Prime Minister Hun Sen Thursday ordered an investigation into the alleged mishandling of emergency assistance for flood victims in the Lvea Em district of Kandal province, Kandal province police chief Ek Kreth confirmed Friday.
Hun Sen called for the investigation following reports in local newspapers that officials in Lvea Em district cut rations of rice and money earmarked for 533 families living in one of the province’s eight communes that has been affected by serious flooding, Ek Kreth said. Officials in Peam Oknha Ong commune are accused of only distributing half the amount of rice and cash set aside by the government for flood victims, Ek Kreth said.
“The 50 kgs of rice should have been shared among two families instead they gave the rice to be shared among four families,” Ek Kreth said.
Cash handouts of 20,000 reil for each of the 533 families in the commune were also cut back to 10,000 reil, he added.
“I have sent four policemen to investigate this case secretly. They do not wear uniforms. This is the best way to find out the truth,” Ek Kreth said.
Lvea Em district Governor Khieu Sam Ath denied any wrongdoing Friday, stating the emergency rations were cut back so they could be distributed to people overlooked on the government’s list of recipients for flood assistance.
According to Khieu Sam Ath, more than half the residents in Peam Oknha Ong commune were not on the list to receive assistance. “There are a total of 1,376 families in the commune but only 533 were listed for rations,” Khieu Sam Ath said, noting that even though he divided the relief assistance it only reached 1,066 families.
“I am very surprised to hear the prime minister’s announcement…. We had no ideas to keep the rice or the money which was a gift from him,” Khieu Sam Ath said.
People have long criticized government aid distributions, which they claim are siphoned off by government officials who direct the aid toward their own families, friends, or members of their political parties.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Friday it increased its emergency flood appeal for 500,000 people affected by the floods to $2.23 million.
An estimated 1.6 million people in 18 provinces have been affected by the flooding, which the federation says is the most devastating natural disaster to hit the country in over 30 years.
Unable to determine when the flood waters that cover vast areas of the country will recede, the main concern now is the threat of waterborne diseases, Seija Tyrninoksa, head of the federation’s delegation in Phnom Penh, said at a press conference Friday.
