Cambodia announces bid for illegally logged timber
The Cambodian Environment Ministry announced a bid for the collection of forest by-products from clearing the site of the future Chinese-built Stung Tatai Leu dam. Koh Kong province has long been the victim of illegal logging activities and environmentalists fear that the government's announcement is but a sham.
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Cambodian Environment Ministry announced yesterday a public bid for the collection of forest by-products resulting from the clearing of the reservoir area for the Stung Tatai Leu hydroelectric project, in Thma Bang district, Koh Kong province.
This is where the Cambodian government, in partnership with Chinese companies, is building several dams to boost clean energy production, but also where illegal logging has been going on for some time.
According to the ministry, the timber in Thma Bang district is worth more than .4 million.
“Individuals and legal entities [. . .] with a history of forest offences or outstanding debts to the state are not permitted to participate,” the announcement read.
The start of the hydroelectric project, approved in 2020 by then Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia’s strongman, was inaugurated by his son Hun Manet in November 2023. A Chinese company, Cambodian Upper Tatay Hydropower, will build it with an investment of almost US$ 400 million.
The project involves the construction of two dams across two rivers, the Stung Kep and the Tatay, with two reservoirs connected by an underground water tunnel.
According to an investigation by Mongabay, a conservation news web portal, much of the timber from clearing the area has already been illegally logged. After that, the timber is taken to Koh Kong Provincial Prison, where inmates make furniture out of it, while prison officials pocket part of the profits.
According to Global Forest Watch, the area where the dam will be built has lost 18,755 acres of old-growth forest in 20 years, equal to 2.1 per cent of the forest of Thma Bang district.
Since work began at Stung Tatai Leu (Thma Bang), almost 60,000 deforestation alerts have been triggered by satellite images, almost all centred on the site of the new dam.
Not far away, where the Stung Meteuk dam is under construction, illegal logging has been reported for some time, even in protected areas, involving Ly Yong Phat, a Cambodian businessman who is also a senator and adviser to the former prime minister, originally from Koh Kong province but with ties to China.
Last September, the US State Department imposed sanctions against Ly and his businesses, some of which have to do with online scam centres, according to US officials, but there was no mention of his misappropriation of natural resources, which local activists have long criticised.
Cambodia's Environment Minister, Eang Sophalleth, ordered a ban in September on deforestation in the region where the Stung Meteuk dam is being built.
Environmentalists welcomed the decision but expressed scepticism about Ly Yong Pha's activities being regulated and made transparent. Many fear the government announcement about the bid is but a sham.
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