By BEN DOHERTY
The Sydney Morning Herald
PHNOM PENH: BHP-Billiton knowingly bribed the Cambodian government in 2006, anti-corruption campaigners say, paying $US2.5 million ($2.8 million) in ''tea money'' which never appeared on government books, and which never built a single school or irrigation channel as promised.
In September 2006, BHP-Billiton paid $US1 million to the Cambodian government for a mining concession to conduct exploratory drilling for bauxite on 100,000 hectares in Mondolkiri province, in Cambodia's far east. The world's biggest mining company also gave the government an additional $US2.5 million to go towards a ''social fund'' for development projects for local communities.
Despite promises from the government the social fund would be administered by the finance ministry, budget documents obtained by the Herald show none of BHP's money ever appeared on the government's books.
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