monday, august 30, 2021 Intelligent . In-depth . Independent Issue number 3739 / 4000 RIEL

STAY FOCUSED: FOURWADING BIRD SPECIESCAUGHT ON CAMERA

natIonaL – pagE 5

DBD SELLS ALL IPOSHARES AS LISTINGDAY APPROACHES

busInEss – pagE 6

HANDLE COVID WASTEPROPERLY, OR ELSE:PHNOM PENH OFFICIALnatIonaL – pagE 3

‘PHNOM PENH NOODLE’MAY COME FROM VN:COMMERCE MINISTRYbusInEss – pagE 7

DRUG SUSPECT’S DEATHGRIPS THAILAND WITHPOLICE BRUTALITY TALESWoRLd – pagE 10

‘One millionmore’ to getCovid-19 jabby end-SeptMom Kunthear

FOLLOWING Prime Minister Hun Sen’s order to accelerate Covid-19 vaccination

drives across the country, progress seems to be back on track with the milestone of nine million adults vaccinated reached on August 28.

Or Vandine, Ministry of Health spokeswoman and head of the national Covid-19 vaccination committee, said on August 29 that vaccinations for the target adult population of 10 million will be completed in September.

Vandine made the remarks while handling over Hun Sen’s gift of 10 million riel ($2,500) to the Kingdom’s nine-mil-lionth vaccinee, a 76-year-old woman living in Tbong Khmum province’s O’Reang-ou district, on August 29.

She said if progress contin-ues to go well, then the goal of 10 million adults vaccinated will be reached in three or four weeks through the efforts of the provincial authorities.

Vaccinations had slowed in recent weeks with an average of just 0.3 per cent progress being made each day, prompting Hun Sen to issue a warning that pro-vincial governors would be held accountable for any failures.

According to the health min-istry’s daily report, the vacci-nation progress rate has increased in recent days.

The percentage of vaccina-tions for the adult population was 88.74 on August 26 and 89.42 on August 27, indicating an increase of 0.68 per cent. On August 28, the total per-centage was 90.12, represent-ing an uptick of 0.70 per cent.

Cambodia has also been vac-cinating the 12-17 age group of nearly two million, reaching 69.47 per cent as of August 29.

In total, the government has vaccinated around 65 per cent of the country's population of 16 million.

The ministry expects that the goal of the nearly 12 million vaccinated will be reached

More tainted Moderna jabs in Japan

20 more certified nat’l standards to be adopted

TWO Japanese regions sus-pended use of some Moderna Covid-19 shots on August 29 after more cases of contamina-tion were spotted, the local governments said.

Okinawa prefecture, in southern Japan, said it had suspended use of Moderna shots at a major vaccination centre in Naha city, while

Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo, also said it had paused use of contaminated lots.

The contamination in Okinawa and Gunma follows the suspension of 1.63 million doses across Japan on August 26 after the deaths of two men aged 30 and 38 following their second Moderna doses.

Japan's health ministry said it

was investigating the cause of death and it is unknown if there is a causal link with the vaccine.

The nature of the particles found in the vials, which were manufactured by a Moderna contractor in Europe, is also not known yet.

"The vials have been sent to a qualified lab for analysis and ini-tial findings will be available early

next week," Moderna and its Japanese distributor Takeda said in an August 28 joint statement.

The contractor, Spanish phar-maceutical firm ROVI, on August 26 said it was investigating the cause of contamination and the doses were only distributed in Japan, adding that the issue may have originated on one of its manufacturing lines. AFP

Thou Vireak

THE Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation’s National Standards Council (NSC) has approved 20 more certified international stand-ards to be adopted nationally.

The endorsement was made on August 26 at the fourth meeting of the National Standards Council, chaired by Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation Cham Prasidh and conducted via Zoom.

The standards are from the Inter-national Organisation for Standardi-sation (ISO), the International Elec-trotechnical Commission (IEC) and UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

They cover areas such as construc-tion practices and materials, chemical and chemical products, electricity and electronics, rubber products, motor vehicles, cosmetics and digital systems.

Certified national and international standards are devised to maintain the

consistency of products, services and systems across industries and coun-tries, and represent a minimum benchmark of – among other things – quality, safety, effectiveness, eco-friendliness and ethics management.

During the meeting, the minister commended all technical committees for their efforts in researching and translating the certified international standards into national counterparts, bringing the number of certified nation-al standards in Cambodia to 988.

"The decision to adopt an interna-tional standard as a national one is not something we just adopt and then for-get about, but is based on a real neces-sity that needs to be implemented for the benefit of the economy, trade, secu-rity and attracting crucial investment for the present and the future.

“Standards on electric vehicles, dig-ital systems and the like will beyond a doubt remain a necessity from now on," Prasidh said.

He stressed that it is imperative for

Cambodian products to conform to these certified standards to gain a meaningful competitive edge in trade or export to the Kingdom’s many trading partners.

"I urge all technical committees to continue to work hard and draw from these important and progres-sively more necessary international standards, to conceive many more national standards that provide benefit to the national economy as a whole," he said.

ContInuEd – pagE 2

a big pot on the backa vendor rides a motorbike trailer loaded with ceramic pots and other wares, in the capital’s sen sok district on sunday. HONG MENEA

Long Kimmarita

PHNOM Penh municipal Mili-tary Police and local authori-ties are investigating a traffick-ing case involving 109 pieces of elephant ivory weighing more than 4kg after arresting two suspects last week.

The joint task force on Au-gust 25 raided two locations in Kilometre VI commune in the capital’s Russey Keo district where the ivory was found.

According to the Military Po-lice report, the raid led to the seizure of ivory weighing 4.2kg.

At the first location, author-ities found 34 pieces of ivory weighing 1.8kg in the posses-

sion of a sculptor. Eight piec-es of ivory had been carved while the other 26 pieces re-mained untouched.

At the second location, they found 75 pieces weighing 2.4kg in the possession of a vendor.

Koam Seiha, director of the municipal Forestry Administra-tion, told The Post that the two suspects had been sent to court along with the evidence for fur-ther legal action while the Military Police were continuing their in-vestigation to identify other ac-complices involved in the case.

“The case is currently under investigation and I cannot provide further information,” he said.

Police confiscate 4.2kg of ivory from sculptor, vendor in capital raids

National2 THE PHNOM PENH POST AuguST 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

Continued from page 1

by the end of October or early November.

The government also issued a three-page instruction manual on vaccinations on August 28.

“All municipal and provincial governors have to concentrate their attention and efforts on combating and preventing the Covid-19 pandemic as their core work and set it at the high-est priority.

“They have to achieve the vac-cination of local people under their jurisdiction soon. Vaccina-tions are the key strategy of the government in the fight against this disease,” he said.

The prime minister also told the governors to clearly and quickly update the number of people who have received the vaccines and those who have not.

“Before deciding to conclude vaccination campaign in each locality and move to another location, authorities have to notify the public about prepar-edness to wrap it up,” he said, giving a chance for those who have not received the jabs to do so before the campaign ends.

Should there still be people left unvaccinated, the Covid-19 vaccination commissions and governors shall work together to determine vaccination sites for people, either at referral hos-pitals in towns and districts or

at health centres, he said.Hun Sen emphasised that

people do not have to worry about getting a third dose at this time as the government will administer the booster shot to everyone once another five mil-lion vaccine doses arrive in Sep-tember as expected.

“[Currently] third doses are for a limited number of front-line officials and forces . . . But don’t worry, we will give third doses to everyone, which is close to 12 million people. Five million doses of vaccines for third doses will arrive in Sep-tember,” he said on August 28.

Vandine also said that Cam-

bodia has so far received 25 million vaccine doses includ-ing donations and purchases. In early September, another two million doses of the Sino-vac vaccines will arrive.

“These two million doses, which were scheduled to arrive in late August but have been postponed to early September, bring the total to more than 27 million. Most of the vaccines have been distributed through-out the country. We’ve stored only a small amount,” she said.

According to Vandine, near-ly 100 centenarians aged 100 to 114 have also voluntarily received Covid-19 jabs.

5M more doses for booster shots arrive in September

Increased vigilance urged as Delta surges across Kingdom

Decomposing bodies found on PP outskirts linked to homicide

Mom Kunthear

THE Ministry of Health urged the public to increase vigilance as Cambo-

dia’s confirmed Delta cases has reached 1,752 while also calling on them not to dis-criminate among the differ-ent types of Covid vaccines.

In a press statement on August 29, it said Delta has spread to most parts of the country, with only Kep and Kratie provinces having been spared from the highly conta-gious variant.

Phnom Penh registered the most cases at 532, followed by Banteay Meanchey at 325, Oddar Meanchey at 225 and Siem Reap at 180.

In Phnom Penh, medical workers from the Samdech Techo Voluntary Youth Doc-tor Association (TYDA) took samples for testing from more than 100 residents in the vicinity of Chumpu Voan market in Por Sen Chey dis-trict’s Chom Chao III com-mune and found one person infected with the virus.

In the capital’s Prampi Ma-kara district, TYDA took sam-ples from 333 vendors and residents in the vicinity of O’Russey market and found six of them positive.

Health ministry spokes-

woman Or Vandine, who is also head of the national Covid-19 vaccination committee, on August 29 reiterated her call for increased vigilance.

“Our people must not relax their guard at any moment, though we have vaccinated nearly 10 million people. We have to continue to fight the virus together,” she said.

Vandine urged the public to get vaccinated and not to dis-criminate among the different

Covid-19 jabs available because they have all undergone thor-ough studies and clinical trials before being put into use.

Vandine made the call after Prime Minister Hun Sen hinted that the Chinese-made Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines would be the main jabs used as boost-er doses as the government has sufficient supplies of them.

To date, the government has used the AstraZeneca vaccines as a booster dose for frontline

workers including medical and military personnel and those most at risk in the provinces on the Cambodian-Thai border.

“The vaccines all share similarities. I’ve noticed that some of our people seem to discriminate against a par-ticular make of vaccine. We should not, because before any vaccine is introduced for public use, it would have un-dergone thorough research and tests,” she said.

Kim Sarom

FORENSIC police will per-form an autopsy on two bod-ies found by a farmer in a field in Kantaok commune’s Kam-rieng village of Phnom Penh’s Kamboul district August 27.

The male victim had gun-shot wounds and the female had fractures to her skull.

Kamboul district deputy police Chhim Savuth said on August 29 that police are treating the case as a suspect-ed homicide.

“We are looking for relatives of the victims to confirm their identities. There is not a lot re-maining of the bodies,” he said.

Citing the locals, Savuth said that on the evening of August 27, a villager went to dig for bamboo shoots in the area and noticed a skull while walking through a field. He then reported the incident to the Kantoak commune police, who referred the case to district police chief Morn Savuth.

The man’s body was buried in a shallow grave of less than half a metre. Police expanded the search area and found the woman’s body about 1 to 2m from the first victim.

Dr Nong Sovannaroth, a fo-rensic specialist at the Minis-try of Health, told The Post on

August 29 that he and forensic police had been working on the case all of August 28. The first body was decomposed, but some parts remained, such as the pelvic area so the body was identified as male. The vic-tim had been shot in the fore-head with the bullets exiting at the back of the head.

He said the male victim was between 45 and 60 years old, and the woman was aged be-tween 35 and 40. The two fac-tures on her head suggest that she had been beaten.

“Both bodies may have been dead for four to six months. The bodies are severely de-composed,” he said.

Medical workers prepare to take samples from vendors and people living in the vicinity of O’Russey market in Phnom Penh’s Prampi Makara district on Sunday. FACEBOOK

Two suspects were arrested for trafficking 4.2kg of ivory in the capital’s Russey Keo district on Wednesday. FACEBOOK

Police unearth the remains of two bodies in Phnom Penh’s Kamboul district on Saturday. POLICE

A girl gets vaccinated in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar district. hOng mEnEA

3THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

National

Nat’l Police chief shakes up land dispute working groupLay Samean

NatIONaL Police chief Neth savoeun has changed the com-position of the working group for land dispute investigation and prevention of illegal encroachment of state land nationwide, including the appointment of deputy Nation-al Police chief Dy Vichea as chairman of the group.

the decision was signed by savoeun on august 24 and released to the public on august 28.

the working group consists of 21 members including Vichea and his four deputies.

the working group has been

tasked with gathering infor-mation about incitement, sup-port for protests, and act of instigating land disputes or inciting others to encroach on state land that causes unrest.

the working group needs to target people involved in criminal activities in order to prevent the recurrence of the same crimes.

the working group must eval-uate each case and request approval from the National Police to launch an investigation and file a case to court according to procedures. the group must also summarise the results of monthly operations and report to the National Police.

Pen Bonnar, local commu-nity empowerment for officer rights group adhoc, hoped that the new working group will work harder to effective-ly investigate cases of state land encroachment and land disputes.

He said that in the past the resolution of land disputes has not been transparent.

“In the past, judicial police officers did not fully investigate cases, and there are still many gaps. thus, if this working group works effectively and sends cases related to state land and land disputes to court in a transparent manner, then it will not be difficult,” he said.

National Police chief Neth Savoeun during a meeting at the interior ministry. InterIor MInIstry

50 new furnaces burn 100 tonnes Covid waste dailyLay Samean and Mom Kunthear

tHE Ministry of Environment is installing 50 incinerators to burn medical waste from Covid-19 treatment and

quarantine centres in the capital and 20 provinces to solve the problem head-on as about 100 tonnes of this waste was piling up per day across the country.

