Stockpiled lumber allegedly felled in Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary in Ratanakkiri this month. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Sanctuary bridge ‘torched’
The burning of a bridge that provided access to the Lumphat
Wildlife Sanctuary in Ratanakkiri is the handiwork of two oknhas and
local environment officers, villagers have claimed.
In a complaint to rights group Adhoc, members of the ethnic Lao
community in Kon Mom district say that the okhnas and officials have
been carrying out extensive logging in the sanctuary and burned the
bridge to cover their tracks.
The honourific “oknha” is a Royal title bestowed on men or women who
make significant financial contributions to the ruling party and its
projects.
Thy claimed loggers had piled up flammable rubbish on a 3-by-6-metre
bridge that connected the sanctuary to the nearby Hoang Anh Andong Meas
economic land concession and set it alight.
“Their superiors began realising this illegal logging was taking
place and attempted to visit there, so the bridge was burned,” he said.
Villagers, in their complaint, claimed that logged timber was being
taken onto the grounds of nearby land concessions.
Seng Mony, a representative of rubber company Hoang Anh Andong Meas,
said he no longer worked there. Other representatives could not be
reached.
A community member who asked not to be named because he was concerned
for his safety said extensive logging of the sanctuary had been going
on for the past two years, a claim consistent with previous reports in
the Post.
He believed that more than 50 people and 10 trucks were involved.
Chhoem Sokhim, chief of Sre Angkrang commune, said logging within the
sanctuary certainly occurred but he was not aware who was behind it.
Ou Sothy, director of the sanctuary, and Son Sovannsong, an officer
below him, could not be reached yesterday, while Chou Sophal, from the
provincial department of environment, declined to comment.
Adhoc plans to visit the wildlife sanctuary next week, Thy said.
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