Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Timber-processing plants raided in Kampong Chhnang, Oddar Meanchey

Timber-processing plants raided in Kampong Chhnang, Oddar Meanchey

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Forestry Administration officers raided four timber-processing facilities in Kampong Chhnang. Police

Timber-processing plants raided in Kampong Chhnang, Oddar Meanchey

A 39-year-old man was sent to the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court on Wednesday for operating a timber-processing facility in Trapaing Prasat district’s Trapaing Prasat commune without a permit.

Provincial environment department director Phuong Lina said 14 cubic metres of timber was seized from the makeshift workshop.

“We arrested him on Tuesday. His case is being handled by the court and the timber is being retained at the Kulen Promtep environment bureau,” he said.

A report published on the National Military Police website said local authorities led by the provincial court deputy prosecutor raided the facility on Tuesday and confiscated 316 pieces of first-grade timber totaling 14.06 cubic metres.

In a similar case in Kampong Chhnang province, Forestry Administration officers raided four timber-processing facilities in Teuk Phos district’s Tuol Khpos commune and seized four cubic metres of wood.

Provincial Forestry Administration director Thorng Vanvy Ravuthy said the workshops, which processed wood to make furniture, were operating without a licence.

Officers planned to raid six other workshops, Vanvy Ravuthy said, declining to disclose their locations.

“The owners of those furniture-making workshops have already escaped, leaving behind timber and machines used to produce furniture. We are retaining the wood and machines as evidence at the provincial Forestry Administration. The owners will be held accountable,” he said.

Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries director Ngin Hun told The Post on Tuesday that authorities had launched a series of clampdowns on timber-processing facilities and will continue to hunt down the perpetrators.

“The authorities are working on it. We will pursue our crackdowns. Most timber that they used to make furniture are from Pursat and Kampong Speu provinces. There is no wood in Kampong Chhnang province to process,” he said.

Speaking to ann.com.kh on Wednesday, a man and his son who claimed to own one of the furniture-processing workshops that was raided, said they had operated the facility for two years with a permit from the district Forestry Administration.

The son, who only gave his first name as Vanna, alleged that the raid came even after he paid 600,000 riel ($150) to commune police.

Contact for the commune police station could not be found on Wednesday.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • PM urges end to ‘baseless’ international Ream base accusations

    Prime Minister Hun Sen urges an end to “baseless” foreign accusations surrounding the development of the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base, as the US has consistently suggested that the base is being expanded to accommodate a Chinese military presence. Hun Sen renewed his calls while

  • EU’s Sokha resolution ‘a sovereign rights breach’

    The National Assembly (NA) said the European Parliament (EP) did not respect the Kingdom’s independence and sovereignty when it passed a resolution strongly critical of the recent conviction and sentencing of former opposition leader Kem Sokha for “treason”. On March 16, the EP issued a