Prime Minister Hun Sen announced six bank accounts to solicit donations from the public for what he described as a “big national movement” to make Cambodia land-mine-free by 2025.
The premier provided the account information Wednesday on his Facebook page. The accounts are with ABA, Acleda and Canadia banks under the names of Ly Thuch, the first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action Committee, and Seng Tieng, a secretary of state at the Council of Ministers.
Hun Sen wrote that, so far, donors had contributed $15.6 million and 190,800,000 riel, or about $48,000.
“I hope that our compatriots both domestic and overseas will continue to participate in the campaign leading to the end of the tragedy in our pitiable territory by 2025,” he wrote.
Hun Sen made the announcement online after attending a meeting with athletes before they leave for the Asean Para Games in Indonesia.
During those remarks, he blamed his assistant Tieng for not creating bank accounts on time, though he also admitted carelessness in his leadership since he had promoted land-mine actions without releasing any substantial funding. As such, he had to depend mostly on funds from development partners, the prime minister said.
He said Cambodia relied on funds from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Europe and the U.S., though small issues could have been solved by Cambodians themselves.
“I have an initiative to prepare a plan to push this situation forward,” he said at the Para Games meeting. “Donors have their targets … but we cannot use their funds as per our own wishes.”
He also said pushing toward a land-mine-free 2025 would make the country more safe and attract tourism.
“We don’t want to have more handicapped people or deaths,” Hun Sen said at the athletics event.
