Boeung Kak Lake:
Elf and I stayed at the Grand View Guest House in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. I had booked it on the understanding that it had a "grand view" of the lake. Well it may have done, if there was any lake to speak of.
Boeung Kak lake was a large natural lake which is at the heart on Phnom Pehn, but what we saw was a narrow strip of polluted water with sand encroaching and construction equipment on the opposite bank.
The area where we were staying used to be a backpacker haven, but it was being abandoned and the people living there were suffering both from the lack of customers but also because their beloved lake was being destroyed and they were going to be relocated by the government. Of course people were protesting, Elf and I saw it and it was in the newspapers, but after a few days of peaceful protests they were told to stop protesting.
The houses by the lake were now opening directly on to incredibly polluted water, garbage spilling out in to it. It was disgusting and heartbreaking and I remember not being in Phnom Pehn long before I wanted to leave again.
Phnom Pehn has an odd feeling of optimism and growth after Pol Pot killed nearly 2 million of his own countrymen in mid-late 70's. That vibe still haunts the city, as of course many people who lived through that are still alive and the people are still seeking justice for those crimes. Had this not happened, Cambodia may be a very different country today. But it's behind and is a 3rd world country playing catch up now - but at what cost? How much does it need to sacrifice (i.e. Sell out) to wealthier nations that capitalize on the fact that Cambodia is their bitch?
Some people may put this story down to necessary progress; that perhaps the money made by selling this land could be used to benefit the local people. And maybe it will - but I doubt it. There are concerns that by filling in the lake, come rainy season there will be nothing to collect the extra water and the city will flood. This is nature people, where do you think all that water will go? The monsoon isn't going to come along and go "Oh! There's no lake here this year! Better go dump all my water somewhere else!" Also, can you imagine how these families will feel that after hundreds of years living by this lake, suddenly there is no lake and you've been relocated to somewhere, God knows where and in what conditions?
Captain Planet would have a freaking field day. He seriously needs to come back. A film like "Avatar", though completely unoriginal in plot, is great to bring back in to the consciousness of people again. Because this story is really happening there and I'm sure it's happening in places other than Phnom Pehn.
.... And while perhaps most of you will feel your moral compass being turned in favour of this story, what I say next some of you may disagree with....
The Blame Game:
Now take a moment to consider why situations like this happen. Why does a 3rd world country feel it must sell the land the lake occupies to a foreign development company and fill it in? Why a government puts a foreign corporations interests ahead of the interests of the families who live around and rely on the lake for their livelihoods? Because if you have a reason for why these things happen different to mine I would really love to hear it.
In my opinion - these things happen because of idea of free trade.
Frankly I think that free trade is a load of crap. It's modern day slavery on a giant scale. It allows powerful countries to take slaves, like in the old days, except they don't ever have to visit that country! Fantastic! You can just sit on your butt and you never have to ever see your slave, house him, or worry about him sleeping with your wife. And even better - no one considers it as slavery! Because it's "FREE TRADE" and it's WONDERFUL!
The idea, in principal, is fair. But in practice it cannot work when you are asking 3rd world countries to directly compete for business with 1st world countries with corporations to slowly buy other countries bit by bit (if not in land, than buying business). It's like a race between Usain Bolt and a paraplegic. How can we continue to believe in the "fairness" and "freedom" of Free Trade? It's a sham.
What I'm trying to say is...
Please remember that when I say all this stuff I'm not asking you to go out and do anything physical - do what you want to. All I am asking is for you to think and consider these things that are going on. Think about what we are told by politicians, economists and others who we may think:
"well they're more educated and more experienced than me so they must know what they are talking about, so I'm not going to question it".
Do question it! Since when have these people ever been infalliable?
The recent American debt crisis is a prime example. We are in uncharted waters, economically speaking. There has never been a situation like this in the world where there has been this much money, even more debt and inter-connectivity of countries been so thick. It's an orgy and someone is about to blow their load and whole thing is going to end (possibly even little fingers will be lost, like in the conversation I had with one girl from Sussex). They have NO IDEA what is going to happen or how to proceed. They are shitting themselves; that's why the ceiling of borrowing just gets higher and higher. The "science" of economics is becoming even more harder to grasp than the science of climate change. And it cannot sustain itself.