While inspecting the installation of a medical waste incinerator near a landfill site in Prey thom commune’s Damnak Chang Eur village of Kep province and town on august 28, en-vironment ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said the installation of the incinerators in Kep will be completed in the next two weeks and will be used for burning four to seven tonnes of medical waste from Covid-19 treat-ment and quarantine centres per day.

“We have to carefully manage waste from these areas so that it will not be dumped in a normal landfill, which could lead to transmission to others. that’s why the ministry made provision in the form of the incinerators for burning this medi-cal waste,” he said.

He added that the Ministry of Health, together with local authori-ties, had already prepared and man-aged the waste and this additional arrangement was to support the ex-isting mechanisms.

“Because the burning of this med-ical waste is still limited, the waste coming from quarantine sites, es-pecially from Covid-19 treatment centres, needs to be managed effec-tively,” Pheaktra said.

Kep provincial governor som Piseth welcomed the technical support.

“these incinerators will be put into use in the next two weeks for burning waste from quarantine and Covid-19 treatment centres, espe-cially medical waste. so, this haz-ardous waste will be managed in the most effective way,” he said.

Citing reports provided by 25 capital and provincial environment departments, Pheaktra said quaran-tine and Covid-19 treatment centres currently produce about 100 tonnes of solid waste per day.

He said siem Reap, Mondulkiri and Battambang provinces were already using incinerators to burn medical waste, while the ministry provided technical support for solid waste management from the centres.

Pheaktra said Cambodia as a whole produces more than 10,000 tonnes of rubbish per day, or nearly four mil-lion tonnes per year. Of that total, organic waste accounted for about 68 per cent, plastic waste was more than 20 per cent and solid or hazard-ous waste was around 10 per cent.

the environment ministry also called on people to properly pack-

age rubbish and sort waste accord-ing to its type – especially waste from medical treatment centres – and to avoid throwing it away in an untidy manner that detracts from the beauty of cities and the wellbe-ing of the people.

On august 27, deputy Phnom Penh governor Koeut Chhe warned that Covid-19 patients in the capital who are undergoing home-based treatment and those who care for them could face legal consequences if they fail to properly dispose of waste in order to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading, in a manner outlined in recent munici-pal hall instructions.

Chhe noted that most patients who undergo treatment at home follow

the instructions, while a few “reck-less” individuals had been warned of the potential ramifications of their negligence on the matter.

In an appeal to the public, he said: “If you see any patients getting treatment at home who are not fully complying with waste management policies, please report them to the authorities, such as the village or commune chief, or commune police chief.”

Chhe stressed that the edification of offenders is prioritised over legal action, but warned that if these brief-ings fail to deter repeat incidents, le-gal options remain on the table.

according to the recent instruc-tions, Covid-19 patients under home-based treatment and their caregivers must place infectious

waste in a bag and keep it separate from other waste.

the bag must be disinfected in-side and out, remain on the prem-ises for 72 hours, and then be placed in a separate yellow biohazard bag before leaving it outside for collec-tion. In lieu of a yellow biohazard bag, any yellow bag may be used as long as the infectious nature of its contents is clearly indicated.

Covid-19 patients must have only mild to moderate symptoms to be treated at home. Home-based patients must immediately seek medical assis-tance or call the 115 hotline should they experience severe symptoms such as difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure or loss of speech or movement.

Officials inspect the installation of incinerators near a landfill site in Kep province. neth Pheaktra vIa Facebook

P Sihanouk restores canals to avoid rain-induced floodOrm Bunthoeurn

PREAH Sihanouk provincial authorities are inspecting the canal system in Siha-noukville’s commune IV and other drainage systems in the coastal town in the wake of recent severe flooding, which claimed one life and affected many residents.

In a notice on August 28, the provincial administration said governor Kuoch Chamroeun had pushed a technical team to make more efforts in clear-

ing the canals according to ur-ban planning to avoid torren-tial rain-induced floods.

“The provincial governor also called on residents to cooperate with authorities by disposing of their waste prop-erly and avoid throwing rub-bish into the canal,” it said.

On the evening of August 24 from 5-8pm, there was mod-erate to heavy rain in Siha-noukville, with rainfall steadily rising to a total of 285.81mm, which caused flooding in low-lying areas and eventually

overtopping the main canals in Sihanoukville after 10pm.

Following the flood, rubbish was seen strewn on the streets in commune IV, but they were cleaned by a joint force from the provincial tourism depart-ment, waste collection com-pany, town officials and eight volunteer youth groups.

“This is a good role model in cleaning up the environment and beautifying the town to attract local and internation-al tourists,” the provincial hall said.

National4 THE PHNOM PENH POST AuguST 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

Preah Sihanouk provincial authorities inspect a canal in Sihanoukville’s commune IV. Preah Sihanouk Provincial adminiStration

Lay Samean

THE Cambodian Veterans Association (CVA) last week delivered Prime Minister Hun Sen’s financial support of 80 million riel ($20,000) to as-sist 20 households in Phnom Penh who are CVA members and lost relatives to Covid-19.

Municipal Department of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation direc-tor Mom Chandany and Sum Sokhim, permanent vice-president and head of the CVA Secretariat, distributed the funds on August 25 to vet-eran families from eight dis-tricts in the capital, with each receiving four million riel.

“This is not the first time. We have made such dona-tions several times. We al-

ways donate the budget of Samdech Techo [Hun Sen] to every CVA member in Phnom Penh who died of Covid-19,” said Chandany.

“When a CVA member dies, it means his wife and children have lost a family member. So the wife may face difficulties in conducting a funeral ser-vice,” she said.

Chandany urged other veteran families to provide information to the associa-tion so that its working group can prepare a budget for the prime minister’s approval.

Sokhim said veterans are valuable people who have contributed to the develop-ment of Cambodia, especially in taking part in the imple-mentation of government policy.

Veterans association members’ families get funds for Covid deaths

Cattle vaccination campaign to stop skin disease kicks off Long Kimmarita

THE Ministry of Agriculture, For-estry and Fisheries has launched a Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) vac-cination campaign for cattle as

the disease has spread to several provinces and infected more than 30,000 animals.

Agriculture minister Veng Sakhon said on August 29 that the disease has spread rapidly from the provinces bor-dering Thailand to the central lowlands of Cambodia, especially affecting cat-tle in Tbong Khmum, Kampong Cham and Prey Veng.

To date, the disease has infected more than 30,000 animals, especially calves.

“This disease ... has killed some cows, which is of great concern to the minis-try,” said Sakhon.

Sakhon said the ministry has 20,000 doses in hand, ordered from Vietnam. Another 40,000 doses ordered from South Africa are coming later this week.

“These vaccines allowed the ministry to start a campaign to prevent LSD in cattle and buffalo, which launched on August 28 in Tbong Khmum province. Today we have continued to vaccinate against LSD in [neighbouring] Kampong Cham prov-ince,” he said.

LSD is a disease affecting cattle that can cause scabies and ulcers. It can cause bulls to become impotent and pregnant cows to miscarry. The virus can be transmitted from one animal to another through direct contact or indirectly from one animal to another through infectious agents.

The disease has a rate of illness be-tween 5 and 45 per cent, but a mortality rate of less than 10 per cent.

Tan Phannara, in charge of the general di-rectorate of animal health and production, told The Post on August 29 that Cambodia would use the vaccines to cut off transmis-sion to local people’s cattle and buffaloes.

“With this vaccination campaign, we are not charging anyone any costs for vac-cines. Because we only received 20,000 doses of the vaccines, we will be dividing them among provinces depending on the actual number of infections,” he said.

The Cambodia Coalition of Farmer Community’s president Theng Saroe-un said that providing vaccinations to people’s livestock at this time was very important because the vaccination cam-

paign can reduce death and illness and relieve the burdens of Cambodian farm-ers and reduce people’s worries about raising their cattle and buffalo.

“I think this is the duty of the authori-ties to respond to solve the problems that the people are facing. And it is a good thing that shows the service and the responsibility of the authorities to solve people’s problems in their respec-tive fields,” he said.

Saroeun said he expects the government to find enough of this vaccine to provide it to all people with cattle and buffalo soon, especially for farmers who raise cattle and buffalo for personal use.

A veterinarian vaccinates a cow against lumpy skin disease earlier this month. agriculture miniStry

Bereaved families of veterans receive assistance in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district on Wednesday. cambodian veteranS aSSociation

Guns seized as evidence donated foruse by police

THE Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed over 561 guns and rifles confiscated

as evidence in criminal cases over the last 10 years to the Na-tional Police for use in maintain-ing security and social order.

Municipal court president Tang Sunlay said on August 27 that these weapons were seized from many cases of illegal gun posses-sion and robbery, among others.

“Some of them can still be used, and some are dysfunc-tional,” Sunlay said.

Prosecutor Chroeng Khmao said these weapons are given to the police to maintain security and order.

The National Police’s am-munition control department director Chea Sandab said that aside from the 561 weapons, there are 2,556 bullets and gun drills, among others.

He said his department will check all of them to see how many are still usable.

He also called on public in-stitutions that keep more weap-ons than necessary to hand them over to his department for control in accordance with the law. Lay samean

National 5THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

Mom Kunthear and Orm Bunthoeurn

FOuR wading bird spe-cies whose status is of concern to wildlife conservationists were

detected by a grid of motion-sensitive camera traps de-ployed from June 14-30 in Keo seima Wildlife sanctuary in Mondulkiri province, the Ministry of Environment re-ported on august 26.

the camera trap network was installed by a research team from the Wildlife Con-servation society (WsC) Cambodia to monitor the presence of wildlife and study their behaviour, movement patterns and welfare, as part of the Cambodia’s Protected area system (Campas) proj-ect, the ministry noted.

the grid was deployed for 17 days, which is a fairly nor-mal duration. as noted by World Wide Fund For Nature, camera trap batteries last for about 36 exposures – two weeks to a month – given that the flash must remain charged and ready to shoot 24/7.

Listed by International union for Conservation of Nature (IuCN) category of threatened species, the birds captured were the “Near threatened” woolly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), “Vulnerable” lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) and sarus crane (antigone anti-

gone), and the “Critically En-dangered” giant ibis (thau-matibis gigantea), according to the ministry.

“these rare birds are espe-cially scarce in Keo seima Wild-life sanctuary. Case in point, the research team reportedly encountered just five sarus cranes – a vulnerable species that has global value, brought to the fore by its listing on the IuCN Red List,” it said.

It affirmed that the research team and park rangers are pull-

ing out all the stops to protect these bird species of concern, especially their nests during the breeding and nesting sea-sons from June to November.

the ministry appealed to the public to join hands in pro-tecting these birds – including their nests, eggs and chicks – other wildlife species and their habitats, by refraining from hunting, setting up snares and other traps, using poisons or consuming bushmeat.

separately, in a bid to stop

and prevent forest land en-croachment in Preah Monivong Bokor National Park in Kam-pot province, the environment ministry has equipped rangers with drones to assist them in their patrol, intervention and crackdown in a timely and ef-fective manner.

Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra handed over the drones and other equipment to rangers at the provincial environment department on august 27. Pheaktra com-

mended the rangers for their commitment in protecting natural resources, wildlife and ecosystem in Cambodia.

“Our officers face risks, hardship and even dangers in fulfilling their work, in addi-tion to disease and other ob-stacles like floods,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said rang-ers still need to increase their capacity both in legal and technical aspects, keep abreast of advancements in information technology and remain highly ethical.

“getting training to improve their capacity is necessary be-cause forest or park rangers face a lot of challenges posed by criminals who have guns or homemade rifles, and dan-gers posed by snares set up in the forests for illegal poach-ing,” he said.

as a show of appreciation, five outstanding rangers out of 41 were awarded with certifi-cates as part of the recent World Ranger Day celebrations.

according to Pheaktra, there are currently 1,260 park rangers stationed in natural protected areas and biodiversity corridors across the country, covering 7.3 million hectares, or 41 per cent of the country’s surface.

the protected areas are divided into national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, protect-ed landscapes, multiple-use area, natural heritages, wet-land areas and biodiversity protected corridors.

Interior minister set to promote governance reform on FacebookLay Samean

MINIstER of Interior sar Kheng on august 27 announced that he will use his official Facebook page as a means to keep the public updated on the progress of decentralisation and de-concentration reforms and re-spond to queries on the issue.

the minister said decen-tralisation and deconcentra-tion play a crucial role in daily livelihood, especially public services in the community.

Cambodia used to have a basic governance system long ago, but it was changed from

one political regime to anoth-er. Despite political regime changes, public administra-tion had remained centralised for a long time.

the government, he said, has been carrying out reforms on decentralisation and deconcentration focusing on the revision of public admin-istration at sub-national levels. this reform is based on the principles of a democratic uni-fied administration.

the reform, which involves delegating tasks from national to sub-national levels, is important in promoting pub-

lic services and local develop-ment in response to the actual need of the people and effec-tively contributes to poverty reduction, he said.

“Decentralisation and deconcentration is one of the most important reforms in governance system.

“as head of the National Committee for sub-National Democratic Development (NCDD), I, along with my col-leagues and especially the NCDD secretariat, are happy to clarify and discuss the theme with compatriots via my Face-book page,” he said.

