abduction

The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 578

“Phnom Penh: Keat Chhon, Senior Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, said that from 22 September 2008, fuel sold at different fuel stations in the Kingdom of Cambodia will cost between Riel 4,900 [approx. US$1.20] and Riel 5,000 [approx. US$1.22] per liter.

“Mr. Keat Chhon said so, after a meeting with fuel companies in Cambodia, following Samdech Hun Sen’s order to decrease the price of fuel, after seeing that the price of crude oil on the world market dropped around 25%, but in Cambodia, there is only an approximate 10% decrease, which is not balanced yet.

“Regarding the improper decrease of the price of fuel, compared with the international market price, Mr. Keat Chhon explained that normally, when the price of fuel on the world market rose by 80%, fuel stations in Cambodia increased the price by 40% only. He continued to explain that the Royal Government of Cambodia, led by Samdech Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen, had decided to provide subsidies as a challenge to the rising price of fuel.

“According to Mr. Keat Chhon, during a period of 9 months in 2008, the Royal Government has spent approximately US$200 million quietly in order to overcome the fuel price rise. Related to the efforts of the Royal Government in decreasing the price of fuel, Mr. Po Samnang, the director of the National Culture and Social Morality Center, who had tried to meet the Minister of Economy and Finance, said that he had sent a letter to the cabinet of Mr. Keat Chhon, asking him to encourage a decrease of the fuel price [from around Riel 5,000] to the range of Riel 4,100 [approx. US$1.00] or Riel 4,300 [approx. US$1.05] per liter in order to promote the living standards of the poor and of civil servants, who earn small salaries.

“However, Mr. Po Samnang’s effort was mocked by officials in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, saying, ‘You just drive an old car, why do you come to protest?’

“It should be noted that according to a source from the cabinet of the Minister of Economy and Finance, around 2 million liters of fuel are consumed per day. Therefore, if the Royal Government had decreased the price by Riel 100 [approx. US$0.02] per liter, the state will help consumers to save Riel 100 million [approx. US$24,500]. Nevertheless, what is interesting is that while the Minister of Economy and Finance had announced that the price of fuel will stay increased at around Riel 5,000 per liter, crude oil at the international market decreased from US$147 to US$91 per barrel on 15 September 2008 and rose again to US$97 on 19 September 2008.” Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1751, 20.9.2008

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 20 September 2008

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1751, 20.9.2008

• Keat Chhon: Fuel Prices Will Decrease to Riel 4,900 Early This Week
• Talk between Hun Sen and [Thai new prime minister] Somchai by Phone Has Good Results [both promised to solve the border disputes soonest – 18 September 2008]
• [Thai Prime Minister] Somchai Sends an Envoy to Meet with Mr. Thaksin in London to Ask for Ideas [for the creation of the new Thai ministers’ lists – according to the Bangkok Post]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.2, #248, 20.9.2008

• The Threat [by Prime Minister Hun Sen] to Sue the President of the Opposition [Sam Rainsy] Party Is a Shut-Up Policy; Lao Mong Hay [Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong]: Suing the Opposition Party President Will Bring Further Turmoil
• [Secretary of State of the Ministry of Religions and Cults] Min Khin Colludes to Cheat the Prime Minister by Selling the Renakse Hotel [to a daughter of Ms. Chheung Sopheap, the director of Shukaku Inc., filling in the Boeng Kak Lake, without a publicly available, independent environment impact assessment]

Khmer Sthapana, Vol.1, #103, 20.9.2008

• Civil Society Organizations [the Khmer Culture Foundation and the Cambodian Defenders Projects] Welcome the Decision by the Head of the Government to Send a Complaint against Thailand to the United Nations [19 September 2008]

Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6455, 20-21.9.2008

• Two Girls Were Abducted and Brought into the Jungle – a [12-year-old] Girl Was Raped, and Another Was Kept as a Hostage to Demand Riel 4 Million [approx. US$1,000 – 18 September 2008 – Baray, Kompong Thom]

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3570, 20-21.9.2008

• Khmer and Siam [Thai] Leaders Plan to Negotiate the Border Disputes during a [UN] Meeting in New York in Late September [according to foreign news agencies]
• The Asian Development Bank Assessed that the Cambodian Economic Growth in 2008 Will Decline to 6.5% [because of the bankruptcy of important financial institutions in the US and because of the decline of the garment industries in Cambodia, a result of strong competition from other countries]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4699, 20.9.2008

• [Human Rights Party President] Kem Sokha’s Younger Brother [Kem Sokhon, deputy secretary general of the Human Rights Party], Joined the Cambodian People’s Party [18 September 2008]
• The Thai Prime Minister Works at the [old Don Muang] Airport [since the government building is occupied by demonstrators – 18 September 2008]
• The National Election Committee Orders Sam Rainsy to Pay 10 Million Fine for Insulting [three top] Leaders of the Cambodian People’s Party [during the election campaign]
• Cambodia Has Less People contracting Tuberculosis, while there Is Growing Resistance to Medicines Compared to Bordering Countries
• Cambodia and Vietnam Encouraged to Exchange Commercial Products at a Volume of Approximately US$2,300 in 2010

Click here to have a look at the last editorial – how the whole Khmer press withholds the final, decisive document from the public, before the Preah Vihear Temple was listed as a World Heritag Site.

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