Unofficial Translation
13 October 2011
Right after the Cabinet’s special meeting Samdech
Techo Hun Sen made the following selected statement to the people of
Cambodia in relation to calling off the boat race event, assessed flood casualties/damages and the Royal Government’s responses (emergency, rehabilitation and gratefulness).
Venerable Buddhist Supreme Patriarchs and monks,
Dear country fellows and compatriots,
Today, after my first official statement on October 1, I
have the necessity to speak to our monks and country fellows in
relation to flood situation. I wish to inform you that this afternoon
the Royal Government’s Cabinet full session has reviewed and assessed
the evolving situation in relation to flooding as well as to make an
evaluation on damages as well as national and sub-national rescue
operations.
Water Festival Called Off
Having reviewed the situation, I seek your understanding
and apologize to our Buddhist monks and dear compatriots that the Royal
Government has made decision to cancel the boat race event, one major
item of the water festival, which would be held on November 9th, 2011
in front of the Royal Palace. Please allow me to inform all of you about
the reasons why we have to exercise the cancellation.
The main reason is because of this severe flooding situation
in our country, which, after being studied and evaluated, has been
literally even bigger than that of the 2000 flood in many parts and a
little lower in some parts of the country. Why after flood in 2000,
people could come to Phnom Penh to enjoy the boat race, which is part
of the whole water festival? The thing was that in the year 2000, the
flood subsided not long after it had reached its peak.
As for this year, according to the data provided by the
Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, the flood level stays at
10.78 meters at the Jadomuk flood monitoring station, which is above
the 10.50 meter warning level. Monitored at the station at Prek Kadam,
where the flood warning height is 9.5 meters, the current flood level
establishes at 10.14 meters. Above warning-level floods have also been
reported at other flood monitoring stations of Koh Khel and Neak
Loeung.
We have less than one month time to celebrate the water
festival. According to estimation from the said data, by then the water
level in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, where the boat race
and other water festivity events would take place, will settle to a
level that will still be high. This will present danger for people who
would come and observe the event.
Even more so, sportsmen of some 400 boats coming from
various flooded provinces to the boat race event are the main labor
force needed for cultivation activities, especially in the post
flooding time. The cancellation will allow them, instead of having to
come to Phnom Penh away from home for at least one week, to stay home
to participate in post-flood cultivation phase to restore their
livelihoods.
This decision also takes into consideration the fact that
the state would have covered financial as well as material expenses,
besides people’s own resources, to provide for organizing, maintaining
security, which could be good savings to deal with the post-flood
devastation.
These are reasons why the Royal Government is taking
necessary step to cancel the boat race event in the water festival to
be taking place on November 9. I am sure our Buddhist monks and people
are well aware of the current flood situation and understand the
difficulties that we are in altogether.
Let me clarify that though the festive boat race event in
Phnom Penh will be cancelled, our people and local authorities could
still organize, according to own resource availability, these
festivities either in pagodas or at communal, district or even
provincial levels.
As we cancel the boat race event, other
festivities such as concerts, performance arts, floating lights,
discharging fireworks, paying respect to full moon, and enjoying the
Ambok (flatten rice from early harvest), will go on.
Government officials, employees and the armed forces will also have
three days off as is stipulated in the Sub-decree on national holidays
to be observed in 2011. It should be noted that the date of water
festival celebration this year is falling on our National Independence
Day on November 9.
It is in this context that I would affirm that other
royal festivities such as the birthday anniversary of HM the King
Father Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk, the twentieth anniversary of
HM’s return to Cambodia and the National Independence Day will be observed.
Flood Related Casualties and Damages
I would like to take this opportune moment to inform our
people of report of flood assessment and related damages. As was said
on October 1, floods hit Cambodia hard since then and we have been
making relentless efforts to ensure our people’s lives and properties be
saved. As of the moment of speaking, we have recorded impact on paddy
of some 390,000 hectares or about 16% of the total area under
cultivation. As of this time, 190,000 hectares or 7.74% of the said
cultivated area have been devastated.