Rare birds caught on camera

Sarus cranes spotted in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province. environment ministry

Confiscated guns donated to the police. municipaL court

Interior minister Sar Kheng addresses a meeting at the ninistry in February. HonG menea

THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM6

BusinessTrading informaTion on Cambodia SeCuriTieS exChange

Auction Trading Method (ATM)

no SToCk CloSing PriCe oPening PriCe high low

1 ABC 11,980 12,020 12,060 11,960

2 GTI 4,420 4,400 4,600 4,380

3 PAS 13,700 13,660 13,760 13,560

4 PEPC 3,220 3,220 3,220 3,200

5 PPAP 14,960 14,920 16,000 14,920

6 PPSP 2,090 2,100 2,110 2,080

7 PWSA 7,080 7,080 7,100 7,040

Date: August 27, 2021

DBD sells all IPOshares as listingday approachesMay Kunmakara

DBD Engineering Plc sold all 6,461,538 shares on offer ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) list-

ing, which the company expects by next month, as it gets set to emerge as the first firm to go public on the Cambodia securities Exchange’s (CsX) growth Board.

the shares were sold at 2,380 riel ($0.58) per unit to raise more than $3.84 million during the July 26-august 18 of-fer period, which closed with oversub-scription, or more orders than shares available – a sign of investor confidence in the future of the company.

around 3.4 million shares were sold to strategic investors and the remainder went to individual inves-tors, according to sBI Royal securi-ties Plc (sBIR), the underwriter or manager of the IPO.

the securities and Exchange Reg-ulator of Cambodia (sERC) on au-gust 25 approved the results of the subscription offer and the refund list, sBIR said, adding that investors who would not be getting the shares they paid for would be refunded, a

process it said began on august 27.sBIR managing director seng Chan

thoeun told the Post on august 29 that there was no book-building process for the IPO and that the price was set based on the equity valuation report by sBIR, DBD and main investors.

“as a normal marketing process and before we open the subscrip-tion, we need to find strategic inves-tors. However, based on the current demand status, I believe only retail investors could take the whole IPO without needing prior support from strategic investors,” he said.

However, demand from retail in-vestors is “so strong now”, he point-ed out. “that is the reason I said, just only retail investors are enough to support the whole IPO.”

Chan thoeun said the listing date ultimately depends on the CsX, but added that he expects it to be this week, or early next week.

speaking at a virtual IPO roadshow on July 19, DBD managing director Neang Vithy noted that the company was established in 1995 to provide quality water, electricity and air con-ditioning services to hospitals and houses, which have garnered con-

tinuous support from customers.DBD received final approval for

the IPO from the sERC on June 24, he said, adding that the company had won the first iteration of the “Excellence Programme”, organised by the regulator in 2018.

“I strongly hope that DBD will receive the support of investors, which will al-low DBD to take a successful step on the Cambodia securities Exchange and expand its business potential,” he said.

On July 22, the CsX granted ap-proval in principle of real estate de-

veloper Js Land Plc’s equity securities listing eligibility review application for trading on the growth Board. Js Land is poised to become the second company to list on the bourse’s sec-ondary board, after DBD.

the growth Board was launched in late 2015 as a secondary platform to lift some of the barriers for listing and cater more to companies with less ac-cess to capital or financial resources. But it had failed to attract a single is-suer over the years, even as the Main Board witnessed increasing growth.

according to sERC regulations, companies are required to have a minimum of $500,000 in operating capital to list, compared to $7.5 mil-lion on the main board.

Companies that list on the plat-form are also required to release one year of audited financial results, compared to the two years required for bigger companies.

additionally, the results must show a positive net profit or positive operating cash flow with gross profit margin of at least 10 per cent.

The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) is set to see an inaugural listing on its secondary Growth Board soon. hean rangsey

Five communities selected for pilot tourism projectThou Vireak

tHE Ministry of tourism and state-owned Khmer Enter-prise (KE) have kicked off a new project to empower tour-ism communities to develop, maintain and expand their own tourism services and other businesses, the ministry said in a statement.

a memorandum of under-standing (Mou) was signed to this end at the ministry by ministry director-general for tourism Development and In-ternational Cooperation thong Rathasak and KE CEO Chhieng Vanmunin on august 27, at a ceremony chaired by Minister of tourism thong Khon.

KE is an implementation unit of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund (EDF) es-tablished by the Ministry of

Economy and Finance.and the project is entitled

“Enhancing Internal tourism and Promoting tourism ac-tivities in the Communities in the Covid-19’s Norm”, images taken at the event show.

Rathasak said five tour-ism communities have been selected in the first phase of the project, to be trained in fi-nancial management and rel-evant recognised standards.

two communities are based in siem Reap province – the teuk Chub Khnar Por Ecotourism Community in sotr Nikum dis-trict and Changkran Roy tourism Community in Varin district.

the others are O’Choam Waterfall tourism Commu-nity in Battambang prov-ince’s samlot district, Reang Khvav tourism Community in Pursat province’s Phnom

Kravanh district, and sre ampil tourism Community in Kampong Chhnang prov-ince’s teuk Phos district.

“these communities all have unique, special areas of tourism potential, and their members are working hard to reinvent them. the communities merely had yet to receive any firm backing from other ministries and institutions.

“Nonetheless, these five tourism communities are also the most suitable for receiving tourists in the context of the Covid-19 crisis,” the ministry quoted Rathasak as saying.

the Mou establishes a vital partnership to spur domestic tourism before the upcom-ing reopening of international tourism, he asserted, adding that the national Covid-19

vaccination campaign is far-ing well, including the subse-quent booster drive.

He added: “the Ministry of tourism will accommodate development of these com-munities by focusing training on the observance of tourism safety and health rules during and post-Covid-19.

“training will also hone in on food standards, farm trips for local and international guests, and other forms of di-rect guidance.”

the tourism ministry added that through the Mou, KE will financially support the commu-nities and provide the technical training required to create and expand businesses, and further the careers of members.

It underlined that KE has an extensive network of develop-ment partners to lend a hand

in the project.Vanmunin noted in the

statement that the financial resources at KE’s disposal are entirely from loans made by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

KE is keen to work with the tourism ministry on the proj-ect and enhance the allure of the Kingdom’s tourism com-munities for holidaymakers from all walks of life, and im-prove the economic fortunes of their members, he said.

He affirmed that the minis-try has clear tourism commu-nity development and hospi-tality training standards.

“Not content with merely abetting regular tourism servic-es, KE wants these communities to know how to create new busi-nesses for the sake of their fami-lies and expand existing ones.

“there’ll be loads of tourists visiting, and the communi-ties will have the opportunity to sell their goods or services to travellers and earn extra in-come to support daily living,” Vanmunin said.

He said KE wants to trans-form the five communities into prominent examples for others to follow and poten-tially scale up operations.

“these communities will not only be welcoming tourists, but expanding businesses, drawing high-profile visitors, and at-tracting investment to boot.

“With clear income and ex-penditure management systems and accountability structures in place, as well as solid busi-ness models, KE will be more motivated to continue lending a hand in adapting those busi-ness models,” he said.

USD / KHR USD / CAD USD / CNY USD / JPY USD / MYR USD / SGD USD / THB AUD / USD EUR / USD GBP / USD

4,113 1.2606 6.483 110.12 4.1950 1.3529 32.75 0.7263 1.1777 1.3745

BusinessTHE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM 7

‘Phnom Penh Noodle’ may hail from VN

Insiders look to prune logistics kinks for horticulture

Hin Pisei and Mom Kunthear

CaMBODIaN authori-ties are continuing their probe into the “Nam Vang Noodle” brand, which has

landed in hot water with Cambo-dian authorities for using the image of angkor Wat temple and “Phnom Penh” name on its products without authorisation from the government.

Ministry of Commerce spokes-man seang thay told Fresh News on august 27 that preliminary evidence indicates Vietnam as the perceived country of origin of the brand’s products, which bear an illustration of the iconic archaeological site and the names “Phnom Penh” and “Nam Vang” – its Vietnamese appellation.

He called on all parties involved in the production and distribution of the products to immediately cease and de-sist, emphasising that the reputation of the “Phnom Penh Noodle” brand for quality and standards was at stake.

the ministry registered “Phnom Penh Noodle” as a collective brand in 2019 and awarded ownership to the almond Hospitality group, un-der a collective business system.

a collective business system is an organisation composed of busi-nesses, merchants and professionals from the same industry or geograph-ical region. It typically pools resourc-es, shares information and provides other benefits for its members.

thay noted that the maker of these products remains unknown, but stressed that the ministry would take immediate action to put a halt to production, once they are identified.

“Because of the [Covid-19] lock-down in Vietnam, trade representa-tives have not been able to go down and investigate. Once the source is clear, we will have an official request an immediate stop, as has been done in the past,” he said.

the Cambodian trade attache to the us on august 26 met with an

importer of the “Nam Vang Noodle” brand, the Cambodian embassy in Washington said in a statement.

the embassy said the products had been spotted for sale at asian super-markets across the us East Coast.

It ruled out that these products had originated from the Kingdom, and underscored that the Cambodi-an authorities had not granted per-mission to use the image or name.

the embassy did not immediately indicate a perceived country of ori-gin of the products. But of note, the labelling on the packaging contains Chinese, English and Vietnamese – the language of the brand name.

the act constitutes a violation of

Cambodian law and international treaties and agreements on trade-marks, and misleads consumers into believing that the products come from the Kingdom, it said.

“the embassy investigated and identified [the importer], sent the embassy’s commercial counsellor to meet the company and lay down the law, and issued an official notice to the firm to stop importing and sell-ing the products,” it added.

On its website, the embassy iden-tifies its commercial counsellor, or trade attache, as sam sithisak.

the embassy went on to say that it would “take further action in case the company does not comply

with the notice”.It called on all Cambodians in the

us, especially students, to refrain from buying Nam Vang Noodle-branded products.

It also urged the Cambodian diaspora there to report any prod-ucts that illegally bear or contain any images or logos belonging to the Kingdom, saying the us will take swift legal action against any offend-ing party according to the law.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng un-derlined that putting Cambodian names or symbols on unauthor-ised products would undermine the reputation of their registered coun-

terparts that adhere to national hy-giene standards.

He told the Post on august 29: “such an act is unacceptable to Cambodia. If anyone wants to use Cambodian names or symbols, they may come to Cambodia and invest directly, or ask Cambodian authorities for permis-sion to legally use the barcodes.”

He insisted that all merchandise sold abroad that bears Cambodian intellectual property must have the proper barcodes, which when scanned indicate the exact locations of production and packaging.

Honest companies must obey the law, he stressed, citing as an example us retailer amazon, which he said recently met with CCC leaders look-ing for properly-registered Cambo-dian products that follow recognised standards to bring to its website.

thay, the commerce ministry spokesman, pointed out that this was not an isolated incident, and that his ministry – in cooperation with its for-eign and culture counterparts – has periodically had to take action, and send cease and desist letters via em-bassies in foreign countries.

the images of angkor Wat and the Cambodian flag are the protected intellectual trademarks most often used on products without authorisa-tion from the government, he noted.

The Post could not reach thay for comment on august 29.

In May, the Ministry of Foreign af-fairs and International Cooperation sent a letter to Cambodian ambassa-dor to India Panha Pichkhun to look into rice exporter Voyage India over its “angkor Wat thai Hom Mali Jas-mine Rice” brand of products which feature an image of the temple.

the company purportedly im-ports milled rice from thailand and sells it across India and to african countries under the brand name.

the products were still advertised on Voyage India’s website as of the evening of august 29.

Thou Vireak

ENgagINg in more knowl-edge-sharing activities in logistics services to identify business opportunities, in-spire innovative solutions for the modern era, and relieve some of the challenges plagu-ing the logistics landscape is essential to ensuring that the Cambodian horticulture sector can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with economic rivals, insiders have said.

this was the general con-sensus that emerged during an online workshop on au-gust 24, promoting “Logistics Investment Opportunities in Cambodian Horticulture”.

Horticulture is a branch of agriculture that gener-ally deals with the intensive commercial cultivation of high-value plants for food, medicinal ingredients or or-namental purposes. Horti-culture farming as a rule sits between domestic garden-ing and field agriculture, in terms of scale.

the workshop was hosted by Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II (Harvest II), in col-laboration with the Cambodia Logistics association (CLa), according to a joint statement.

“the special event brought together 200 participants from various sectors in the industry, including logistics firms, investors, agri-busi-nesses, project developers, government officials and in-dustry associations, to dis-cuss logistics challenges in

the agricultural sector, po-tential solutions, investment opportunities and to learn about Harvest II’s new grant programme,” it said.

according to its Facebook page, the five-year Harvest II is funded by the us agency for International Develop-

ment (usaID), and primar-ily aims to fuel growth in the provincial horticulture sec-tors of Pursat, Battambang, siem Reap and Kampong thom.

“the project uses a ‘buyer-led approach’ to help buyers and sellers compete more

effectively in domestic and international markets and thus will expand sales, create employment, and stimulate investment,” it says.

the statement went on to say: “During the workshop, Harvest II presented its new grants programme that pro-motes targeted development for Cambodia’s agri-logis-tics, facilitating internation-al exports.

“Harvest II’s new grants programme supports local companies address chal-lenges regarding post-harvest handling, transportation and logistics, export services, and other supply chain manage-ment services to meet market requirements.”

Harvest II chief of party Nimish Jhaveri said in the statement: “Modern logistics services are critical for Cam-bodian horticulture to gain competitive parity with neigh-bouring countries, and we were very pleased this work-shop was able to convene business partners around in-vestment opportunities in this important area.”

according to the statement, CLa is a national represen-tative of the Federation of Regional and global associa-

tions, and centres on devel-oping the Cambodian logis-tics sector.

