Living New Normal in Context of Covid-19
Today, I am very pleased to attend the inauguration of new office building of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, previously scheduled to take place on April 4, 2021. Unfortunately, the (Covid-19) events of February 20 erupted and almost plunged the Kingdom of Cambodia into the abyss of death. We have postponed the inauguration to today. I would emphasize to all the monks, compatriots, as well as His Excellency, Lok Chumteav who are here (present that) the way we have organized this meeting today is what is called living in a new way in the context of COVID-19 or living normal in a new path. A hall that can accommodate 2,000 people, we now accommodate only 500 people. COVID-19 can cause destruction, but it cannot stop our advancement. COVID-19 may block us from February, and the scheduled launch on April 4, until today, November 8, but this hindrance will not stop our activities.
Inaugurating Three Ministries, Groundbreaking for Ministry of Interior
This year we will have inaugurations of three ministries. The first ministry we have inaugurated, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, which is not far from here, was on January 22, 2021. Along with the inauguration of the new Ministry of Public Works and Transport building, I have the opportunity to offer its old office to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, while giving the old office building of the Ministry of Mines and Energy to the National Disaster Management Committee. Today, we inaugurated the office of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, by which we also had the opportunity a few months ago to hand over the old office building of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction to the Ministry of Rural Development.
Hence, we offered the former office building of the Ministry of Rural Development to the Office of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction of Phnom Penh Capital City. The other inauguration on December 29 will be for the new building of the Ministry of National Defense. According to Samdech Krala Hom Sar Kheng, on the 11th (November), there will also be the groundbreaking ceremony for the new office building of the Ministry of Interior, the total construction cost will be about 60 million US dollars. We have the needed budget for the construction. It is time for us to have a decent workplace.
Trading Horses – A Method Used to Build Ministries
At this point, we all see and know about the evolution of our nation. When we came to Phnom Penh (after the liberation on January 7), did we have anything new? Not many ministries re-occupied their former ministries’ buildings. Taking over their former ministry buildings were the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and I had taken over the former office building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, because of its small size, I moved to a Buddhist faculty building. As of present, (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs already) moved to a new place […]
I still support my idea about exchanging horses. We have no choice […] we did not have the capital to do (build office building for ministries) that. The only way (remained was) the private sector who has land […] built buildings on it and exchanged with former office location of the Ministries in town. A small plot of land (in the capital city) exchanged with a land size of one hectare or more with the buildings readily stand there […] now, in estimation, those locations where the ministries moved to are many times more expensive than their former locations. I still support my idea that I have given the opportunity to the ministries to move from their limited space locations to a wider land area and build the ministry office buildings in response to growing present and future demands.
Decent Office Building for Public Service Institutions
In the past, I would not allow even to build the office of the Council of Ministers. “The need now is not a good workplace, but an investment that helps people,” I always said. I also announced (that Cambodia would forego the organization of) the SEA Games. I asked the ASEAN leaders for understanding (of Cambodia’s decision) because I need money to build roads, bridges, canals, schools, hospitals, etc. I do not have the money to organize the SEA Games. We decided to host it in 2023. “That was right,” said the President of Indonesia at that time. As of present, we have moved to a time that is not the same as before. People build skyscrapers. We cannot keep the (public) institutions building small […] and unfit to be a place from where we serve the people. The need for decent office building has come […]
Cambodia and Australia to Discuss Bilateral Cooperation, ASEAN-Australia and Indo-Pacific Issues
While finishing here, I will meet with the Australian Foreign Minister, who will discuss a wide range of issues within the frameworks of bilateral cooperation, ASEAN and Australia, and beyond, the currently induced troubles in Indo-Pacific area. In particular, the concerns expressed by some ASEAN countries regarding the nuclear-weapon free zone. Let me affirm (for those) outsiders (who) think that the Australian Foreign Minister came right at our door to exert pressure on Hun Sen. Anyone with intention put pressure do not need to come […] some living abroad like to think and say so and so comes and put pressure on […]
UK and Cambodia On-going Trade Cooperation Is Good