Ever hear that phrase, "Can't teach an old dog new tricks?"As people become older or more educated they either become so confident in their education that they don't want to think in different ways, or they become too lazy to challenge their thinking and find it harder to think in different way - this is when we become "old fuddy duddys" that kids roll their eyes at. So we all need each other to teach each other that we don't know everything - that there are gaping holes in our knowledge and there are new ways of doing things even if you can't imagine it yet. This is why we need young people (or older people to keep their brains open) to use their youthful zeal to introduce new concepts and challenge old ideas, or, as you can imagine, we would still be in the dark ages.
And perhaps we are still emerging in to the light...
Links:
Boeung Kak lake - before and image and piece of news
Boeung Kak lake - after
Protests disrupted
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteFrom my reading of the IPS article about the lake, it sounds like the problem here isn't really to do with free trade. This situation could never have happened without weak property rights, corrupt government, and denial of the right to protest (both by traditional protest, and by legal challenge).
Property Rights - if all these people are being evicted when a company leases a lake and fills it in, that tells me that they don't have property rights over the places where they live - i.e., they don't own the land on which their houses are built. If they did, they would have a solid legal case to argue that what is being done to their land is illegal and must be stopped.
Now I don't mean that these people need to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the land, obviously they are too poor for that. What I mean is, when someone has been living in a place for decades and built a house, their ownership should be recognised: their land should be surveyed and they should be given title to that land. It is only in the absence of property rights that this kind of horrible situation can arise.
Corrupt government - clearly the local government should never have 'leased' the rights to use the lake to Shukaku Inc - in fact a natural resource like the lake should be protected by law, as they are in NZ. And if it is a particularly important lake, why not create a National park or something around it?
Weak Human Rights - clearly the government is ignoring human rights in squashing the protests against what is happening, and that isn't right.
Obviously I viewing this through a libertarian lens, but it is clear that the 'development company' isn't the only villain here.
Hey Alice, been reading your blog (Facebook makes promoting stuff so easy!) - you write really well! In fact, so well that I'm always surprised when the odd 'crap' or 'shit' or 'blow your load' sneaks it's way in :-).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you may well be right about free trade, but have you considered that the governments of those countries could put their environment a little higher on the priority list too? Free trade doesn't necessarily mean an open invitation to rape and pillage the land. I think free trade can be a good thing but only if the agreement is written in such a way to ensure mutual benefit. Perhaps the devil (and the sell out) is in the details?
Another interesting point is that while you ask how third world companies can compete with first world ones and say it's impossible, there are plenty of people in first world countries crying foul about the exact opposite (i.e. we can't compete with cheap foreign labour). There are also some 'third world' countries such as China and India who's corporations are busy buying up large areas of land in first world countries these days too (bear in mind we have a Free Trade agreement with China...) so perhaps it goes both ways?
These days, the 'first world' governments are heavily indebted and it's often 'third world' countries who own all the debt. So in some ways, the 'West' is somewhat the bitch in all this.
After all that, agreed that we're in uncharted territory and the shit is likely to hit the fan again sometime in the not so distant future. See you at the gold trader's!
Thanks so much for the comments Avo and Luke! I really want so much to debate all this stuff and get more thinking going. It can only be a good thing, comparing notes!
ReplyDeleteI had considered the points you make on property rights, environmental concerns, corrupt governments etc. that you both raised; but I believe they are symptoms of some bigger picture. And while I don't believe it's solely "free trade" that encourages these sorts of situations to occur, I do think that the added pressure on governments from other countries - because of "free trade" is a contributory factor in governments selling out on what is best for their people (leading to lack of property rights, corrupt politicians, less interest in environment, canning freedom of speech) in favour of what is the best business deal.
AND it goes both ways!!! (she says having found it ridiculously hard to find a decent, well paid job in London what with all the "cheap labour" provided by immigrants - but perhaps another blog on this!)
I agree Avo - the West fucked up. We have to sleep in the bed that our parents generation made OR(as I would prefer to do) realize that the bed is completely uncomfortable and covered in booze, vomit and hooker's knickers that we should throw it out and buy a new one.