Judging from this figures and situations, it is possible
that the expected growth rate would have to reset from 7% to six or
slightly over six percent. We also noted a shockingly increasing number
of deaths in relation to flood. The figure has now recorded 247 people
compared to the figure I declared on October 1, which was less than
100. I would in this instance invite everyone and family to pay
attention to save own as well as their family members’ lives. Special
attention should be given to taking good care of small children who
cannot swim.
In areas along the Mekong River, it is almost certain that
as water recedes, bank erosion would be the case. Once the water
levels up, the erosion was observed, but once it goes down, more would
happen.
Emergency Response Efforts
The Royal Government of Cambodia and the Cambodian Red
Cross, charitable persons alike, have been spooling efforts to provide
emergency relief assistance to people in affected areas. As of October
10, we have provided reliefs to some 76,595 families, of which 52,136
families were provided with help of the Royal Government and the
Cambodian Red Cross, some 19,079 families by charitable persons and
working teams of the CPP, and 5,380 families by other organizations.
In the Cabinet’s meeting today, the Royal Government has
decided to provide rice through the Cambodian Red Cross to assist the
people. The Royal Government would take care of the rice needed while
the Cambodian Red Cross would have to administer the kits of basic
stuffs to provide to some 40,000 stranded families.
As of today we also have assistance from the Government of
Japan of some 25 million Yen or about 330,000 USD as HE the Japanese
Ambassador himself kindly presided over the distribution of the
assistance in Kompong Thom province. The People’s Republic of China has
also rendered some 50 million Yuan or about eight million USD and we
have asked the Chinese to provide us in medicines and blankets, which
shall be arriving this coming Saturday or Sunday. I would urge that
they be distributed immediately to clinics and hospitals in affected
areas.
We could also utilize a part of the assistance for
rehabilitation efforts together with the fund earmarked for the current
year budget as well as the next year budget of the Royal Government,
which altogether is about USD 100 million. We have set aside some 221
billion Riel for post flood restoration and rehabilitation in the
remaining two months of the year. We have reserved an extra 200 billion
Riel plus some 160 billion Riel from the ADB support fund for the next
year operation. They will be used in rehabilitating infrastructures,
rural and national roads, in the post flood period.
We have some 4,469 kilometers of rural roads, of which
1,970 kilometers are severely affected, 583 kilometers are partially
damaged and 87 kilometers are destroyed. Because we have built many
roads in the past years, the number and length of road damaged by flood
is more than what we suffered in the relatively similar flood in 2000.
It is therefore important to reserve a big sum of fund for the
restoration and rehabilitation.
Grateful for Assistance Efforts
I would like to take this opportunity to express my
sincere thanks to the Buddhist monks, local authorities and the armed
forces, which have made tireless efforts in providing our people with
basic needs in time of difficulties.
I also thank the Cambodian Red Cross together with the
National Committee for Disaster Management and the Royal Government of
Cambodia for their swift actions and urgent rescue efforts for the
people.
Taking this opportunity I’d like to express my sincere
thank to all development partners, including the Governments of Japan
and the PRC, for providing assistance. I also have the news that the US
also provides assistance through a Save the Children of some 50,000
USD. I also have here a report that there has been also some assistance
coming from charitable persons in Thailand.
May I apologize to people for my absence for the past two
weeks, unlike in the early part of the situation that I was seen being
around, because of personal reason. My father has fallen seriously ill
and is still in post-surgery emergency care. This situation also has
kept my wife by his hospital bed and could not allow her, in the
capacity as the President of the Cambodian Red Cross to go out help our
people as she did in 2000 or in August this year. However, she has
made tireless efforts to provide guidance to her CRC colleagues in its
central committee. I am seeking our people’s understanding on that.
Last but not least, may I urge our people, no matter where
they are now, to make every effort to overcome this year flooding
difficulty and to work together - state, private sectors and/or
individual - no matter what political tendencies they may belong to, for
a speedy relief of people’s sufferings. It is good for some political
parties to organize help for the people but it is even better if they
do not use that effort to insult the Royal Government and its efforts
to rescue people in time of crisis./.
EndItem.