When the British Foreign Secretary came […] some described Hun Sen as being afraid (for not seeing him). At that time, I was containing myself in quarantine. Would it be appropriate for a quarantined person to see someone? […] on the contrary, Britain came searching for support for it to become a partner with ASEAN […] why would I be fearful of (our guest from) Britain. More importantly, the UK and Cambodia have on-going good trade cooperation. Trade growth between the two countries is the largest in Europe. I met Theresa May, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, before BREXIT. We sat at the same dining table in Brussels. She made it clear that Britain’s trade policy with developing countries, including Cambodia, does not change. Whether EBA (everything but arms) or no EBA, she does not care. She only cares about British withdrawal from Europe. Why would I avoid meeting (the British secretary)? If I were to avoid meeting, I would rather not allow their coming to (Cambodia) at all […]
More Trades Prospects with Australia
The Australian Foreign Minister is also here today. I will go meet her (once I finished here). It is not a matter of putting pressure on anyone. Perhaps she may come to give us more understanding of the so-called AUKUS alliance, a three-party (security) pact between Australia, the UK and the US. That issue is perhaps more important than anything else. That would be my guess. It is normal that politicians are always pondering about what our friends are going to bring up. There is still, however, a lot of bilateral cooperation issues to deal with. In just a few months, since June, we have mined nearly 800 kilograms of gold […]
We are conducting study elsewhere. A big company is involved in this cooperation. Trade volume between the two countries is also increasing. With that, as RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) go into force in the coming January […] as ratification fully given, so HE Pan Sosak, Minister of Trade, reported to me […] we will do more business with Australia. There are still (many more forums like) Australia-Mekong, t Australia-ASEAN, and Australia and East Asia […]
Building Maintenance, Work Efficiency and Saving Water/Electricity Bills
(Since I have a guest waiting for me,) that is why I do not have time to write. Let me come back to our topic (of inauguration). I wrote three points in the memory book – firstly, it is difficult to build a building, but maintaining a building for long-term use is not less. For projects elsewhere, I would say that getting the projects done is difficult, but making them sustainable is even harder. Some projects collapsed after their launches. While we have succeeded in getting this building standing up, we should not leave it in no care leading to short-lived use. Secondly, I wrote that a good workplace is better, but it will be better if we work effectively and efficiently […] this morning I added another point, thirdly, which is to exercise thrifts on use of electricity and water […]
Learning from Sihanoukville Building Collapse – National Intervention
… When the building collapsed, I started flying to the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok. Arrived in Bangkok, I worked all night and flew back immediately. Once I got off the plane at Pochentong (the Phnom Penh International Airport), I heard voices of people crying – “Please help me” in my ears. At home, I finished working with files on the desk with the voices in my ears. After my meal, the voice was not going anywhere. I told my family that I was sure there were some still alive in the collapsed piles […] I got myself ready and left with a posting on Facebook page that “I am going to the collapsed site.” Suddenly, many sent in their contributions and it reached some millions USD.
Getting off the car […] I pointed to a place. General Vong Pisen may remember. I pointed to that place and then I went up there. There is a picture of me going up there. I said that place must have (people under it). To our surprise, (there are) two people. At least we saved two lives […] to be honest I was shocked that when I left the country, there was no help from the national level […] I immediately left Phnom Penh and posted on Facebook that I was coming […] it is an experience relating to construction that we must be careful about […]
Winning 1998 Elections, Forming Two New Ministries
As I come to the part where I talk about construction, let me remind you how we go about managing the construction sector. There is a history about it. According to records, from the Sangkum Reastr Niyum period through to 1975, the land management, urban planning and construction sector was managed by the Department of Urban Planning and Housing of the Ministry of Public Works. In the provinces, the provincial public works department was in charge. After 1979, we had an urban planning department … managed and led by HE Ti Yao for Phnom Penh. For provinces, some had placed construction under planning and some under industry offices.
It was in 1986, when I became Chairman of the Council of Ministers, I approved the creation of the General Department of Construction with Ti Yao as Director General. However, the Directorate General of Construction at that time only involved in construction, and nothing about land management. After the 1993 election, the construction section incorporated under the Ministry of Public Works. The land on which FUNCINPEC used as its headquarters belonged to the General Department of Construction, then. That is the history […]
Let me elaborate a bit on this point. In 1998, when the CPP won the elections, from my house in Takhmao (town of Kandal province), I formed two new ministries. In fact, Takhmao is where many historical events nesting. Win-win political works for instance […] came to being there. As a candidate for the post of Prime Minister, the first ministry I planned to create was the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and the second is the Ministry of Water Resources. The water resources section was first the Irrigation Department (under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), and then the General Department of Irrigation.
