Authorities in Kratie province shut down a charcoal manufacturing plant in Chet Borei district on Sunday for lacking the requisite documentation, but said they would allow the company to fire back up once it got its paperwork in order.
District governor Hang Chandy said the Cambodian China Golden Charcoal Company had secured permission from the Ministry of Industry to run a small factory, but had been operating for the past two months without other necessary permits.
“We temporarily shut it down yesterday because it did not have enough documentation,” he said.
“First, the owner did not have permission to build a facility. Second, it had no license indicating where it was buying its wood from. They need to have a license from the Ministry of Agriculture to indicate where the wood comes from,” Mr. Chandy said.
Permission to construct a factory must be granted by local authorities.
The governor said the plant had burned about 5 cubic meters of wood over the past two months and that the company had bought the timber from local villagers who were illegally logging in the surrounding forest.
“We will allow him to reopen the business when he has filled out the paperwork,” he said, referring to the owner of the plant, Eab Kimleang, who he said was planning to export the charcoal to China.
