Cambodian leader orders tree-cutting moratorium
Copyright 2001 Agence France Presse
December 31, 2001
PHNOM PENH, Dec 31 - Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday ordered a moratorium from January 1 on cutting trees and exporting wood, as he vowed action to save the country's badly depleted forests.
In a New Year radio address, the prime minister said anyone who broke the ban would be arrested.
"If any company wishes to act against the ultimatum, we will arrest them and shut down their company without any notice," Hun Sen warned. He also threatened to cancel contracts with forest concession companies which have been lobbying fiercely against attempts to restrict the timber industry.
Hun Sen announced earlier this month that a moratorium would be declared so that an environmental impact study could be carried out.
"I would like to send my year end message to all forestry concession companies: abide by our orders or they will only bring disaster on themselves," the prime minister warned.
"The government of Cambodia will not let you defeat us, we would rather not have any income from forests and would prefer to ask for help from the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank," he said.
International environment groups have said the logging firms in Cambodia are out of control and that many have the backing of influential government officials. Companies have strongly resisted attempts to restrict their practices.
The English-language Cambodia Daily newspaper quoted a letter written by six companies saying that moratorium order was a breach of the 30-year contracts the government awarded in 1994.
Earlier this year, the Cambodian government criticised a report that identified official corruption as the primary obstacle to ending illegal logging.
The London-based pressure group Global Witness said in a report issued in June that it "believes that corruption, at both a high and low level, is the biggest obstacle to the significant progress made by the government in eliminating forest crimes."
Global witness said illegal logging had declined dramatically in 1999 amid a government crack-down, but had experienced a revival due to official corruption in 2000 and 2001.
The main culprits were legal logging concessionaires engaged in areas outside their designated territories, it said.
Donor countries which provide roughly half of the Cambodian government's budget each year, more than 500 million dollars, demanded action to save forests.