British
Grant Will Aid Gov’t Fight
Against Forest Crimes
The
British government has agreed to pay $800,000 for the second phase of a
government project to crack down on forest crimes, British Ambassador
Stephen Bridges said Thursday.
The
money will go to finance the Forest Crimes Monitoring Unit, a Forestry
Department task force charged with tracking forest crimes and collating
information in a database to aid law enforcement. The FCMU is part of a
three-year program overseen by an independent monitor, London-based
environmental watchdog Global Witness.
When
the project was set up more than a year ago, it was hailed by observers as
an indication of the government’s seriousness about eradicating forest
crimes. But a recent dispute between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Global
Witness cast doubt on the program’s survival.
Bridges
said Britain’s ongoing commitment to FCMU remains strong. He said a
delay in the grant, which was due at the start of March, was incidental
and not connected to the dispute.
January’s
controversy erupted when Global Witness released a damning forest crimes
report to the press without first consulting the government. The report,
issued two days before Cambodia’s annual donors meeting, prompted Hun
Sen to threaten the group with expulsion.
The
government, donors and Global Witness are now working to hammer out a
written set of rules restricting how the monitor releases information to
the public, said Acting Minister of Agriculture Chan Tong Yves.
(Van
Roeun)
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