Lure of the Tourist Dollar

Earlier it was reported that a deal was delayed to privatise the killing fields genocide memorial. However today's travel section of the Sunday Times carries a brief item suggesting the deal is complete. It reads:

Last month, the government secretly signed over control of the Killing Fields of Choeng Ek, where more than 14,000 Khmer Rouge victims died, to a Japanese company. The general manager of Choeng Ek, Neang Say, has accused the government of allowing foreigners to “exploit our ancestors’ souls”.

Other sections of this item tell that "the Cambodian government is coming under intense criticism for allowing private companies to cash in on the country’s tourism boom while underfunding the protection of fragile historic sites". It reads:

More than 1 million tourists visited the famous temples of Angkor Wat in 2004, netting the private petroleum company that controls the ticketing 15% of all the revenues. Only 10% of those revenues went on restoration and research at Angkor.

Private toll roads are also springing up around Cambodia, connecting tourists to ancient sites once lost in the jungles of the north of the country. None of money raised by these road charges has been earmarked for restoration.

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