CLa president sin Chan-thy lauded the workshop for highlighting the challenges and investment opportuni-ties in Cambodian logistics and horticulture.

“this workshop shows our collaboration with Harvest II, and we will continue our partnership in terms of shar-ing information and invest-ment opportunities in the horticulture sector,” he said.

Ministry of agriculture, For-estry and Fisheries deputy director-general for agricul-ture Kuy Huot, who chaired the workshop, said the event “is very important as partici-pants can share experiences and discuss challenges to im-prove the logistics sector in Cambodia”.

the statement added that the workshop spotlighted lo-gistics challenges, solutions and investment opportuni-ties pinpointed by a recent re-search study done by Harvest II and put forward the real-world challenges and needs reported by Cambodian agri-business agriOn (Cambodia) Co Ltd and logistics firm Puz-zle solution Co Ltd.

The labelling on the packaging of ‘Nam Vang Noodle’ products contains Chinese, English and Vietnamese – the language of the brand name. Supplied

Pepper cultivation in Cambodia. pOST STAFF

May Kunmakara

THREE of the Kingdom’s lead-ing locally-owned broadcasters entered into a joint venture agreement to establish Cambo-dia TV Alliance Co Ltd, a pub-lic-private partnership (PPP) company, to manage the Cam-bodia National Digital TV Plat-form, which is expected to launch in 2023.

The agreement was signed on August 26 by Hun Mana, Ing Chhay Nguon and Kith Meng, the respective chairpersons of Bayon Media High System Group, Hang Meas Group and Cambodian Broadcasting Serv-ice Co Ltd (CBS) – as well as par-ent company Royal Group of Companies Ltd and sister firm Digital Sky Multimedia Co Ltd.

It is designed to supplement a memorandum of understand-ing signed by the three broad-casters on February 18, accord-ing to a joint statement.

Placing the Cambodia TV Alliance at the helm of the dig-ital television platform will ensure its rollout by the 2023 deadline set by the authorities, and better equip the Kingdom to keep pace with ASEAN’s push towards full digital televi-

sion and radio broadcasting, consistent with the govern-ment’s strategic plans, the statement said.

The Ministry of Information has agreed to release the 700MHz spectrum band to the Ministry of Post and Telecom-munications to establish the

centralised digital television platform, develop 5G systems and the digital economy.

The statement went on to say that broadcasters will switch their analogue signals off by the end of 2025, after an interim period of simulcast service, or “dual illumination”,

during which they will broad-cast their current analogue signals as well as the new dig-ital signals.

The platform will adopt “Digital Video Broadcasting — Second Generation Terres-trial” (DVB-T2) modulation as the standard and offer “a vari-

ety of channels to promote knowledge, entertainment and scenic lifestyle that bring harmonisation to Cambodia’s families”, it said.

Bayon TV’s (BTV) Mana said in the statement that she was delighted to join the partner-ship behind the platform, which she stressed “supports the promotion of the policies of the Royal Government of Cambodia”, adding that the Kingdom “is currently thriving in all sectors under peace and political stability”.

CBS’s Meng underscored that the alliance would not only undergird the govern-ment’s game plan to roll out the platform by 2023, but also evince the progress of digital technological development in the Kingdom.

He echoed a similar senti-ment for the partnership, say-ing he was proud to be part of a movement that he highlight-ed will advance the audio-visual and broadcasting field into full digitalisation, pursu-ant to government policies, and create a robust digital socio-economic environment for the Kingdom to transition into Industry 4.0.

Hang Meas’ Chhay Nguon said the platform would be capable of broadcasting TV channels in Ultra High Defini-tion (UHD) or 4K formats.

“This platform brings all types of content and a variety of shows including entertainment, art, news, film, music to the nation-wide audience as a ‘One-Stop-media services’ platform.

“This is a huge leap in the audio-visual and broadcasting sector, in accordance with the policies of Royal Government of Cambodia, in achieving Digital Industry 4.0 for a fully digitalised Cambodia.

“This media service will update viewers’ [experiences in] entertainment in Cambo-dia and adopt the latest tech-nology, along with the interna-tional community, because audiences will be able to watch all high quality and crystal-clear content from their home, their smartphone, anywhere, anytime, on one platform.

“This development shall encourage content creators [and] production houses to pro-duce more high-quality content as they have the platform to show their masterpiece[s] to the world,” he said.

Business8 THE PHNOM PENH POST AUGUST 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

Industry prepares the ground for longan Thou Vireak

CAMBODIAN Xing Can Shi Pin Co Ltd has reportedly earmarked $11.2 million to set up a factory to pro-

cess cashew nuts and produce dried mangoes, pineapples, jackfruits and longan, in Kampong Speu province’s northwesternmost Oral district, of-fering a ray of solace to the King-dom’s beleaguered longan farmers for the future.

The Pailin Longan Agricultural Pro-duction Cooperative (PLAPC) expects the facility to serve as a useful bargain-ing chip to secure improved market access for Cambodian longan to inter-national markets, especially China.

Longan growers and exporters to Thailand have been dealing with se-vere market pressures following the neighbouring country’s complete halt in purchases of the fruit from Cambodia.

The purchase freeze came after China on August 13 imposed a ban on Thai longan over contamination with mealybugs, sap-sucking insects of the Pseudococcidae family that excrete a wax that covers and pro-tects them from predators – resem-bling a white fuzz – but also makes them difficult to remove.

According to Ministry of Agricul-ture, Forestry and Fisheries secre-tary of state Hean Vannhorn, mealy-bugs generally do not make longan toxic to humans, but can serve as a medium for several plant diseases, making them species of interna-tional phytosanitary concern.

China lifted the ban just four days later on August 17. But the damage had been done.

Longan, which means “dragon eye” in Mandarin Chinese and is also known by the botanical name Dimocarpus longan, is a tropical evergreen tree species native to Asia that produces edible fruit of the soapberry family, which also in-cludes lychees and rambutan.

According to Minister of Agricul-ture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sak-

hon, in Cambodia the fruit – branded as “Pailin longan” – is grown in 14 provinces, mostly in Pailin, Battam-bang and Banteay Meanchey.

‘Resuscitate the market’On August 23, the Council for the

Development of Cambodia (CDC) greenlit a final registration certifi-cate for Cambodian Xing Can Shi Pin’s factory, noting that the project is expected to deliver 154 new jobs, and is located on National Road 44 in Taing Sroeng village of eastern Oral’s Sangke Satoap commune, near the border with Samrong Tong district’s Tompoa Meas commune (GPS Co-ordinates: 11.602N, 104.3015E).

PLAPC president Suos Siyat wel-comed the plant, hoping it will ab-sorb a significant share of Pailin lon-gan to process for export.

“If the factory truly comes to be, it’ll help to resuscitate the market down

the line for Pailin longan farmers across the country,” he told The Post.

Today, phytosanitary require-ments are the main obstacle to ex-porting longan, he said.

But looking on the plus side, Siyat expects Phnom Penh and Beijing to reach a final phytosanitary proto-col for the export of fresh and frozen Pailin longan to China early next year.

“In my book, the more fruit pro-cessing facilities are up and run-ning, the more longan market issues will be able to fall into place, above all the direct export of longan to the Chinese market,” he said.

One at a timeAccording to the Kingdom’s Na-

tional Trade Repository: “A phyto-sanitary certificate certifies that the plants or plant products covered by the certificate have been inspected according to appropriate proce-

dures and are considered to be free from quarantine pests and practi-cally free from other injurious pests.

“The presentation of a phytosani-tary certificate is a mandatory re-quirement for import of certain plant products and therefore must be ob-tained prior to export as to allow im-port at the country of destination.”

Cambodian longan typically makes it on the Chinese market via Thailand, where it is first shipped, and then repackaged and sold to China mixed in with Thai produce. But Cambodia wants to export di-rectly to more countries, in part to ramp up sales and improve the live-lihoods of growers.

Pailin longan is set to be the third Cambodian fruit to be officially ex-ported directly to the Chinese mar-ket, after bananas and, more recently, mangoes, according to the agricul-ture minister. But as the ministry’s

director-general for Agriculture Ngin Chhay previously noted, Chinese au-thorities only consider a single prod-uct per country at a time to import.

Earlier this month, Cambodia and Vietnam agreed on phytosanitary requirements permitting Cambo-dian longan to enter the Vietnamese market, according to the ministry.

The ministry said it and the Min-istry of Foreign Affairs and Interna-tional Cooperation are working with the relevant authorities of China and Thailand to conclude talks over phytosanitary requirements for lon-gan exports as soon as possible.

Talks underwayPailin Longan Association (PLA)

vice-chairman Suon Chum previ-ously said the agriculture and com-merce ministries have submitted a formal proposal to the Chinese side to negotiate phytosanitary require-ments for the export of fresh and frozen Pailin longan to China.

He remarked that Cambodia has sufficient capacity to supply longan to the Chinese market, thanks to a $5 million processing plant invested by a Chinese party that is ready to start production.

“We have yet to bring the plant on-line because we don’t have a permit to export directly to China – negotiations on phytosanitary requirements with China are still underway,” he said.

He added that the factory has the capacity to dry about 30 tonnes of longan per hour and package hun-dreds of tonnes per day.

According to the agriculture min-ister, Pailin longan cultivation has reached 13,608ha nationwide, of which 7,000ha will be harvested this season, expected to yield about 110,000 tonnes. One tonne sells for around 1.8 million riel ($440).

The trees yield an average of be-tween seven and 30 tonnes per hect-are depending on crop maintenance.

The harvest typically occurs from August to end-December, peaking in November, according to the PLA.

Longan, which means ‘dragon eye’ in Mandarin Chinese and is also known by the botanical name Dimocarpus longan, is a tropical evergreen tree species native to Asia that produces edible fruit of the soapberry family, which also includes lychees and rambutan. POST STAFF

From left to right: Neak Okhna Kith Meng - chairman of Cambodian Broadcasting Service Co Ltd (CBS), Hun Mana - chairwoman of Bayon Media High System Group and Ing Chhay Nguon - chairman of Hang Meas Group. Heng CHivOAn

Broadcasters band together in Cambodia TV Alliance

World

9THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 WWW.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

tHE us took aim at the Islamic state group in afghanistan on august 28, killing two high-level targets in a drone strike

over the devastating suicide bomb-ing at Kabul airport, as President Joe Biden warned another attack on the frantic airlift was “highly likely”.

a series of urgent terror warnings have rattled evacuation efforts over-seen by us forces, who have been forced into closer security coopera-tion with the taliban to prevent a re-peat of august 26’s carnage at one of the facility’s main access gates.

scores of afghan civilians were killed in the bombing claimed by the region-al Islamic state-Khorasan group, along with 13 us troops – several of them just 20 years old, the same length of time as us military operations in afghanistan.

But Biden said august 28 that his military commanders believed a fresh attack could come “in the next 24-36 hours”, calling the situation “extremely dangerous”.

“I directed them to take every possi-ble measure to prioritise force protec-tion,” he said after a briefing from his national security team.

Earlier, the Pentagon said it had killed two “high profile” targets – lo-gistics experts for the jihadist group – and wounded another in the drone strike in eastern afghanistan.

No civilians were hurt in the attack, Major general Hank taylor told a news conference in Washington.

In recent years, the Islamic state’s af-ghanistan-Pakistan chapter has been responsible for some of the deadli-est attacks in those countries – mas-sacring civilians at mosques, shrines,

public squares and even hospitals.two senior health officials from

the former afghan administration told aFP the death toll from august 26’s blast had topped 100, including the 13 us troops. some media have put the toll as high as 170.

the us embassy in Kabul has re-peatedly told us citizens to leave ar-eas around the main gates in recent days, as tensions rise before august 31’s withdrawal deadline.

gone are the crowds of thousands

around the airport’s perimeter, hop-ing to be let through and allowed onto a plane. Now, the taliban have sealed off roads leading to the airport and are only letting sanctioned buses pass.

aFP saw more than a dozen small- and medium-sized buses disgorge tense-looking passengers at the main gate of the airport on august 28.

“We have lists from the ameri-cans … if your name is on the list, you can come through,” one tali-ban official told aFP near the ci-

vilian passenger terminal.taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi

tweeted that the group’s fighters had already moved into parts of the mili-tary side of Kabul airport, but the Pen-tagon has repeatedly stressed that us forces retained control over the gates and airlift operations.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby however did confirm on august 28 that the us has begun withdrawing its military personnel from the airport, without saying how many had left.

With the taliban poised to take over when the last us plane leaves, discussions have begun on resum-ing normal flight operations.

turkish officials have held initial talks with the taliban in Kabul about helping get the airport back up and running.

President Recep tayyip Erdogan said the taliban wants to oversee security at the airport, while ankara runs the logistics.

French President Emmanuel Ma-cron on august 28 said talks were in progress with the taliban in Qatar to “protect and repatriate” at-risk afghans and may involve “airlift operations”.

He said France was counting on help from Doha – which has good contacts with the taliban, having hosted peace talks – to organise further flights.

under enormous criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the af-ghan crisis and the us military with-drawal, Biden has pledged to stick to the airlift deadline and punish those responsible for the suicide blast.

“this strike was not the last,” he said on august 28 after the drone attack.

about 112,000 people have been flown out of the country since au-gust 14, the day before the taliban swept to power, according to the us government.

