Choeung Ek Chief Asked To Cease Disclosures

The general manager of the Choeung Ek “killing field” said Tuesday that officials at Phnom Penh municipality had asked him to cease revealing details about the controversial plan to privatize the Khmer Rouge-era genocide me­mor­ial site.

Reiterating his opposition to the deal with the Japan-based company JC-Royal—whose board of di­rec­tors’ chairman is Chea Van­deth, cabinet chief of the Council of Min­­is­ters—Neang Say said the site should re­main in Cambodian hands.

At a meeting with officials from the municipal department of culture on Tuesday, Neang Say said he was asked to stop speaking pub­­licly about the deal.

“The government has granted and has completely made contracts with the company,” Neang Say said, adding that he was now awaiting instructions from the government to hand over responsibility for the site to the firm.

But Neang Say said he was still opposed to Cambodia giving others the right to “exploit our ancestors’ souls. Do not let others control and manage us if we are able to do the work,” Neang Say said by telephone on Tuesday.

Opinions on the privatization deal were mixed at the Choeung Ek site Tuesday. One staff mem­ber at the memorial refused com­ment, stating that it was an issue for high-ranking officials. Another said the plan was shameful but there was nothing ordinary people could do.

Local villager Tol Born, 60, said he welcomed the privatization and re­ports that four other companies were also given land outside the memorial to develop a tourist re­sort with a large lake and boats.

Dangkao district Governor Kru­och Phan said he was un­aware of such plans. Phnom Penh Gov­er­nor Kep Chuktema and First Vice Governor Mam Bun Ne­ang could not be contacted on Tuesday.

JC-Royal company officials were al­so unavailable for comment Tues­day when reporters visited their company’s office.

Located on Russian Boulevard, the office had no sign and no staff were present, a guard said. He said the office had been open since late last year, but he could not re­veal what business JC-Royal was in­volved in or a land line number.

An Internet search located a JC-Royal Web Site, registered by the Tokyo-based ELG Plus Co Ltd, which included only an address and land line. Calls to the land line were answered by the guard.