outcome, they would still be overruled by the pro-government majority.

Thus, Moeun Tola argues, “The result from the voting is not viable.”

He also expressed shock after the representatives from the Ministry of Commerce declared that workers should consider the high utility and transportation expenses in Cambodia, implying that the minimum wage is hard to increase due to other government costs.

The government has a responsibility to fix this, said Moeun Tola. They should work to lower these prices by cutting down on bureaucracies and eliminating unprofessional payments and corruption to enable a higher minimum wage. The utility and transport costs should not, he emphasised, be excused to reject the workers’ wage increase.

There are already plans under way to produce and disseminate pamphlets to encourage workers to organise themselves and prepare to strike.

The major obstacle for striking will undoubtedly be the constraints of the short-term contracts that the majority of workers are tied to. This enables employers not only to blacklist those who do protest by striking, but to refuse to renew their contracts after three months, leaving the prospect of unemployment after the strike exceedingly high, and making a strike something that these workers literally cannot afford to participate in.

Now more than ever, Cambodian workers are in need of international attention and support. This post-conflict country, with its soaring numbers of illiterate children and almost half of its inhabitants malnourished, depends upon the garment trade to keep its economy stable.

More than 90 percent of its export trade is produced from the garment industry. However, the money the workers in this sector receive is simply not enough to cover their daily costs, and with the government’s meager pay rise approved, it is increasingly likely that garment workers will be forced to find jobs in other sectors, which would cause havoc in the garment industry and pose a major threat to Cambodia’s national economic growth.

This setback in the struggle for a decent, reasonable salary appears to be the last straw for distraught Cambodians suffering severe poverty and working 48-hour weeks. The anger and desperation after the decision was announced was tangible, and the Cambodian Labor Confederation immediately summoned a meeting to discuss striking.

A strike of several thousand workers is now a near possibility, and predictions are that it would continue until they attain their demands. Such disruption would create a massive problem for the industry and have devastating consequences for Cambodia’s economy, reputation and ability to compete on a global scale. With only two months to appeal the decision, the urgency of the situation is undeniable, and the response of the workers to this result is critical.
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