I was of the thought that if we continued to do it this way, no one would know when Cambodia would have the needed irrigation system. The money goes to its superior authority (which is) the Ministry of Agriculture. There were so steps, God knows how many, to take before the budget reach the irrigation sector […] so we created the Ministry of Water Resources. We started to solve water resource management and especially irrigation system problems. The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction was the second one in creation. At that time, we also promoted the State Secretariat of Women’s Affairs to be the Ministry of Women’s Affairs […]
Calling for Paris Agreement to Take Over Is Calling for Foreign Control
The Ministry of Rural Development already established in the first term. The first term government, we formed an interim government that the State of Cambodian was willing to dissolve before the Constitution came into force, as it was in the phase of implementing the Paris Agreement. I should discourse a little here because there have been some people who behaved as if they knew everything. If what they know is good, I also wanted to learn from them. However, they went to the extreme saying that amending the Constitution from two-thirds to 50 plus one majority was a violation of the Paris Agreement, and they even suggested use of the Paris Agreement to resolve the Myanmar issue. This is ridiculous.
I should clarify here so that we can understand each other better […]. UNTAC was off its responsibility in managing affairs in Cambodia after the signing of the Paris Agreement, (the elections that brought about) the Constituent Assembly, which later becomes the National Assembly, who then formed the Royal Government. […] Those who wanted to call for coverage by the Paris Agreement are calling in fact for foreigners to take control of Cambodia again.
You have to look at one point, if you are Khmer and you are a human being, not an animal. You have to be aware clearly on the point where “SNC is the only source of power.” (There is a) point that clearly states – “SNC works by consensus.” […] In case of failure, UNTAC President shall decide … The one who has the top power in Cambodia in the UNTAC period was not the King Father but UNTAC (President), who answer to only permanent members of the Security Council. As of present, (according to) the Constitution, HM the King is the one with greatest power. Why do you want to call for other’s control […] on the other hand, UNTAC already finished its duty, the United Nations finished its task (in Cambodia) […]
Let us talk about another one. The Khmer Rouge trial – was it covered by the Paris Agreement? What you said was wrong. It is Khmer sovereignty to make a decision to join the United Nations in prosecuting the Khmer Rouge. I do not understand people who interpreted the Paris Agreement the other way. Whatever you say, I follow the Constitution, because all inputs have come into it. Please do not be arrogant. That would be my advice […] whatever you say I do not care but if it is too much not along the law, I would not stay idle. For example, what legal basis you have to accuse us of changing the Parliament from two-thirds to 50 plus one was a violation of the Paris Agreement? The Paris Agreement does not stipulate the Constituent Assembly of Cambodia must be a two-thirds majority […]
In order to run a better democracy, in the future, the “50 plus one” majority would not be in conformity. They may set a simple majority. As long as the majority wins, they can form a government. However, a vote of no confidence can also quickly remove it. It is in this meaning that they tried to get “50 plus one.” Therefore, if you accuse the parliament of doing something wrong, they have the right to handcuff you. Let me send you the message. Just you do not go beyond enough. You should not think that Hun Sen does not dare. Let me be clear […]
The day before I left for Siem Reap was the day I decided to make the list of the to-be-created ministries, probably on September 21 or 22, 1998. On the 24th, they shot me. I should remind you of this […] Chhun Leang called from Singapore and said to me – “Uncle, don’t go. You must know that if a tiger enters the village, the dogs can bite it.” […] I said – “if I don’t go, how I can achieve my MP validity and immunity. I must go. Yes, four B40 grenades were shot at me. Only one of the four exploded. Hun Sen is lucky to be alive today. That is the background […]
Phnom Penh Grows Twice Its Original Size
… On my way here, no matter what, I am so proud. The area where we used to see ponds, rice fields, and even pick some edible watery plants has now become high-rise buildings. Let me do the works because it is my term. We have built this capital of Phnom Penh from (its original size of) more than 300 square kilometers to almost 700 square kilometers. We have expanded the development on a wider and deeper scale. Originally, one hectare had only 5,000 square meters of construction. Now, on the same size of land, we have 50,000 square meters of construction […]