Many Western allies have announced an end to their airlifts, with some ad-mitting that at-risk afghans eligible for evacuation had been left behind.

the uN said it was bracing for a “worst-case scenario” of up to half a million more refugees from afghan-istan by the end of 2021. AFP

Researchers discover world’s ‘northernmost’ island

us gulf coast braces as level 4 hurricane Ida looms

sCIENtIsts have discovered what is believed to be the world’s northern-most landmass – a yet-to-be-named island north of greenland that could soon be swallowed up by seawaters.

Researchers came upon the land-mass on an expedition last month, and initially thought they had reached Oodaaq, up until now the northern-most island on the planet.

“We were informed that there had been an error on my gPs which had led us to believe that we were standing on Oodaaq Island,” said the head of the mission, Morten Rasch from Copenhagen university’s department of geosciences and natural resource management.

“In reality, we had discovered a new island further north, a discovery that

just slightly expands the kingdom” of Denmark, he added.

Oodaaq is some 700km south of the North Pole, while the new island is 780m north of Oodaaq.

Copenhagen university said in a state-ment late on august 27 that the “yet-to-be-named island is … the northernmost point of greenland and one of the most northerly points of land on Earth”.

But it is only 30-60m above sea level, and Rasch said it could be a “short-lived islet”.

“No one knows how long it will remain. In principle, it could disappear as soon as a powerful new storm hits.”

the autonomous Danish territory of greenland has grabbed headlines in recent years, most notably in 2019 when former us president Donald

trump said he wanted to buy the arc-tic territory.

the proposal, described as “absurd” by the Danish government, caused a diplomatic kerfuffle, but also signalled renewed us interest in the region.

It has also been hard hit by climate change as warmer temperatures have melted its glaciers, causing alarming sea level rise. AFP

OWNERs were boarding up their shops and evacuations were underway on august 28 as Hurricane Ida was on a path to hit New Orleans 16 years to the day the southern us city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

a handful of people were still on New Orleans streets, but many businesses had closed up ahead of what the National Weather service (NWs) called an “an extremely dangerous major hurricane”.

“Everybody is scared because it’s the anniversary of Katrina and people didn’t take it seri-ously at the time,” said austin suriano, who was helping board up the windows of his father’s watch repair shop.

august 29, when Ida was due

to make landfall, marks 16 years since Katrina, the devas-tating hurricane that flooded 80 per cent of New Orleans, left 1,800 people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage.

President Joe Biden warned on august 28 that “Ida is turn-ing into a very, very dangerous storm” as it built to a Category 2 hurricane, packing 160km/h per hour sustained winds and heavy rain.

Earlier in the day, people evacuating from New Orleans and other cities clogged roads heading north as officials warned locals to leave imme-diately or hunker down to ride out the storm.

all august 29 f lights were cancelled at New Orleans airport.

tropical storm-force winds were expected to hit the area late on august 28, while Ida was forecast to slam into the coast as a powerful Category Four hurricane – with winds up to 225km/h – in the afternoon or evening of august 29.

Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards said Ida would be one of the most powerful storms to hit the state since the 1850s.

In New Orleans, mayor Latoya Cantrell warned resi-dents to take Ida with utmost seriousness. “time is not on our side,” she told a briefing. “It’s rapidly growing, it’s inten-sifying.”

southern Louisiana was bracing for massive damage and flooding as the fast-inten-sifying storm roared north-

ward after pummelling west-ern Cuba.

“Extended power loss is almost certain,” New Orleans homeland security director Collin arnold told reporters on august 28.

Biden said hundreds of emer-gency personnel had been sent to the region, along with food, water and electric generators.

shelters were being pre-pared around the region, but Louisiana has been one of the hardest-hit states by the Cov-id-19 pandemic, and Biden urged anyone heading to a shelter to wear a mask and take precautions.

the NWs is forecasting a “life-threatening storm surge” – as high as 3.4m near New Orleans and 4.6m around the

mouth of the Mississippi River – when the hurricane makes landfall.

It warned of “catastrophic wind damage” and said Ida could spawn tornadoes.

Category Four is the second-highest on the saffir-simpson hurricane wind scale, with a minimum wind strength of 209km/h.

Louisiana has declared a state of emergency, approved by Biden, in preparation for the storm, to expedite federal storm assistance to the south-ern state.

the hurricane made landfall late on august 27 in western Cuba as a Category 1 storm, packing winds near 130km/h but causing mostly minor damage.

governor Edwards told a briefing that since Katrina swamped New Orleans in 2005, there has been huge invest-ment in an extensive storm protection system of levees, gates and pumps.

Meantime, a Category One hurricane named Nora made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast, according to the Nation-al Hurricane Warning Centre (CNaH).

Nora’s centre “remains near the coast of Mexico after mak-ing landfall in the northwest Jalisco” province, CNaH said.

scientists have warned of a rise in cyclone activity as the ocean surface warms due to climate change, posing an increasing threat to the world’s coastal communities. AFP

us hits Is targets over Kabul airport attack

Afghans hoping to leave Taliban-controlled Afghanistan queue at the main entrance gate of Kabul airport. AFP

10 THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

ASEAN

tHE death of a drug suspect who alleg-edly suffocated after police wrapped lay-

ers of plastic bags around his head during questioning has gripped thailand, with reports emerging of police corruption, fast cars and unusual wealth.

the central figure in the case, besides the victim, is a senior police officer, Police Colonel thitisan utthanaphon, 39 – nicknamed “Joe Ferrari” for his penchant for sports cars.

the former Muang police station chief, who led the fatal interrogation, is now in cus-tody after a two-day manhunt and has been sacked.

the case, which has trig-gered an uproar nationwide and intensified calls for over-due police reforms, arose be-cause of a leaked video of the incident, which took place earlier this month at a Nakhon sawan police station.

National Police chief su-wat Jangyodsuk told a media conference on august 26 that the police would not protect wrongdoers even if they were members of the force. “Every-one will be treated the same under the legal system. the

police organisation must exist with people’s trust,” he said.

In an unprecedented move during the media conference, Colonel thitisan was allowed to phone in and respond to questions from journalists for 15 minutes.

He admitted to mistreating the suspect but denied allega-tions of corruption. He said he had given orders for the inter-rogation tactics used on 24-year-old Jeerapong thanapat, but said he “did not mean to kill” him.

“My intention was to get the information so I could destroy a drug business and protect the people of Nakhon sawan. I made a mistake … I take sole responsibility,” he said during the conference, comments which elicited more anger than sympathy online.

the leaked video, which was dated august 5, was report-edly filmed by a junior officer, and shows a group of officers wrapping plastic bags around the head of the suspect, who was arrested after he was found with 100,000 metham-phetamine pills. It also shows the officers holding him down and beating him. they try to

revive him when he becomes unresponsive.

Besides Colonel thitisan, six other officers were arrested in relation to the death.

Local media alleged that Colonel thitisan told his subordinates at the Nakhon sawan police station to list the suspect’s cause of death as a drug overdose.

the Bangkok Post, citing a whistle-blower’s complaint, said the suspect was also told to pay two million baht ($62,000) for his release.

“as for [the alleged attempt to extort money], I swear by the amulet around my neck that I have never been in-volved in corruption,” said Colonel thitisan during au-gust 26’s media conference.

But he went on the run in a Mini Cooper shortly after the video was released, said the thai Enquirer. the former po-lice chief turned himself in on august 26 in Chonburi prov-ince, hundreds of kilometres from his station.

thailand’s National anti-Corruption Commission (NaCC) is now probing the former officer for abuse of au-thority and is looking into his lavish assets – which include a 60 million baht home as well as a collection of super cars. His salary was just 43,000 baht a month.

On august 25, police raided his 8,000sqm house in the Klong sam Wa district of Bang-kok, and found 13 luxury cars. Local media reported that he owned dozens more, includ-ing a limited-edition Lambo-rghini aventador valued at 47 million baht.

a source told the Bangkok Post that part of the former policeman’s wealth came from trading edible bird’s nest, a business he got into after

meeting industry contacts in the course of drug suppres-sion operations.

He also purportedly ben-efited from a Customs Depart-ment programme that rewards officers who assist in recovering illegally smuggled luxury cars with 40 per cent of the proceeds earned from the sale of each car, reported the Nation.

He helped in the confisca-tion of more than 300 illegal cars in the last 10 years, and could have earned up to 400 million baht in rewards.

the saga involving Colo-nel thitisan has generated a storm, particularly among netizens and civil society, and the hashtag “stop lying Joe” started trending the day after august 26’s media conference.

some netizens drew compar-isons with the death of george Floyd, the african-american man who was murdered while

in police custody in the us. Floyd’s death sparked protests over racial injustice and police brutality in the us.

Referring to the case in thai-land, asia director at Human Rights Watch Brad adams said that a prosecution fully in-dependent of the thai police was needed for “any hope of justice” for Jeerapong.

“successive thai govern-ments have a long history of failing to ensure accountabil-ity for even the most ghastly police abuses against people in custody,” he said.

Public trust in the thai jus-tice system has also taken a hit over the years, especially after a long-drawn case in-volving the scion of the Red Bull energy drink empire who has yet to face up to fatal hit-and-run charges.

an investigation into the case showed that there was a

conspiracy to shield Vorayuth Yoovidhya, also known by his nickname “Boss”, from pros-ecution. an inquiry into the senior police officers, pros-ecutors, and investigators in-volved in the case is ongoing.

In the 2012 case, Vorayuth was accused of crashing his Ferrari into policeman Wichien Klanprasert and dragging the body of the victim for a distance before fleeing. traces of alcohol and cocaine were found in Vor-ayuth’s bloodstream, accord-ing to police.

an arrest warrant was even-tually issued for him in april 2017, but by then he had fled abroad. the warrant was dropped in 2020, but following a public outcry, a new warrant was issued a month later.

Vorayuth is still on the run. THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE)/ASIA

NEWS NETWORK

Laos-China railway will be powered up next month

CDC Hanoi office to assist regional disease responses

ELECtRICItY will be installed in the Boten tunnel to power railway operations between Laos’ northernmost town Boten on the Chinese border and the Vientiane Railway sta-tion east of the capital, which will be used as a locomotive depot when the Laos-China

railway becomes operational in December.

Power will be officially com-missioned at 9am on septem-ber 18, according to the socio-economic Daily newspaper.

Project operators warn all concerned parties and people living alongside the railway to

exercise caution and stay alert to possible danger, while also ensuring proper maintenance of the railway.

People are warned not to come within 2m of electricity transmission lines, climb elec-tricity poles, or touch or approach objects such as

cables or spare parts hanging on power lines and transmis-sion lines along the railway, to minimise the risk of injury or death due to electric shock.

the government has approved December 2, which marks Lao National Day, as the date for the official opening of

the Laos-China railway line.the railway project operators

will bring in locomotives, elec-tric multiple unit (EMu) trains and other equipment to con-duct the first trial run of the railway in October.

the railway connects Vien-tiane to the Chinese border

through the provinces of Vien-tiane, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay and Luang Namtha and passes through 75 tunnels with a combined length of 197.83km. Construction of the $5.986 billion railway began in December 2016. VIENTIANE TIMES/

ASIA NEWS NETWORK

a NEW southeast asia office of the us Centres for Disease Control and Pre-vention (CDC) in Vietnam is part of the agency’s long-term vision of a “robust, interconnected network of about eight to 12 regional offices around the globe”, us officials said.

the CDC office in Hanoi was launched on august 25 by us Vice-President Kamala Harris.

“It’s critical that we strengthen glo-bal health security even further to prepare for the next global health cri-sis,” CDC chief medical officer Mitch-ell Wolfe told reporters during a con-ference call.

“a disease threat anywhere is a dis-ease threat everywhere.

“the regional office will work to strengthen core health security capac-ities in areas such as surveillance, data use, laboratory science, workforce development and emergency prepar-edness,” Dr Wolfe said.

CDC southeast asia regional director John Macarthur said: “Over the past two decades, southeast asia and neighbouring areas have seen the emergence of Nipah virus, sars, avian influenza, and Covid-19. Even the Zika virus that significant-ly impacted the health of south

americans was of asian lineage.“Our regional office will work to

coordinate CDC’s approach to help address risks associated with the development of these new pathogens of pandemic potential, work to miti-gate them at the source, and work col-laboratively to prepare and address any future public health threats.”

Dr Macarthur told the straits times: “My team in the regional office … will be engaged in the development of strategies for the region and policies for the region.”

He added: “We will have a sort of a bird’s-eye view of what is happening

here, and through communications with our partners across the region, we’ll be able to advocate for resources to leadership in atlanta and in Wash-ington.”

But the main focus is to help strengthen health security partner-ships across the region, both at the bilateral level and with regional part-ners.

“and those areas are fairly … clear,” he said. “Number one is surveillance. We need to have robust surveillance systems that can detect a new patho-gen or an old pathogen early so that our public health authorities and the

ministries around the region can respond quickly and effectively … to contain that outbreak before it grows.”

He added: “It will also ensure that the lab systems are as strong as they possibly can be.

“and then focus on the coordination of the response through public health emergency management training, [and] strengthening the emergency operations centres, which really serve as the main coordinating unit for many of the ministries of health across the region.” THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE)/

ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Drug suspect’s death grips thailand used to tales of police ‘brutality and corruption’

The central figure in the case, besides the victim, is Police Colonel Thitisan Utthanaphon (left). ROYAL THAI POLICE

The video showed a man with a bag placed over his head while he was pinned down by four men. SITTRA BIABANGKERD VIA FACEBOOK

FINANCE ministers, central bank governors, and political leaders are hard at work pre-paring for the 2021 Group of

20 (G20) Heads of State and Govern-ment Summit in Rome on October 30-31.

With the Covid-19 pandemic stretch-ing well into its second year, the meet-ing will come at a time of heightened uncertainty about public health and the global economy. And though the mechanisms of international coopera-tion have been weakened by the pan-demic and remain bruised by former US President Donald Trump’s legacy, they are more important than ever.

“Cooperation” need not refer to international coordination of national monetary or fiscal policies. For the most part, countries on their own can move those levers in whatever direc-tion is best for them. Instead, the G20 should focus on financial stability, trade and vaccination. This is in addi-tion to other important areas, espe-cially the existential issue of global cli-mate change, which should and will receive a lot of attention.

Over the course of 2020, most countries responded to the health crisis and economic recession with government spending. But emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) cannot finance deficits as easily as can Europe and the US (with its “exorbitant privilege” conferred by the dollar’s global dominance). For-tunately, many of these countries managed to meet the acute need for increased spending without having to pay sky-high interest rates, owing to the aggressive monetary stimulus provided by the US Federal Reserve and other major central banks. The initial declines in EMDE currencies, securities prices, and commodity prices in March 2020 were reversed after the Fed’s easing.

But now it is August 2021, and every country must contend with a higher debt-to-GDP ratio. At some point, the Fed will signal an end to monetary easing and a coming increase in inter-est rates. Whenever that happens, investors will pull out of risky assets and lose enthusiasm for EMDEs. Sud-denly, EMDE debtors could face potential financial crises like those that struck in the 1980s and 1990s (or, on a lesser scale, like the 2013 “taper tantrum”, when the Fed triggered EMDE capital flight by suggesting that it would soon start to wind down its asset purchases).

Accepting that there may be a bub-ble component to today’s high prices for risky assets, the financial situation appears particularly fragile. Some say

that soaring markets reflect economic fundamentals; for example, high price-to-earnings ratios in the US stock market are said to be justified by the promise of digitalisation and other productivity-enhancing technological innovations. But I would point to the surge in some financial innovations that do not enhance productivity. Think of the 6,000-odd cryptocurren-cies that have been created, and the rise of meme stocks, special purpose acquisition companies and nonfungi-ble tokens.

In any case, the G20 can help to reduce the likelihood and severity of a potential emerging-market debt crisis. The Debt Service Suspension Initiative that it created during the pandemic was a good first step, but it only post-poned repayment, and only one class of international creditors: govern-ments. It is widely recognised that pro-visions for possible debt restructuring should be extended to cases where the international creditors are private financial institutions (or where Chinese state-backed lenders are claiming to be private). A second positive step is the new allocation of Special Drawing Rights agreed to by International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) members this month.

Both initiatives come just in time for EMDEs. Early on, it appeared that the impact of the pandemic would be more severe in advanced economies than in many EMDEs, with the excep-

tion of South America. But rich coun-tries have since enjoyed unusually strong economic recoveries, aided by macroeconomic stimulus and the vac-cines. Meanwhile, the “other half” has fallen behind. In its most recent global outlook (July 2021), the IMF predicted continued strong growth for advanced economies, but marked down its growth forecasts for EMDEs. Among developing countries, millions of peo-ple are being thrown back into extreme poverty.

This economic divergence is particu-larly striking because it comes on the heels of a global convergence. On aver-age, EMDEs had been growing sub-stantially faster than advanced econo-mies from the turn of the century until 2014, when Chinese growth started to slow and dollar prices for commodities fell. Among the many explanations for the catch-up period is that global trade increased roughly twice as fast as GDP during the decades preceding the 2008 global financial crisis. Since 2009, how-ever, the trend for the trade-to-GDP ratio has been flat.

Unfashionable as it is to say, the situ-ation today calls for some good old-fashioned trade liberalisation. The US and China should roll back the protec-tionist barriers that they raised over the last four years. One sector that is especially ripe for liberalisation is trade in environmentally beneficial products such as the equipment used

to produce wind and solar power. G20 members should work with the World Trade Organisation to establish new international rules guiding Carbon Border Adjustment Taxes, so that they can be used, but not abused.

The G20 also should work with the Organisation for Economic Cooper-aion and Development (OECD) to follow through on the exciting recent progress toward a global framework for corporate taxation. Most impor-tantly, the US and other rich coun-tries must allocate more of their mas-sive spending packages to make Covid-19 vaccines available to low- and middle-income countries. It is ridiculous for the US to chase after its own vaccine skeptics without at the same time doing more to bring the benefits of this scientific miracle to the rest of the world.

Ruchir Agarwal and Gita Gopinath of the IMF have proposed a plan of action to get more vaccines produced and distributed. Even someone who is allergic to altruism should favour pro-grammes for vaccination in other parts of the world. So long as the coro-navirus runs wild anywhere, it is a danger everywhere. The stakes of international interdependence are higher than ever. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA

NEWS NETWORK

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Opinion11THE PHNOM PENH POST AUGUST 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

OpinionJeffrey Frankel

The G20’s Covid-19 agenda

The writer is professor of capital formation and growth at Harvard University

Rich countries must allocate more of their massive spending packages to make Covid-19 vaccines available to low- and middle-income countries. So long as the coronavirus runs wild anywhere, it is a danger everywhere. Afp

Lifestyle12 THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

teak cutting boards add flair to foodRoth Sochieata

tHOugH the use of beautiful-looking luxury kitchen uten-sils doesn’t do anything to improve anyone’s cooking,

equipping a kitchen with them will still tend to make for a happier chef and encourage them to spend more time making home cooked meals.

the unique natural-textured teak cutting boards handmade in Ra-tanakiri province by Cambodian company VM Luxurious Cutting Board not only serve as a durable kitchen surface for chopping meat or vegetables, they can also be used in the food’s presentation as a sub-stitute for a regular dish.

Foodies and cooks who prefer a natural look have made teak cutting boards a trendy item. It’s best suited to steak, salmon and seafood and it can easily be taken along on camp-ing trips or family picnics.

“I’m overflowing with ideas for de-signing cutting boards into different shapes I guess because I’m a business man. I think of ways everyday to earn more profits and fill the customers’ de-mands or follow the latest trends. Hon-estly, our test marketing online has just been this month but we’ve gotten loads of feedback from customers,” sirey Muny, the founder of VM Luxuri-ous Cutting Board tells The Post.

their teak cutting boards come in various shapes other than the stan-dard rectangular one. sirey has some that are shaped like an iPhone. the texture of the wood is also impor-tant as it means different things to people depending on their prefer-ences and interpretations.

“the uniqueness is in the teak tree itself because it has a natural print, the eye and the heartwood, which looks like someone has carved it. some resemble the sunrise, butter-flies, eagles or even human images. that’s why each natural design be-comes the one and only board of its type in the world. Moreover, teak has no toxic resin that can cause harm to people’s health,” sirey says.

It’s a luxurious cutting board that has an original natural design to it and no chemicals are used to treat the wood in the manufacturing process. they are also naturally very durable.

the VM brand has three main types of cutting board: 3cm with 20cm diameter, 4cm with 20cm and 5cm with 30cm. Prices range from $9.99 to $29.99.

there are also huge ones available on request mea-suring 70cm to 90cm that cost a staggering price of around $7,000. sirey em-phasizes that the prices de-pend on the size and other factors.

“Most of the shapes come with their own natural design. still, that doesn’t mean that we get the desired cutting board the moment it is cut from the tree. It still needs to go through a process.

“the artisans have to dry the wood in a drying machine and then cut the skin off, polish it and dry it again before finishing them by ap-plying olive oil to make it smooth and shiny,” he says.

His first attempt at selling online bombed. He says at the moment he still wants to focus on quality, deliv-ery service, renovating his shop to

make it easier for customers who wish to see them in person and he’s in the process of registering with the Ministry of Commerce as a producer of handiworks.

sirey says he’s playing it by ear for now but his target provinces for ex-pansion are Battambang, Kampong Cham and Phnom Penh before con-sidering exporting abroad.

“For now we actually don’t even have enough to meet the custom-ers’ demands. We can only produce around 2000 cutting boards per month. It’s a business we started in the Covid era so we want to proceed with caution,” he says.

sirey’s future ambition for hand-crafted items he says he hopes to popularize the concept of re-placing frag-ile dishes w i t h

teak cutting boards to reduce expenses and give things a more natural look.

sirey’s business partner has owned a hundred hectares of teak in Rat-tanakiri for over 22 years and the cutting board business is one way to take advantage of it.

“In Cambodia, ours is the only loca-

tion where we grow, cut and produce [timber] right from our own farm. teak can be both agro-tourism and agro-industry. We can produce goods with it and also attract tourists. It contributes to reducing deforestation and protecting the environment.

“Moreover, it’s a luxury wood that takes fewer years to reach the age it can be used at compared to other

trees. and after being cut down, it can grow again and again,” sirey says.

apart from the goal of supplying the cutting boards, sirey wants to en-courage people to use teak instead of using other bigger trees to make their furniture because teak can be made into just about anything such as cup-boards, tables or chairs.

“there’s a lot more it can be used for if you get creative with it and it has the same qualities of other luxury woods, but because our teak is farmed it helps the environment,” sirey says.

sirey guarantees that anyone who tries his products will be happy with

their luxurious look and feel and their long-lasting durability.

“We want to say thank you to all of the customers that understand how beneficial this tree can be with reducing deforestation and encour-aging environmentally-friendly in-dustries,” sirey says.

sirey also mentions that supporting his business will provide enhanced job opportunities for Cambodians.

“We are able to provide jobs for around 50 workers at the moment and we hope to hire more and more. We want to push people to under-stand that creatively using teak will provide Cambodia with a good op-portunity to compete in the asian market,” sirey says.

Sirey Muny (right) and his business partner who have planted teak on a hundred hect-ares in Ratanakiri Province. SUPPLIED

Teak cutting boards are unique with naturally grown texture, shape and size. SUPPLIED

Salmon on a teak cutting board. The

boards can be used to cut meat or serve

meals. SUPPLIED

Sizes are what you would expect for a cutting board and very reasonably priced. SUPPLIED

A teAm of archeologists ex-amining the remains of victims from the eruption of mount Vesuvius in 79 AD

have discovered coastal people of the time ate far more fish than modern Italians, with men getting more of the high-status food than women.

the researchers, led by a team at the University of York, analysed amino acids – the building blocks of proteins – in 17 adult skeletons excavated from the city of Hercula-neum, a popular seaside resort that remained buried under volcanic ash until the 18th century.

By studying the ratio of carbon and nitrogen isotopes of the amino acids and applying a statistical model, they were able to differentiate between food groups with a new level of pre-cision, the team wrote in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday.

Lead author and PhD student Sil-via Soncin said that Herculaneum

provided an “extraordinary popula-tion” to study historic diets because the natural disaster gives archeolo-gists a snapshot in time.

“Cemeteries are usually used over a certain period, we’re talking about hundreds of years, and the food sources may have changed because of changing climate or different trade routes,” she said.

though Herculaneum and nearby Pompeii were destroyed by the vol-cano, most inhabitants managed to escape in time, senior author Oliver Craig, a professor of bioarcheology said.

the 11 men and six women studied by the team were picked at random from 340 people who died on the beach and from nine adjacent fornici – stone chambers for boats – where they had sought shelter from the py-roclastic flow.

“We found a surprisingly high amount of marine contribution

to the diet of these people, par-ticularly compared to the modern mediterranean population,” said Soncin, with the ancient dwell-ers eating about three times the amount of seafood compared to their counterparts today.

Herculaneum’s sewers were filled with fish bones, prior research has shown. typical species would have included porgies, tuna and shellfish.

Gender gapthey also discovered a signifi-

cant sex gap within the group, with males on average getting 50 per cent more of their protein from

seafood compared to females.men also got slightly more protein

from cereals compared with their fe-male contemporaries, while women obtained more of their proteins from animal products and locally grown fruits and vegetables.

the team put forward several pos-sible reasons: men may have been more involved in fishing than wom-en, but the historical record also shows that certain fish such as tuna were considered high-status food in Roman society, with men having more access.

Another aspect is that, although Herculaneum was known as a resort

for the elite, it was also home to many slaves and freedmen, said Craig.

male slaves had a higher chance of emancipation than women and were generally freed at an earlier age, giving them more access to cov-eted foods.

“Now we’ve got a way and ap-proach for actually quantifying diet in the past, so what we want to do is apply this more widely through time and space,” said Craig.

He hopes to next examine how quickly diets shifted when prehis-toric humans moved from hunter-gathering activities to agricultural societies. AFP

13THE PHNOM PENH POST AUgUSt 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

Lifestyle

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SUpp

LIED

True Visions international school of Cambodia (TVis) last Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Phillip Bank on the provision of 100 per cent scholarships to three outstanding high school students. The scholarships, covering annual tuition fees, have been awarded to three students currently studying at TVis in Grades 10, 11 and 12. Attending the signing ceremony, seng Bona, the chairman of the board of directors of True Visions, said the scholarships will be of huge benefit to the students and their parents. TVis offers education from kindergarten to high school, and opened its eighth campus this year. True Visions has expanded partnerships globally to include new Zealand, singapore, Australia, the UK and the Us, with students having participated in exchange programmes with the partner schools.

