Friday, 14 March 2008

Angkor Wat Entrance Fees: Son Chhay ‘Versus’ Hun Sen: Who Is Lying?


Article is courtesy of Khmerization : http://khmerization.blogspot.com

"If the numbers of visitors published in the Ministry Of Tourism is correct then Mr. Hun Sen and Sok An must return the missing $US30 million to the State Treasury. If not, a case of breach of trust or, worst, a case official corruption, should be brought upon Mr. Hun Sen and Sok An by the court of the land."

Editorial by Khmerization:- First, I would like to congratulate the government for doing a reasonable good job in attracting tourists to visit Cambodia. Secondly, I would like to condemn in the strongest term of the missing and the embezzlement of million of tourist dollars money collected from Angkor Wat. The missing money highlights yet another case of mismanagement and corruption at the highest level.

The controversy surrounding the missing millions from the ticket sales to Angkor Wat is seen as another case of an official back-door corruption (read the links below).

While Prime Minister Hun Sen has gone into damage control mode, his attempt has not shed any light into the missing millions and the answers that the inquisitors are searching for- that is where have the missing millions gone to?

The staff at ticket sales office in Siem Reap have told MP Son Chhay that Sok Kong company had transferred $US6 million per month to a bank account in Phnom Penh. Any arithmetic calculations, whatever way we compute, the results will be $US72 million per year. But, whether it is bad mathematics or simply a case of a deliberate attempt to whitewash and to mislead, the Prime Minister comes up with $US30 million in his calculations.

There was clear evidence in the media report that the Prime Minister is trying to whitewash the inconsistencies of the Angkor Wat incomes balance sheet. In an answer to accusations of $US30 millions of ticket sales to Angkor Wat being mysteriously flushed down the drain, the Prime Minister wrote a letter quoting the numbers of tourists to Cambodia at 1 million visitors per year in order to justify his calculations of $US30 million of tourist dollars generated per year. But at a meeting at the Ministry of Tourism, the Prime Minister quoted the numbers of tourists as being 2 million tourists- a figure that would generate $US60 million of tourist dollars. This 2 million figure of visitors is consistent with the figure from the Ministry of Tourism‘s website (www.mot.gov.kh). The Prime Minister’s back flip has been designed to justify his clumsy accountings. The question here is: who do we trust, Son Chhay or Hun Sen?

In my rightful mind my conscience seems to tell me that I should trust Son Chhay’s words more than Mr. Hun Sen’s because they are consistent with the numbers of visitors published by the Ministry of Tourism. If the numbers of visitors published in the Ministry Of Tourism is correct then Mr. Hun Sen and Sok An must return the missing $US30 million to the State Treasury. If not, a case of breach of trust or, worst, a case official corruption, should be brought upon Mr. Hun Sen and Sok An by the court of the land. That would be a wishful thinking, but one must try.

And the question also remain that: what did Hun Sen, Sok Kong and Sok An do with the $US60 million collected from Angkor Wat? Under a responsible government this money would have been re-invested in repairs and in the improvements of infrastructure around the Angkor Wat sites. Is it the case of this $US60 million being flushed down the drain into Hun Sen’s and Sok An’s pockets? I am waiting for an answer.
------------------------------------------------------
Read the link:

No comments: