Tycoon Senator Denies Selling Sand to Singapore

Mong Reththy (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C
Friday, 14 May 2010

Editor’s note: Agriculture business tycoon and ruling Cambodian People’s Party Senator Mong Reththy was recently named in a Global Witness report as having received a government license “behind closed doors” for the extraction of sand, a lucrative industry the group claims is worth millions of dollars but is endangering Cambodia’s coast. In its report, “Shifting Sands,” Global Witness claims Mong Reththy, along with another CPP senator, has been “implicated in dubious land deals and forced evictions. He was also criticized for “sponsoring units of Cambodia’s armed forces.” Mong Reththy spoke to VOA Khmer from Phnom Penh in response to the charges.

The Global Witness report says sand dredging has negative impacts on the environment. Was your licensing the work of businessmen or did governments get involved?

First of all, thank you. Firstly, let me tell you that Khmers should have the right to sail Cambodia and manage the future of the country themselves. Secondly, because I received permission to build a seaport [in Koh Kong province], I have dredged sand to rehabilitate the Chloung River from 2003 until now. But I have never exported dredged sand because the sand failed on inspection. Media reported that I exported millions of tons of dredged sand. They lied or were blind. It was true that an agreement was signed for the export of sand, but in fact no export was made. They denied the sand because of its poor quality and it failed on quality inspection.

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