PHNOM PENH: Srey Ratana, deputy chief of the Spong Environmental Post in Stung Treng province’s Thala Barivat district, has denied allegations that he accepted monthly payments from illegal loggers in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.
Numerous social media posts claim that the official received regular monthly payments of US$100 per chainsaw, although they did not specify the number of operators who were reportedly paying him.
The denial was made in a Saturday (Oct 3) statement issued by the provincial environment department, a day after the allegations began circulating widely on social media.
The statement declared that Ratana was summoned to the Wildlife Sanctuary Office on Oct 2 to respond to the allegations.
According to the department, Ratana denied allowing or colluding with offenders to enter the sanctuary to cut and transport timber.
He also denied that a phone number cited in the allegations as being linked to money transfers belonged to him, saying he did not know whom the number belonged to.
Instead, he insisted, he led forest rangers, in cooperation with commune and village authorities and military forces, in efforts to suppress natural resource offences in the sanctuary.
He noted that these operations had resulted in the detention of numerous suspects, along with multiple court cases.
The department said it would continue working to identify those involved in natural resource offences and pursue legal action.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment reported that rangers, working with law enforcement agencies and local communities, conducted 1,580 patrols in September, an increase of 324 from August.
The patrols resulted in action against 238 natural resource offences, 81 more than the previous month.
The cases included 75 forestry offences, 71 wildlife offences, 39 land offences, 47 fisheries offences and six mineral resource offences, it said.
Authorities also stepped up law enforcement in protected areas and reclaimed 41 hectares of cleared and occupied land.
Officials prepared 129 reports and compiled 14 case files involving natural resource offences for submission to the courts.
A total of 11 suspects were sent to prison, the ministry said.
Authorities also confiscated a range of evidence and equipment, including heavy machinery, vehicles, boats and chainsaws.
Rangers also removed 1,950 electric shock traps and 2,210 snare traps, and seized 25 homemade firearms. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
