US debt may become development aid to Cambodia: Hor Namhong

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Cambodian Minister of Foriegn Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong addresses reporters at the Phnom Penh International Airport upon his return from New York on Thursday.

Written by DAP NEWS -- Friday, 02 October 2009

(Post by CAAI News media)

More than US$300 million owed by Cambodia to the US since the US-backed Lon Nol regime might be passed back to Cambodia as development aid, though the US Government must first consider carefully, Hor Namhong, Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister said on Thursday.

“I asked the US Government to reconsider this debt,” Hor Namhong told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport after his return from the 64th United Nations Security Council summit in New York. “If this debt cannot be eliminated, it should be reversed as development aid to Cambodia.”

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said that “the US Government is focusing on this issue effectively and carefully,” he said.

Hor Namhong claimed that “Hillary Clinton admires the democratic system implementation and human rights situation in Cambodia as she said that Cambodia has to continue and keep developing, not to returning backward.”

An opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) Lawmaker and some NGOs have recently criticized democratic system and human right situation in Cambodia.

Hor Namhong noted that “Only Cambodia in the world allows thousands of NGOs working including NDI and IRI of US working freely in Cambodia.”

SRP Lawmaker Mu Sochua told DAP News Cambodia that she supported all aid to develop Cambodia.

“I strongly reject all claims … that I called on the US government to stop military aid to Cambodia,” Mu Sochua said. “I only called on the US Government to decline entry visas for some military officials indulging in corruption, land abuses and illegal deforestation.”

She added that she called on the US Government to check aid provided to Cambodia goes where it is supposed to. “Elected leaders have not shown yet enough democratic and human rights implementation, and especially elected candidates must have a real conscience to improve.”

Some news agencies previously quoted Mu Sochua’s as saying in the US that she called on the US Government to stop military aid to Cambodia.

Hor Namhong told Hillary Clinton to clearly distinguish between crackdowns on free speech and criminal defamation cases.

Apart from bilateral talking with US Secretary of State, Hor Namhong also participated in the UN Security Council summit discussions on the world economic crisis, food crisis, climate change and other issues.

“Since 2004, the US has sought to strengthen and expand its bilateral defense relationship with Cambo-dia,” a US embassy in Phnom Penh statement said. “Our cooperation focuses on international peacekeeping, counterterrorism, counter narcotics, border and maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief operation, and defense sector reform. Our goals are to develop the capabilities of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) in these areas, while encouraging Cambodia’s commitment to the rule of law, transparency in governance, sustained democratic development, and respect for human rights.”

Since 2006, Cambodia has received approximately US$4.5 million worth of equipment and technical assistance through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. The US has also provided humanitarian assistance. Since 2005, the US Army, Navy, and Marine Corps have helped to build and republish schools and medical clinics throughout the country.

US military medics and dentists have also worked with their RCAF counterparts to provide free health care to some of the most isolated and impoverished communities in Cambodia.

Ketsana leaves trail of dead in north, central provinces

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Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Officials hoist coffins containing the bodies of several victims in Kampong Thom, which felt the full force of Typhoon Ketsana when it hit Tuesday night.

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Thursday, 01 October 2009 15:03 May Titthara and Irwin Loy

Kampong Thom Province

TYPHOON Ketsana slammed into Cambodia with devastating force Tuesday night, killing at least 11 people and leaving thousands more injured or homeless as 145km/h winds and heavy rain lashed the Kingdom.

The tail end of the storm, which has killed hundreds of people since it smashed into the Philippines on Saturday, was the most severe ever to lash Cambodia, experts said.

“This is the first time that we have seen such a storm,” said Seth Vannareth, director of the Department of Meteorology at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology.

Disaster officials confirmed on Wednesday that nine were killed and 35 injured in central Cambodia, while two died in the northeast. The death toll is expected to rise, with reports of more fatalities continuing to emerge across the country last night.

Kampong Thom province bore the brunt of the disaster. At least nine people were crushed to death when their homes collapsed on Tuesday night, said Chea Cheat, chief of the local Red Cross office.

In one incident, five members of one family – spanning three generations – died in Teak Mileang, a village in the Sandan district of Kampong Thom province. A 39-year-old woman, her mother, 15-year-old daughter, 14-year-old son and a baby were killed almost instantly when the roof of their house caved in. Only the husband, who was hunting in the forest when the storm struck, survived.

Photo by: Heng Chivoan, Peter Olszewski and AFP

Hundreds of homes were destroyed when Typhoon Ketsana slammed into Cambodia on Tuesday night, killing at least 11 people. Kampong Thom was hardest-hit (above and inset), while heavy rains swelled the river in Siem Reap.

“The family died because they were in the house to shelter themselves from the rain,” said Sin Chea, a relative, who said he barely escaped with his own life. “I was sitting under my house when the storm hit. When the storm came, I ran away. That’s why I survived. Fifteen minutes later, my house was destroyed.”

A neighbour who witnessed the tragedy compared it to the horrors of Cambodia’s bloody civil war. Meas Sophea, 38, said: “My neighbours are all dead and our houses have been destroyed, just as they were during the civil war.” After seeing the storm destroy her neighbours’ home, she fled to the pagoda but suffered a broken leg when it, too, collapsed. “When I saw [my neighbours’] bloodstains on the ground, I ran out of my house to the pagoda, but then the pagoda also fell down,” she said.