True Visions international school signs MoU with Phillip Bank on scholarships

After 600 years of night watchmen, Lausanne gets first watchwomanAfteR over 600 years of night watchmen, a woman has for the first time been tasked with shouting out the time each hour through the night from the Lausanne cathedral bell tower.

Cassandre Berdoz began working as an assistant night watchwoman at the Lausanne cathedral on August 16, the Swiss city announced on thursday.

“this is the first time that this position . . . has been held by a woman, who is helping keep alive a tradition uninterrupted since 1405, while helping it evolve,” it said in a statement.

Berdoz, it said, was likely the

first woman to ever be official-ly appointed to the task any-where in europe.

the new watchwoman her-self said she was thrilled with the new position.

“As far back as I can remem-ber, this tradition has fascinat-ed me, and I have always want-ed to be a watchwoman,” the Lausanne native said in the statement.

She is joining the ranks of male colleagues who have clambered to the top of the cathedral bell tower every sin-gle evening for the past 616 years.

All year round, from 10pm to

2am, the night watchman, wearing a big black hat and car-rying a lantern, steps out to the bell tower railing to serve as a living clock for the people of the picturesque city on the shores of Lake geneva.

the night watchmen, who once numbered in the tens of thousands across europe, used to play a far more vital role.

Back when fire was a perma-nent threat to medieval towns and cities built in wood, he was an essential part of a network of watchmen, most of whom patrolled the streets.

from his perch, the cathedral watchman was tasked with sounding the alarm at the first whiff of smoke.

But as technology advanced, the once ubiquitous position became largely obsolete and the watchmen all but disap-peared across the continent.

Lausanne is today one of 63 european towns and cities that still have night watchmen, thursday’s statement said.

except for a few substitute stints, women have never held the position anywhere on the continent, it said, citing infor-mation from the european guild of Night and tower Watchmen.

“Lausanne is thus an equal-ity pioneer” in this area, the city boasted. AFP

How men hogged seafood in ancient city

A general view shows the archaeological site of Herculaneum in Ercolano, near Naples, with the Mount Vesuvius volcano in the background. AFP

Visitors view human skeletons at the archaeological site of Herculaneum in Ercolano, near Naples. AFP

After over 600 years of night watchmen, a woman has for the first time been tasked with shouting out the time each hour through the night from the Lausanne cathedral bell tower. AFP

ACROSS 1 Hardly outgoing 6 Small glen 10 Run-down neighborhood 14 Where some sports events are held 15 Matinee hero 16 “___ on down the road” 17 What happy people leave without? 20 Many-headed monster slain by

Hercules 21 Nullifies 22 High-protein legume 24 Period of calm 26 Slightly tapered 27 Four-pedal bike 29 Yemeni seaport 31 Singer Stewart 32 Opera feature 33 Sudden pain 35 Common morning meal 40 China buy 41 Kind of agreement 43 “___ Just Not That Into You” 46 Knuckle knocks 47 Like Dolly Parton 49 Guru getaway

51 Wingtip-to-wingtip dimension 53 Driving range prop 54 Troop member 55 Put in an office 57 Like a well-searched room 63 Tempting location? 64 The “U” of CPU 65 Brants and ganders 66 Prone to prying 67 Norway’s capital 68 German industrial cityDOWN 1 Bill in a bar 2 Nest egg, for short 3 Garage worker 4 Like octopus secretions 5 Lollygag 6 Like popular videos 7 Determine the sum of 8 Bump’s place 9 90-degree letter 10 Man of La Mancha 11 More doilylike 12 Comfortable with 13 Made a goof (with “up”) 18 Jack-in-the-pulpit family 19 Exact retribution

22 Mom, pop and school org. 23 All ___ (paying attention) 25 Like much of the Old West 26 Do a tavern job 28 Bull’s-eye hitter 30 Eating regimen 33 1/2 fl. oz. 34 Yes-men feed them 36 Poke holes in a lawn 37 Word of respect 38 Spelunking sites 39 Word with “time” and “place” 42 Caustic soapmaking compound 43 Expedite 44 Portuguese dollar, once 45 Ocean liners? 47 “Ha’i” spot on Broadway? 48 Jumpy 50 Needing more flour, as dough 52 Tangy sauce 56 Not the best grades 58 Trio minus one 59 Ending for “sit” 60 Shutout score, on the soccer field 61 “___ as directed” 62 Speeds on bikes?

“A LITTLE OFF”

Friday’s solution

Friday’s solution

14 THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

Thinking caps

Lifestyle

ChiCkens strut and cluck around the courtyard of a house that resonates with

the unmistakable urban af-rican sound of a once-great rumba blues band in the Dem-ocratic Republic of Congo.

a decade after their inter-national peak, the group staff Benda Bilili dream of returning to the stage and claiming the spoils of their success – even if it means quarrelling with those who made them known.

in the early 2010s, these pen-niless Congolese musicians, many stricken by polio, living in the street and getting around in ancient wheelchairs, turned rumba upside down.

their lives had been changed by a documentary film, “Benda Bilili!,” which in 2010 wowed the Cannes Film Festival, show-casing a music as gritty and as unique as the people who played it.

audiences became en-thralled by the tales of sur-vival that swirled around band leader Ricky Likabu, as well as Roger, Coco, theo, Djunana and the other musicians.

the documentary opened the door to hundreds of con-certs by staff Benda Bilili in europe, Japan, australia and the us. a first album, Tres tres fort (Very Very Strong), was released in 2009, another, Bouger le monde (Move the World), followed in 2012.

‘Didn’t really break up’the success story ended

messily in 2013. the singers Coco and theo quit the band and the end of a tour was abruptly cancelled.

“We didn’t really break up, there was a bit of a disagree-ment,” Roger says today, play-ing down the conflict.

a former street kid with no disability, he joined the band in the early days, armed with a curious instrument made from a tin can and a piece of wire.

in 2011, Roger was living the high life between two tours.

now aged 35 and with six children, he admits: “Life’s hard.”

after the band members bought homes, clothes and cars, the money from touring and recording evaporated.

about four years ago, on the advice of the head of a hu-manitarian ngO, they reunit-ed. he “brought us together, made us play together,” ex-plains theo, one of the sing-ers who had left.

Ricky, the band leader, is 70 now and his gaze is weary, but he insists he still has the energy to get things going once more.

the musicians meet every thursday in the rundown n’djili district of kinshasa, in the shade of a tarpaulin stretched over the courtyard, where they compose new songs, rehearse and hang out.

a mural portrays Ricky dur-ing the glory days.

One of the new songs is about Covid-19, the pandemic and confinement. the lyrics in Lingala and the music attract neighbours, who push at the corrugated iron gate.

‘Wipe the slate’a new album, Effacer le

Tableau (Wipe the Slate), has been released but received little response.

“We would like to make a new documentary,” to tell the world “staff Benda Bilili is back”, ex-plains Live Mindanda, public

relations officer for the group.But the band also intends

to fight to recover money that they say is owed to them from the “Benda Bilili!” film which made them famous.

Roger, Ricky and the others swear they are not at war with anyone, despite disagree-ment on the idea of taking legal action.

“But music is one thing, our rights are another,” says theo.

“We are going to take the pro-ducers to the Paris Commercial Court and ask for damages,” says their lawyer, Mizou Bilon-go nsanda.

among those targeted by the legal threat, co-director Renaud Barret, says he only received his due last year after nearly a decade of squabbles among the film’s distributors.

he was paid around €25,000 ($29,000), he says.

the contract provided that staff Benda Bilili would receive 10 per cent of the proceeds.

“We will give them their share, of course,” says Barret.

But a sequel to the docu-mentary is out of the ques-tion, leaving the band grap-pling for a compass on the comeback trail. AFP

Pioneering Congo band searching for comeback

Musician and fashion designer Theophile Nzonga sits in his wheelchair while singing in front of the mural of the leader of the Staff Benda Bilili group Ricky Likabu. AFP

The members of Staff Benda Bilili pose for a group photo during a rehearsal in the popular district of N’djili, Kinshasa. AFP

Sport15THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

DefenDing cham-pion naomi Osaka seeks her third us Open title in four

tries as the year’s final grand slam begins Monday with top-ranked Wimbledon win-ner ashleigh Barty leading a host of rivals.

What’s uncertain is whether new York will see Osaka redis-cover the dominant form that saw her win the past two grand slam events she played to the finish.

the 23-year-old Japanese star lit the flame in the Olym-pic cauldron at the tokyo games, but has played only two matches since Japan ahead of the Open.

“i know i haven’t played that many matches. i know that i haven’t even gotten to a quar-ter-final,” Osaka said.

“actually, i feel pretty happy with how i’m playing. . . i feel pretty confident with where i am right now. Of course i’m not declaring that i’ll do amaz-ing here. i’m the one-match-at-a-time like person.

“Hopefully it will work out in the end.”

Osaka pulled out of the french Open after being fined for not talking to reporters after her first match, saying it hurt her mental health. she then skipped Wimbledon but spoke with the media after matches in her us Open tuneup at Cincinnati.

“i felt like it was something i needed to do for myself,” Osaka

said. “i’m proud of what i did and i think it was something that needed to be done.”

Osaka captured last year’s us Open title by defeating Vic-toria azarenka in the final, be-coming the first woman since 1994 to rally from a set down to win the us Open final.

at this year’s australian Open, Osaka saved match points against spain’s garbine Muguruza in the fourth round and beat 23-time grand slam champion serena Williams in the semi-finals before defeat-ing Jen Brady in the final.

Osaka, ranked third, has won her first four grand slam finals, trailing only Roger federer’s run of seven and six by Monica se-les for the best slam final start in the Open era (since 1968).

she will open this year in

new York against Czech Marie Bouzkova. Osaka could meet Coco gauff in the fourth round, ukraine’s fifth-seeded elina svitolina in the quarter-finals and Belarus second seed aryna sabalenka in the semi-finals.

Barty, in her 83rd consecutive week atop the world rankings, has rolled to wins at Wimble-don and Cincinnati, putting her on best form entering the flushing Meadows fortnight.

the 25-year-old australian’s 2021 titles also include Miami, Melbourne and stuttgart and boosted her career total to 13.

“i feel comfortable and ready,” Barty said. “i feel good, i feel ready. Certainly been a big year and we’ve still got a bit to go yet.”

Barty won her first major title at the 2019 french Open

and her second trophy in Lon-don put her halfway to a ca-reer grand slam.

“i hadn’t even thought about it,” Barty said. “it took me 25 years to get the first two, so let’s hope it doesn’t take an-other 25 to get the next two. We’ll leave it at that.”

Serena sidelinedWilliams, who hasn’t played

a competitive hardcourt match since losing to Osaka in febru-ary, will not play in new York due to a torn right hamstring suffered in a first-round match at Wimbledon.

“after careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, i have decided to withdraw from the us Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” Williams said Wednesday on instagram.

Williams, who turns 40 next month, remains one shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 grand slam singles titles.

an impressive collection of 20-something rivals among the world’s top 10 will take aim at the trophy.

the group includes Czech Barbora Krejcikova, the french Open champion; second-ranked Wimbledon semi-finalist sa-balenka; Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic; sofia Kenin, the 2020 australian Open winner; and Canada’s Bianca andreescu, the 2019 us Open winner. AFP

DeChambeau, Cantlay share 3-shot lead as Championship goes to final

Verstappen masters rain to claim Belgian grand Prix pole, Russell in 2nd

BRYsOn DeChambeau’s bid to run away with the BMW Cham-pionship came undone on the back nine on saturday, leaving the big-hitting american tied with Patrick Cantlay heading into the final round.

the leading pair had a three-shot lead over south Korean im sung-jae in the second of three events in the us Pga tour’s fedex Cup playoffs.

DeChambeau started the day with a one-stroke lead after a scintillating 60 on friday, and pushed his lead to as many as four strokes after another siz-zling front nine that included two birdies and back-to-back eagles at the fourth and fifth.

But after spinning his approach to two feet for a bird-ie at 11, DeChambeau found himself paying the price for errant shots, finding the water with his second shot on the way to a bogey at the par-five 12th and dunking his tee shot at 13 on the way to a double bogey.

He clawed back a shot at the 14th, but gave it back with a bogey at 15.

in deep rough off the tee at the par-five 16th, DeChambeau managed to pick up a birdie after hitting his second shot from the right rough to within a foot.

He finished with a five-under par 67 for 195, and that was

enough for a share of the lead after Cantlay made his first bogey of the day at the 18th to cap a 66.

“front nine i played really good,” said DeChambeau, who said his driver “just didn’t feel right” from the seventh hole onward.

“But that’s OK. i scraped it around,” he said, “got to clean up the driver from today.”

Cantlay had made early inroads on DeChambeau’s lead with a 16-foot eagle at the sec-ond hole. He added a birdie at the third, but after back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 – a 13-footer and a tap-in – he was still two adrift.

But as DeChambeau gave up two strokes at the 13th playing partner Cantlay rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt, following it up with a four-foot birdie at 16 that had kept his nose in front until his closing miscue.

Good spot“it was another day on an

easy, soft golf course, so you needed to make a bunch of birdies,” Cantlay said. “i thought i played really well, all in all.

“i didn’t make too many mistakes. Played solid, didn’t putt as well as i did the first couple days but probably hit it a little better, and i thought it was a good day and i’m in a

good spot for tomorrow.”Cantlay said it was “not diffi-

cult” to stay patient as DeCham-beau built his early lead and electrified spectators with his bid to overpower the Caves Val-ley golf Club course in subur-ban Baltimore, Maryland.

after watching his 25-foot eagle putt drop in the back of the cup at the par-five fourth DeChambeau reached the green with a 307-yard tee shot at the short par-four fifth then drained a 53-foot eagle putt.