I hate the most, when they blamed us on filling the lakes. Have they no idea what the word flood means? Even the Ministry of Water Resources, Lim Kean Hor sitting behind me, how do you define flood? If the amount (of water) to come in and the ability to absorb is not equal in size, flood is inevitable. We had a hard time with the Mekong River flooding in 2000. We have record that there was a severe flooding in 1991 – before the Paris Peace Agreement […]. No one did anything then, but the amount of water coming in was enormous. Historically, in 1950s, there was a time when people said that they rowed boats from Kompong Speu province to Phnom Penh. The whole area inundated […]
There used to be many lakes in Phnom Penh […] they filled them up and build markets. Why could they do it and why Hun Sen, in his term, could not? […] why is it concerning the Prek Thanaot creek? […] on 2 December 1998, after the formation of the Royal Government, for the first time I proclaimed the triangular strategy, I had to rush in the afternoon to see people in Kandal Stoeung district […] a flood of Prek Thanaot in December, what was the cause then? […]
Where There Is Development, There Will Be Pressure on Environment
Some blamed us about losing forest. Let us see where the wood goes. Should we dismantle wooden houses built after 1979 to take back woods? They built homes with them. The opposed and the unopposed are living in those houses. It was because you keep buying woods and that encouraged more logging. The wood came because people needed and cut it. Now encourage people to use materials other than wood. Everyone could think of is to scold Hun Sen for letting them cut down trees. It was not about letting anyone do so […]
When it comes perception of conservation and development in the world, as there are people who can do that, why we cannot do it? Some opposed it but came to buy land there. They own land there. In that case, in order not to let anyone have land there, should we deprive ownerships? […] they may accuse us of confiscating their land. The population is growing and there is pressure on land demands. There is no development without environmental pressure.
Looking into the Cambodian history, land prices have gone high two times, but have gone down one time or perhaps, let us say two times. The first that land prices soared was under the Sangkum Reastr Niyum period, when there was development. When I moved into the Ministry of Cult and Religious Affairs, we found a block full of land requests. They were Phnom Penh civil servants and members of the National Assembly. (Former parliamentarian) In Tam was the cunning one, […] and so were Cheng Heng and Sirik Matak […] who had rubber plantation in Kompong Cham […]
As governor of Battambang province, In Tam created a serious problem for HM the King. While paving the road in Samloat area, he did not give land to the people but to civil servants. There was serious clash in Samloat and army sent in to put them down. I learnt from a relative of the Hun family who married someone of the In Tam family. In one of my trips to Paris, I met with In Tam and he told me – “when I was governor of Battambang, I had more than 400 hectares of rice field.” As you can see from this, land disputes were there long ago […]
Land loses its value when war breaks out. People ran away because of B52 bombs, Napalm bombs and land was in the war zones. When Pol Pot came to power, its value disappeared even more. Pol Pot took it all. Even after the Pol Pot period, land still loses its value. Those belonged to the generation may remember. How much money do we give people to claim one hectare of land? We hired people to claim land. Chea Chanto and (the late) brother Chea Soth were the ones managed this land claiming incentive issue […] now, the price of land has risen and people are in disputes. Each side of the dispute claims they have been on the land since 1979. While in fact, they were fighting places […]
No Agreements Overpower Constitution, HM, National Assembly and Senate
In 1989, when (involved parties failed to reach) the Paris Agreement, I traveled with Tea Banh across the Poipet Bridge (at the border with Thailand) […] the Khmer Rouge in Melai was on one side of the rail ad FUNCINPEC and Son San (KPNLF) was on the other side. We traveled through grass higher than we stand. How could anyone claim to have ownership since 1979? […] we flew helicopter from Aranyaptrathet to Bangkok to meet Chatichai Choonhavan (then Thai Prime Minister) and Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (then Army Chief) at the time. Three days before the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops, we needed to reconcile with our neighbors.