Pang Phot, a police officer, said the storm struck quickly. “It was raining heavily and people could not flee their homes because the wind hit immediately,” he said. “I have never seen such a strong wind in my life. It punched the village immediately. It shocked us. Many wooden houses were immediately blown away and many others collapsed to the ground.”

In addition to the official death toll, three more people were reported dead in Siem Reap province, deputy Governor Bun Tharith said. One man was killed in Angkor Thom district when his house collapsed while he slept. Another died when he fell from his fishing boat in Chikrei district. Details of the third death could not be confirmed last night. Severe flooding was also reported in Siem Reap, where the river reached dangerous levels.

By Wednesday, the typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm. Although the worst of Ketsana is now over, the final death toll is yet to come, officials say.

“We have still not had reports from some districts,” said Ly Samreth, chief of cabinet for Siem Reap province, noting that many people in his province were caught out by the storm depite repeated warnings – including one from Prime Minister Hun Sen – last week. “Cambodian people weren’t prepared for Ketsana despite the forecast,” he said.

A Cambodia Red Cross (CRC) official confirmed that the storm had taken some villages by surprise. “We already informed the local villagers to be careful, but they seemed not to pay much attention on the issue, and when the storm occurred, it damaged a lot of properties,” said Neth Sophanna, the CRC’s vice director of disaster management.

“We have not yet counted the number of families affected. We are still investigating further to evaluate the scope of the damages.”

Philippine death toll rises, as new storms brew

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A girl rests on top of her belongings inside an evacuation center Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Philippines. Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets Tuesday from massive flooding from Tropical Storm Ketsana in the northern Philippines, while two new storms brewing in the Pacific threatened to complicate relief efforts.(AP Photo/Pat Roque)

People view victims of massive flooding Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Philippines. Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets Tuesday from massive flooding from Tropical Storm Ketsana in the northern Philippines, while two new storms brewing in the Pacific threatened to complicate relief efforts.(AP Photo/Pat Roque)

Gingery Comprendio stands between the coffins of her two daughters Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Philippines. Her husband and son were also found dead during the flooding. Her two other kids are still missing. Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets Tuesday from massive flooding from Tropical Storm Ketsana in the northern Philippines, while two new storms brewing in the Pacific threatened to complicate relief efforts. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)

People visit the coffins of flood victims in Manila on September 28. Hundreds of thousands of exhausted Philippine flood survivors endured squalor in schools, gymnasiums and other makeshift shelters as the death toll from the weekend disaster soared to 240.(AFP/Jay Directo)

A man paddles his family on an improvised float as floodwaters remain high in suburban Pasig, east of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets Tuesday from massive flooding from Tropical Storm Ketsana in the northern Philippines, while two new storms brewing in the Pacific threatened to complicate relief efforts. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this photo released by the Philippine Air Force, flooding victims scramble for relief supplies being airdropped by air force helicopter crewmen at San Mateo township, Rizal province, east of Manila, Philippines, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, three days after tropical storm Ketsana brought the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila in more than 40 years. Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets Tuesday from massive flooding from Tropical Storm Ketsana while two new storms brewing in the Pacific threatened to complicate relief efforts. (AP Photo/Philippine Air Force, Rogel Vidallo)

By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer

(Post by CAAI News Media)

MANILA, Philippines – Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets Tuesday to bring the death toll from massive flooding in the northern Philippines to 240, while two new storms brewing in the Pacific threatened to complicate relief efforts.

The homes of nearly 1.9 million people in the capital and surrounding areas were inundated by flooding unleashed when Tropical Storm Ketsana tore through the region over the weekend, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said Tuesday. Nearly 380,000 people have sought shelter in schools, churches and other evacuation centers.

Overwhelmed officials have called for international aid, warning they may not have sufficient resources to withstand two new storms forecasters have spotted east of the island nation in the Pacific Ocean. One could hit the northern Philippines later this week and the other early next week, although meteorologists say that could change.

Ketsana, which scythed across the northern Philippines on Saturday, dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours, fueling the worst flooding to hit the country in more than 40 years.

Troops, police and volunteers have already rescued more than 12,359 people, but unconfirmed reports of more deaths abound, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.

He told a news conference that help from foreign governments will ensure that the Philippine government can continue its relief work.

"We are trying our level best to provide basic necessities, but the potential for a more serious situation is there," Teodoro said. "We cannot wait for that to happen."

Authorities announced Tuesday that a dam in northern Bulacan province had to release water for the second time in days in order to prevent a spill and urged villagers downstream to expect rising water levels.

Even the country's communist guerrillas said they would hold off on assaults and help villagers recover from the storm.

The extent of devastation became clearer Monday as TV networks broadcast images of mud-covered communities, cars upended on city streets and reported huge numbers of villagers without drinking water, food and power.

In Manila's suburban Marikina city, a sofa hung from electric wires.

Since the storm struck, the government has declared a "state of calamity" in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, allowing officials to use emergency funds for relief and rescue.

Resident Jeff Aquino said floodwaters rose to his home's third floor at the height of the storm.

Aquino, his wife, three young children and two nephews spent that night on their roof without food and water, mixing infant formula for his 2-year-old twins with the falling rain.

Rescuers pulled a mud-splattered body of a woman from the swollen Marikina river Monday. About eight hours later, police found three more bodies from the brownish waters.

The United States has donated $100,000 and deployed a military helicopter and five rubber boats manned by about 20 American soldiers from the country's south, where they have been providing counterterrorism training. The United Nations Children's Fund and the World Food Program have also provided food and other aid.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report.