Cambodia Vows to Halt Illegal Logging
10/25/96
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
The Cambodian government has pledged to stop illegal logging and limit
log exports. This follows increasing concern over clearly unsustainable
logging, particularly along the Thailand-Cambodian border.
Interestingly, the stimulus for action to address the situation came
from the International Monetary Fund. Increasingly multi-national
lenders are coming to realize that a once over liquidation of tropical
forest resources does little to promote development, while actually
fostering long term poverty.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Cambodia vows to halt illegal logging
Copyright 1996 by Reuters
10/25/96
PHNOM PENH, Oct 25 (Reuter) - Top Cambodian officials have vowed to stop
illegal logging and address shortcomings in the government's often-
criticised forestry policy.
Government spokesman Sok An told reporters on Thursday the government
had drafted a statement on logging along the Thai-Cambodian border that
provides for "no export of new logs."
A Council of Ministers spokesman said the statement would be released on
Friday.
Sok An said that cabinet members had approved a forestry policy pushed
by international donors and a draft forestry law submitted by the
Ministry of Agriculture.
The announcements came after mounting donor dismay over a perceived
absence of government action on continued logging and a lack of
transparency in accounting for timber revenues.
Most recently, the International Monetary Fund threatened to halt
payment of $60 million in loans unless the government corrected its
timber policies by the end of the month.
Turning up the pressure, a World Bank official arrived in Phnom Penh on
Wednesday to discuss logging with the government.
"We share the concerns of the IMF," the official told Reuters.
The protests of international aid agencies carry some weight in
Cambodia, where about 40 percent of the national budget derives from
foreign aid.
The IMF, which provided a three-year, $120-million loan package to
Cambodia in 1994, had suspended instalment payments to Cambodia in May,
citing dissatisfaction with government accounting practices in the
logging area.
The Cambodia Daily reported this week that IMF Central Asia Director
Hubert Neis delivered a sharply worded ultimatum to the government over
logging on October 4, raising similar concerns.
Neis told Cambodia to account for logging revenues by October 31 or lose
its assistance package, the newspaper reported.
Michael Kuhn, assistant director of the IMF Central Asian Department, is
due to arrive in Cambodia on November 3 to discuss logging issues.