“there’s nothing i can do at that point,” Cantlay said. “i’m just trying to stick to my game plan.”

im moved into solo third place with a six-under 66 that includ-ed seven birdies. at 18-under he was one stroke clear of north-ern ireland’s Rory Mcilroy, Mex-ico’s abraham ancer, spain’s sergio garcia and american sam Burns.

Burns joined the group with a hole out for birdie at 18 to cap his 65. Mcilroy had seven bird-ies in his seven-under 65, ancer had six birdies in his six-under 66 and garcia had six birdies in his five-under par 67.

World number one Jon Rahm was a further stroke back on 200 after a two-under par 70 that included six birdies and four bogeys – the last at the 18th. AFP

ReD Bull’s Max Verstappen mastered the rain to claim Belgian grand Prix pole on saturday, snatching the fast-est time in qualifying from surprise package george Rus-sell of Williams.

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes will start on the second row as he goes for his 100th grand Prix win, Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren completing the sec-ond row.

Qualifying was marred by a heavy crash in Q3 involving the McLaren of Lando norris, whose hopes of a first ever pole bit the dust at eau Rouge.

With the Briton thankfully escaping serious injury, nine cars took to the track when the shoot-out resumed after a 40-minute red flag interven-tion. fellow Briton Russell was poised to give Williams an astonishing first pole since 2001 with seconds of Q3 to go.

But the young driver’s bril-liant time was narrowly shaded by Verstappen in the Dutch driver’s final flying lap.

Russell still had the satisfac-tion of placing in front of Ham-ilton, with Russell in conten-tion alongside Valtteri Bottas for the second Mercedes drive in 2022.

“i’m absolutely buzzing,” said the Williams man.

“tomorrow’s the most impor-tant one, but it’s been mega today. i’m delighted for every-one. if the weather is the same and it’s there for the taking, we’ll go for it.”

Hamilton said it had been “a very difficult day for every-one”.’

Treacherous“i’m just trying to stay posi-

tive, focused and calm. Max did a great job and a great job also by george – that’s fantastic,” added the seven-time world champion who is eight points clear of Verstappen in the driv-ers standings.

“We’re first and that’s the most important thing,” said Verstappen.

“it’s an amazing track to drive and very difficult in the wet. i’m super happy to qualify like this after the [summer] break.”

Q3 got off to a dramatic start when norris came badly

unstuck in the treacherous wet conditions.

the Briton lost control of his McLaren, his car spinning mul-tiple times from one side of the track to the other after the rear end hit the barriers at eau Rouge.

the only one of his four tyres intact was the front left.

sebastian Vettel, who had called for the Q3 session to be stopped a little while earlier, drove up in his aston Martin to make sure the 21-year-old was okay.

the german, a four-time former world champion, only drove on when he got a thumbs- up.

norris’ team came over the radio asking “Lando, are you okay, are you okay?” with the shaken, but seemingly unharmed, driver replying “Yes, sorry boys we should have had a good one. i’ve let you down.”

the medics then helped him gingerly out of his cockpit.

the session was red-flagged as stewards hurried to clear the debris from the stricken McLaren off the track. norris’ mechanics were set for a long night getting it roadworthy in time for sunday’s race.

Later saturday, norris was given the green light to race on sunday when he will start from the fifth row.

“following precautionary checks after an accident dur-ing qualifying at the Belgian grand Prix, Lando norris has been cleared to compete in the 2021 Belgian grand Prix by the trackside doctor and fia med-ical delegate,” said a McLaren statement.

norris, third in the drivers championship, had led qualify-ing through the first two ses-sions held as the rain beat down on the majestic but noto-riously demanding spa-fran-corchamps circuit in the ardennes forest.

He was in a great position to claim his first ever pole and end up at the front of sunday’s grid, instead he ended up in the medical centre.

after the lengthy stoppage the session got back underway with 8.59 minutes of Q1 left on the clock, and a trick up Rus-sell’s sleeve. AFP

Osaka defends us Open crown with Barty leading competition

Naomi Osaka speaks during an interview ahead of the 2021 US Open Tennis tournament in Queens, New York, on Friday. AFP

US golfer Bryson DeChambeau tees off on the 1st during his second round on day 2 of the 149th British Open Golf Championship at Royal St George’s, Sandwich in southeast England on July 16. AFP

Red Bull’s driver Max Verstappen celebrates taking pole position in the parc ferme after the qualifying session of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Spa on Saturday. AFP

Sport

16 THE PHNOM PENH POST august 30, 2021 www.PHNOMPENHPOST.cOM

af g h a n i s t a n ’ s athletes arrived in tokyo late satur-day and were set to

compete in the Paralympics next week as Day 5 of games action began sunday with a thrilling finish to the wom-en’s triathlon.

and italian fencing super-star Beatrice “Bebe” Vio goes for a second medal in the team event after her individual foil gold on saturday.

afghanistan’s Zakia Khu-dadadi and hossain Rasouli were evacuated last weekend to france from the taliban-controlled country in a “major global operation”, the interna-tional Paralympic Committee said.

“Zakia and hossain have continued to express their absolute desire to come and compete at the tokyo 2020 Paralympic games,” the com-mittee’s chief andrew Parsons said in a statement.

they “are now in tokyo to fulfil their dreams, sending out a strong message of hope to many others around the world”, he added.

Khudadadi is due to com-pete in the women’s tae-kwondo K44-49kg category on september 2, and track athlete Rasouli is to run in the men’s 400m t47 the next day.

in an early start for the para-triathletes at Odaiba Marine Park sunday, american Kend-all gretsch chased down aus-tralia’s Lauren Parker on the

final straight in the women’s PtWC race to snatch the gold medal by the slimmest of mar-gins.

it looked like Parker had the victory secure until she was hampered by backmarkers on the final lap, with the crucial seconds lost enabling gretsch to reel her in to win by less than the length of her wheel-chair.

“i couldn’t see her in front of me until the very last lap of the run,” said gretsch. “Even half-way through that lap i couldn’t see her.

“as soon as i saw her, i was like, ‘hey! You just have to do

it. You have to give everything you can.’

“On that final stretch i just put my head down and that was all i could do.”

Eva Maria Moral Pedrero of spain took bronze.

Gave it everything“i gave it everything i could,”

said silver medallist Parker. “i put my head down and went for it. i’m pretty proud of my efforts.”

in the men’s race, Jetze Platz of the netherlands won gold, ahead of florian Brungra-ber of austria and giovanni achenza of italy.

in total there will be 63 fi-nals contested on “super sunday” at the Paralympics with the wheelchair rugby gold-medal match one of the evening highlights and 20 fi-nals being contested in the athletic stadium.

it promises explosive ac-tion, pitting the might of the usa team against great Britain, who broke Japanese hearts by beating the hosts and 2018 World Champions 55-49 in the semi-finals.

the usa beat australia, the 2016 Rio gold medallists, 49-42 in saturday’s other last-four encounter.

fencing icon Vio had little time to celebrate saturday night’s individual foil gold.

she was back out on the piste in search of a second medal in the team event at 9.30am on sunday, leading italy to a thumping 45-5 win over the usa in their first pool match. the medal matches will take place on sunday evening.

in the swimming pool 13 more gold medals will be de-cided, with hosts Japan look-ing for success in the men’s 100m breaststroke sB14 through naohide Yamaguchi, the world record holder. AFP

Liverpool held by 10-man Chelsea for 1-1 tietEn-Man Chelsea held on for a 1-1 draw at Liverpool after Reece James’ controversial dis-missal, while Mikel arteta urged his arsenal flops to “look in the mirror” after a dismal 5-0 thrashing at Manchester City on saturday.

European champions Chel-sea took the lead through Kai havertz’s looping header from James’s corner in the 22nd minute.

But a hard-fought clash of title contenders turned when James was sent off in first half stoppage-time.

the Chelsea defender, sta-

tioned on the goal-line, blocked sadio Mane’s effort with his thigh and then his arm after Joel Matip’s header had hit the bar.

Referee anthony taylor was advised to check with the pitch-side monitor and he awarded a penalty before sending off James.

Chelsea complained furiously but Mohamed salah stepped up to convert the spot-kick before another angry protest from Blues defender antonio Rudiger and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy sparked a penalty area melee.

Liverpool dominated the sec-ond half but Chelsea defended

superbly, with Mendy making several fine saves.

Both sides remain unbeaten after seeing their 100 per cent records come to an end in what was the first chapter of what should be a gripping title race.

“With pure will, we took the heat out of the game. that was team effort at its very best,” Chel-sea boss thomas tuchel said.

“the red card spoils the game. i have no solution for it because maybe it is a red card because he denies a chance but it is also a deflection. i would have liked a longer [VaR] check.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “Everything was enjoyable apart from the result. it was a great first half from us and actually a good second one because it’s so tricky when you play against nine defenders.

“Could we have done better? Yes. But it’s early in the season.”

arsenal have lost their first three league games and are yet to score a goal this term.

arteta’s side sit bottom of the league after their worst start to a season since 1954 as pres-sure mounts on their under-fire boss.

arteta’s switch to a back three failed to halt a slick City attack that suggested they are more than capable of defending their

Premier League title this season despite missing out on harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo.

ilkay gundogan opened the floodgates before ferran torres pounced on shocking arsenal defending to double City’s lead inside 12 minutes.

arsenal’s task was made even harder when granit Xhaka needlessly lunged at Joao Can-celo and was shown a straight red card.

gabriel Jesus made it 3-0 before half-time before Rod-rigo and torres, with his sec-ond of the afternoon, rounded off the scoring.

Really disappointed“i’m really disappointed with

the things that happened on the pitch and the summary after three games, losing all of them, doesn’t make it any easier,” arteta said.

“it is time to reflect and look in the mirror, each of us, and try to change the dynamic straight away because we need to pick up results.”

Despite arteta’s woes, Man-chester City boss Pep guardiola insisted arsenal should keep faith with his former assistant.

“i know, completely, his talent. i am pretty sure the moment will come when everything will be

back and he will do a job because he is an excellent manager,” guardiola said.

Everton beat Brighton 2-0 to extend their unbeaten start under former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez.

a controversial appointment to replace Carlo ancelotti in the close-season due to his anfield links, Benitez is winning over his new fans after goals from Dema-rai gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the south coast.

after failing to win his first two league games in charge of Crystal Palace, while also crash-ing out of the League Cup in midweek, arsenal and france legend Patrick Vieira watched his team earn a 2-2 draw at in-form West ham.

Promoted Brentford remain unbeaten after a 1-1 draw at aston Villa.

Brentford’s ivan toney got the opener and Emi Buendia scored his first Villa goal to equalise.

southampton snatched a dra-matic 2-2 draw at newcastle thanks to James Ward-Prowse’s stoppage-time equaliser.

Leicester won 2-1 at norwich, with Jamie Vardy putting the foxes ahead and teemu Pukki equalising from the penalty spot before Marc albrighton wrapped up the points. AFP

afghan Paralympians arrive at games

Athletes compete in the rowing mixed coxed four at the Sea Forest Waterway during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. OIS/AFP

Liverpool’s defender Joel Matip (centre) vies with Chelsea’s striker Romelu Lukaku (left) and Chelsea’s defender Marcos Alonso (right) during the English Premier League football match on Saturday. AFP

in brief

Man U, Ronaldo reunite to rekindle past gloriesCRISTIANO Ronaldo completed an emotional return to Manchester United on Friday, 12 years after leaving as the world’s most expensive player, tasked with firing the Red Devils back to the top of the English and European game.The 36-year-old has forced a return to the Premier League from Juventus as one last shot at a sixth Ballon d’Or and Champions League title.Ronaldo arrived at United as a skinny 18-year-old from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 with a bag of tricks.In six years under the tutelage of Alex Ferguson his physique and end product were transformed to lead United to three Premier League titles and Ferguson’s final Champions League in 2008.However, even United could not resist Ronaldo’s desire to move to Spain when Real Madrid offered a then world record £80 million ($110 million) in 2009.Real were more than rewarded with nine years of Ronaldo in his prime. AFP

India not beaten despite ‘bad day’Joe Root’s England may be on top in the third Test, but with two games still to play, Indian pace bowler Mohammed Siraj still hopes his side can claim the series.“Sometimes we have a bad day, when we get out early in a Test match and have to field longer,” Siraj said Thursday after the hosts cruised to a commanding first-innings lead of 345 on day two of the Headingley game.“But that shouldn’t lower your morale as we are still left with two matches and leading the series 1-0.Riding high after winning the second Test at Lord’s, India were skittled on Wednesday for just 78 on day one of the latest in the five match series. AFP

Marseille rebound from Nice mayhemMarseille bounced back from the violent mayhem of their last Ligue 1 encounter to defeat Saint-Etienne 3-1 on Saturday.On loan from Arsenal, Matteo Guendouzi, in the 23rd minute, and former Flamengo player Gerson, on 51 minutes, scored their first goals for Marseille.Turkish star Cengiz Under, another summer recruit on loan from Roma, added a third in the 68th minute.Timothee Kolodziejczak had earlier given Saint-Etienne hope with a 32nd-minute equaliser from a corner.Recently, Marseille’s game at southern neighbours Nice was abandoned after a pitch invasion involving home fans incensed that Dimitri Payet had a thrown a bottle lobbed at him back into the crowd. AFP