Cambodia's King Laments Loss of Forests
10/21/96
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Cambodia's King Laments Loss of Forests
Source: Reuters
Date: 10/21/96
Copyright 1996 by Reuters
PHNOM PENH, Oct 21 (Reuter) - Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk opened
a new parliamentary session on Monday with attacks on rampant
deforestation and the continuing plunder of his Asian nation's
cultural heritage.
Sihanouk, opening the seventh ordinary session of the 120-member
national assembly, appeared to link deforestation to recent floods
that killed more than 20 people, left hundreds of thousands homeless
and destroyed thousands of hectares of rice.
He also highlighted the unsatisfactory outcome of efforts to halt
thefts of archaeological treasures from the pre-Angkorian and
Angkorian Khmer eras.
"Our struggle against deforestation, as well as that against the
plunder of the pre-Angkorian and Angkorian Khmer archaeological
treasures, has not produced, until this day, a satisfactory outcome,"
he told assembled MPs and diplomats.
The government acknowledges problems with deforestation and the theft
of treasures from temples of the great Angkor civilisation (9th-15th
Centuries) and earlier eras, but denies involvement in, or
encouragement of, either problem.
The king said the national solidarity manifested during the floods,
"Assuages our pain caused by so many misfortunes inflicted by nature
and also by those who are responsible for the deforestation and its
manifold disastrous consequences.
Environmentalists say Cambodia's forest cover has shrunk from 70
percent of the territory in the late 1960s to less than 40 percent
today, with tree-felling soaring in the 1990s.
The government banned fresh cutting and exports of logs this year but
environmental groups say the bans are being circumvented.
The government has set up a special force around the Angkor temples in
the northwest to tackle thieves. Earlier this month, the Thai
government returned 13 valuable artefacts of the Angkor and pre-
Angkorian era that were seized in Bangkok.
MPs said the three-month session of parliament would address several
draft laws, but added that the legislation for general elections
scheduled for 1998 was not on the agenda.
Most MPs, including co-Premiers Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen,
attended the opening session in white tunics and traditional trousers.