The Environment Ministry has revoked the rights of a company owned by government lawmaker and tycoon Sieng Nam to manage the Kulen Mountain Resort in the Preah Bat Jayavarman-Nordom National Park in Siem Reap province, saying the move was in the national interest.
“Actually, the company had no contract for the investment in the resort,” said Srun Darith, Advisor and Chief of Cabinet for the Ministry of the Environment.
“There is no clear management structure in the resort. So the ministry believes it should be time to take it back for the national interest.”
The development has been managed by the Nokor KoukThouk Investment Company, owned by Mr. Nam, a Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker for Siem Reap and a wealthy businesman.
The decision was made after a series of meeting between the Environment Ministry, the Apsara Authority and Mr. Nam’s company, Mr. Darith said.
A group of former Khmer Rouge soldiers were given the right to manage the 2,400 hectare Phnom Kulen – or “Mountain of Lychees” – operation in 1998. They later entered into a cooperation deal with Mr. Nam’s company to manage the project and build roads, with the return on the investment to come from increased tourism numbers to the park and Phnom Kulen.
Last February, unhappy with the management and development of Phnom Kulen, the government cancelled the 1998 decision giving control to the group of former soldiers, Environment Ministry spokesman Sao Sopheap said yesterday.
“We observed that the development of the roads was a bit slow and there are too many [former] soldiers, military and troops standing around in that area, being useless,” he said.
“The ministry plans to pave two routes up and down the mountain and to build more infrastructure to attract tourists”, Mr. Sopheap added.
Mr. Nam, who is also the founder of Nokor KoukThouk Investment Company, told Khmer Times yesterday that he had been meeting with officials over the past two months but had not yet received and official notice to end his investment and involvement in Phnom Kulen.
“I am not opposed to the decision,” he said. “Whenever they [the government] want to take it back, it’s fine by me.
“I was just investing in repairing roads. So it’s not a big problem.”
The Ministry of Environment yesterday has decided to establish two working groups.
One, led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, will evaluate the compensation for the company.
The second, led by the Ministry of the Environment, will coordinate moving the former soldiers, their families and other settlers down from the mountain and to new villages in alternative locations.
“Although the decision to revoke the deal has been made, the legal process to handle reverting full management back to the ministry has not yet been finalized,” said Mr. Darith.
“It is still being processed.”
According to Sao Sopheap, a spokesman for the Environment Ministry, since the ministry began reviewing Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) last year, more than 20 companies have lost their contracts and the government has taken back the concessions.
The length of the ELC contract has also been cut to 50 years for dozens of other companies.
So far, Ministry of the Environment has granted a total of 113 ELCs.
From Khmer Times
