The Phnom Penh Post
Pursat province
THE road to Pursat province’s Phnom Kravanh town is dotted with examples of the ornate stonework on which many area residents base their livelihoods. Religious statues and water jugs with detailed patterns etched in relief stand in the front yards of the stilt homes that sit off the asphalt; underneath the stilts, polished stone glasses and bowls rest on tables or in piles on the ground.
The abundant deposits of marble in the Cardamom Mountains near Phnom Kravanh have supported many locals who mine the raw material or carve it into crafts for consumers. But as a mining company granted a licence to explore in the area has cornered the local marble trade, villagers say they are increasingly being squeezed out.
Phorn Bunthear, 24, said he had worked as a marble carver since he was 12 years old, gathering the stone himself to be carved at his home.
Since 2008, however, he said officials from Float Asia Friendly Mation Co – which watchdog group Global Witness has linked to Om Yentieng, the newly appointed head of the government’s Anticorruption Unit – had prevented him and other villagers from transporting marble themselves, forcing artisans to buy the stone at inflated prices.
“If we dare to bring the marble from the mountains to our homes, they will fine us and confiscate our marble,” Phorn Bunthear said.
THE road to Pursat province’s Phnom Kravanh town is dotted with examples of the ornate stonework on which many area residents base their livelihoods. Religious statues and water jugs with detailed patterns etched in relief stand in the front yards of the stilt homes that sit off the asphalt; underneath the stilts, polished stone glasses and bowls rest on tables or in piles on the ground.
The abundant deposits of marble in the Cardamom Mountains near Phnom Kravanh have supported many locals who mine the raw material or carve it into crafts for consumers. But as a mining company granted a licence to explore in the area has cornered the local marble trade, villagers say they are increasingly being squeezed out.
Phorn Bunthear, 24, said he had worked as a marble carver since he was 12 years old, gathering the stone himself to be carved at his home.
Since 2008, however, he said officials from Float Asia Friendly Mation Co – which watchdog group Global Witness has linked to Om Yentieng, the newly appointed head of the government’s Anticorruption Unit – had prevented him and other villagers from transporting marble themselves, forcing artisans to buy the stone at inflated prices.
“If we dare to bring the marble from the mountains to our homes, they will fine us and confiscate our marble,” Phorn Bunthear said.
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