The Paris Agreement is not something that happened recently. It did not come out of the blue and everyone sat down signing it […] I have already said it. I have disclosed only about 60 percent of the history, while there are still 40 percent more that I have not yet disclosed. (There are issues) under the table and on the table. I have made VDO recording about 80 hours already. There are more about ups and turns in the process […]. Those who wanted to review the Paris Peace Agreement should know that they would call for foreign control. You have remember this paragraph related to the decision of the President of the United Nations that this country is not to fall under anyone’s colony […]
Tomorrow is the 68th anniversary of Independence Day. His Majesty will light the memorial candle. The day after tomorrow, HM will leave for France to open a UNESCO meeting. We will have the acting head of state to extinguish the candle. That is necessary because UNESCO offers HM the King such honor. We have HM the King, we have the National Assembly, and we have the Senate. We cannot allow anyone to put the Paris Peace Agreement over the Constitution, HM the King, the National Assembly and the Senate […]
Those Calling for Foreign Control Face the Law
We acknowledge things that the process has and has not achieved. What the Paris Agreement wanted, but UNTAC could not achieve, was to end war in Cambodia. UNTAC withdrew leaving Cambodia in two zones and two governments. We developed win-win policy to extinguish war by ourselves. UNTAC failed to disarm and enforce the ceasefire […] UNTAC also failed to lead the Khmer Rouge to the polls […] UNTAC announced the election results. At that time, UNTAC had the authority. They organized the elections and amended the election law without even letting SNC know about it […] what points had they amended? It was an important point that “political party agents have the right to seal the ballot box.”
UNTAC set up a safe haven for ballot boxes. That created protests. UNTAC said it would transport ballot boxes by cars, but eventually they transported them by plane. As for use voting and counting on the sport, some said we are cheating. How about transporting by plane, while we rode motorcycles from below […] if you call for foreigners to take over, you also have to face the law, because clearly (stipulated) the authority is on the foreigners to decide […]
Single Khmer Nationality Law for Leaders of Supreme Institutions Comes into Force
… For the establishment of this Ministry (of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction), His Excellency Im Chhun Lim, then Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior, transferred from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Land Management and Urban Planning […] now, HE Im Chhun Lim and I must have only one nationality, not two nationalities. In the next 30 years or 100 years, leaders of the supreme state institutions will have only one nationality […] imagine, they wish to kick and break Hun Sen’s neck. Now, it was not Hun Sen’s neck and Hun Sen broke the person’s instead. It was an opportunity to take action immediately. To be honest, I said it only after it all happened […] if Hun Sen initiated the idea, (it seems I have intention) to prevent others. As you accused Hun Sen, it is an opportune moment for Hun Sen to act quickly […] it took us about one month to compose the law. They spread propaganda that HM the King would not sign the law. HM the King just did and it is already in force […]
Three Tasks for Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction
… I would recommend three tasks. Firstly, continue working hard to issue land titles for people. Secondly, try to resolve the remaining or arising land disputes outside the court system. Resolve them as soon as possible. Once they are in court, there will be winners and losers. Resolving disputes outside the court system will be acceptable to all parties […] strive to resolve land disputes out of court and be honest in resolving them […]. Thirdly, make further efforts to solve social land concessions issues. Resolving social land concessions for the landless people is one of the priority tasks to carry out […]
Dos and Don’ts While Reopening the Country
KTVs, Discos, Bars Wait Till After November 30
… Well, (as you know that) we (have re)opened the country. However, KTVs, discos and bars should waiting until after November 30. I decided last night at the request of His Excellency Aun Porn Moniroth, who chaired a meeting led by His Excellency Mam Bun Heng […] we let schools open first. Infection rates are declining. By opening schools, we have allowed activities to more than three million people. Infection figure is minor. It is so because people accepted the vaccines even though some encouraged them to oppose […]
Weddings Guest Should Be a Maximum of 200 People
Yesterday, I confirmed that a maximum of 200 participants allowed, but not including those involved in providing services like chef, servants, wise men, photographers, and musicians. We think of about 250 or 260 people […]
Kindergarten Should Wait
As far as kindergarten in concerned, let us not go too fast. I want the primary level to open. For kindergarten, kids have not yet fully vaccinated. We have just vaccinated those at 5 years of age because they will enter primary education soon. We have not administered vaccinations for kids of two, three and four years of age yet. Let us go slow here. Let the primary, junior and senior secondary, university and vocation training schools go ahead. We still need to observe safe social distancing […]./.
