CMAC’s Inquiry Clears Employees of Fraud

An internal investigation conducted by the Cambodian Mine Action Center concluded Tuesday that accusations of fraud and corruption made against CMAC staff by a former employee were false.

The investigation was chaired by a top CMAC official against whom allegations also were leveled. The findings were released af­ter a four-day investigation into charges made earlier this month by Chea Sambo, a former center logistics as­sistant in Pailin’s 3rd De­mining Unit. Nine center officials from the unit were interviewed during the in­vestigation.

Chea Sambo has accused three of­ficials in the unit of exaggerating ex­penses for repair work. He also ac­cused CMAC staff of paying bribes of $1,000 to secure jobs. This allegation was backed up last week by more than 10 center officials who spoke to The Cam­bodia Daily.

Chea Sambo has also accused CMAC Deputy Director General Heng Ratana, who chaired the in­ves­tigation team, of firing staff on partisan grounds.

Chea Sambo’s accusations were “in­tended to damage the recently found donor confidence and to discredit CMAC management,” the in­vestigation concluded.

But allegations made against Heng Ratana were not investigated, center officials said Tuesday. Heng Ratana conceded that the fact that he is one of the accused and is also chair of the investigation team was “a bit of a conflict.”

The ­three Pailin unit of­ficials accused—Him Vandy, demining manager; Tun Sokhun, finance officer; and Hong Key Lea, a radio technic­ian—will now take Chea Sambo to Bat­tam­­bang provincial court on charges of defamation, the investigation report said.

Chea Sambo was not interviewed during the investigation, but he stood by his allegation on Tues­day. “If the court calls me, I welcome them. I will tell them what has happened in CMAC in Pai­lin.” He added that he was worried for his security after making the ac­cusations.

CMAC relies heavily on donor mo­ney. Its donors include the US, Aus­tralia, Britain and Sweden. The UN Develop­ment Program man­ages $5 million of international donor funds available this year for the organization, Julien Chevil­lard, UNDP mine action analyst, said Tuesday.

Heng Ratana said he hoped the re­sults of the investigation would ensure continued funding. “I don’t think it is the UNDP’s duty to in­ves­tigate,” he said. “We are a na­tion­al organization. The government is our boss.”

Representatives from some do­nor countries said the UNDP’s ver­dict on the accusations would de­termine any decision about future the center’s funding.

UNDP staff are expected to meet with CMAC officials to discuss the issue soon, said Claes Leijon, head of development cooperation at the Swedish Embassy.

The US State Department do­nated $1.25 million to CMAC be­tween Oct 1, 2002, and Sept 30, 2003, US Embassy spokeswoman Heide Bronke said Tuesday.

UXB International, an organization providing quality assurance for US demining funds, will be ex­amin­ing the accusations on behalf of the US, she said. “An appropriate decision [on funding] will be made when they’ve had time to ga­ther information,” Bronke said.