I have a great pleasure today to be able to return to Tramkak once again after my visit nine months ago to inaugurate the College of Techo at Ang Tasom … Today I am here to put into official use achievements in the pagoda of Ang Satharam or Ang Sangke and the 103A asphalted road of 35 kilometers …
Taking this opportune moment I would like to express my sincere thanks to the people of Tramkak district for the Cambodian People’s Party, which help bring the number of seat won by CPP in Parliament to 90 out of 123 … or two-third majority status …
Having achieved this much, I have made some thoughts, just thoughts, that it would not be possible in 2008 or in 2013 or 2018 that CPP loses its support if it continues to do good actions for the people … As you can see the CPP officials, they reserve no free time for themselves during weekend because you see them almost every weekend in community activities. Now there are countless projects by these officials in all parts of the countries …
I wish to thank HE Chan Sarun and Lok Chumteav for their efforts in getting this temple built …. After the liberation of 1979, the pagoda has been reduced to ruin like other pagodas in the whole country … Project to rebuild the pagoda started in 1985 and the head monk who led activities to rebuild the pagoda died in 2000 … the current head monk mobilized a sum of 169,028 US dollars to get the pagoda taken shape once again …
I wish to take this time on behalf of the people and Buddhist monks in the area to thank those who have sacrificed their valuables as contributions for re-construction of the pagoda … Along with the pagoda we also have the Ang Sangke college to inaugurate … I am so happy of this achievement and I would have the attention of those who do not know the situation here that not in Anlong Veng or other western front, Cambodia also had this place as its frontline battle to defend the district of Tramkak and province of Takeo too …
The province is also a place where I came and learnt a lot of indicators that were later incorporated into my land reform policy … I went to places in the province and stayed in the districts of Kirivong, Koh Andet, etc…
One good thing I learnt from Takeo when Pol Saroeun, the current Chief of General Staff, was Governor is that he hid rice stock figure, and later he said he would rather missed the production target on paper but we would not let his people die of hunger at all … because extra or surplus production recorded would be paid to the Government …
The third achievement we are celebrating today is the 35 kilometer of DBST-asphalted road from the cross road at Ang Tasom through to Boh Ta Phang … which is kindly provided by HE Chan Sarum and Lok Chumteav … Having good road in place now I have some suggestions as – 1) To drive too fast that could bring about accidents of any sorts, 2) To refrain from overloading vehicle capacity, and 3) To actively join efforts in taking care of the road … It is indeed an encouragement to learn that people in Tramkak produce rice at 2.6 tons per hectare and if the figure is replicated to all parts of the country I would say Cambodia will hold in hand opportunity to master in rice production and share a section of rice market, though this would incidentally cause price dropping …
But it is even better to also learn that people from other places also come to learn expertise in rice cultivation from the district … where intensive cultivation is a form of technique that is the most sought-after experience … because every elements of requirement have been addressed – land, water for irrigation, cultivation techniques, and change of cultivation techniques … Takeo’s Tramkak is also transforming itself into fish culture province where there are many fish breeding sites … It is fascinating to see that they have even been able to breed lobsters as well … There is this issue of people’s congress that I wish to make clear today … People’s congress at the time of Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk under the Sangkum Reast Niyum – which is not a political party but a political movement that ruled the country at that time …
It was a sole supreme organization that ruled the country alone … As of now we have up to 57 political parties, and at least 50 are registered at the Ministry of Interior, and according to the Constitution the people’s congress will have to be convened by the Prime Minister and presided over by HM the King … The Prime Minister, according to the Constitution, in this case will invite people who support him … In this retrospect why else, should we have people’s congress? … The question here is do we respect decision of the Assembly or the people’s congress …
The supreme representation of the country is the National Assembly which is born out of the general elections where all eligible voters expressed their rights … Should it be more representative by the National Assembly and the Royal Government which is the child of the Assembly, or by the 50,000 people or so at the people’s congress? I think the congress part should be taken out of the Constitution … because it is inapplicable since 1993, why else should it be kept in the Constitution? The Cambodian People’s Party now has enough voices to do so … leaving it in there without implementing it would make it a subject of criticism …■
