Cambodian Authorities Replace Rotten Rice For HIV/AIDS Families [Som corrupt Red Cross officials gave the villagers the rotten rice and sell the good and pocket the money]

Cambodian Red Cross President Bun Rany (C) speaks with an HIV/AIDS patient in Roka village, Feb 13, 2015.

 RFA

Authorities in western Cambodia have replaced thousands of pounds of rice donated by the Cambodian Red Cross to impoverished families in Battambang province, including residents of a commune stricken by HIV, after villagers complained it was rotten, the regional governor said Tuesday.

On Feb. 13, Cambodian Red Cross President Bun Rany—the wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen—donated 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of rice, 10 cans of fish, money and blankets each to 924 people infected with HIV/AIDS in the province.

Aid was also delivered to an additional 4,000 other poor residents of the province at the distribution point in Sangke district’s Roka commune, where nearly 270 villagers have tested positive for HIV/AIDS since November last year, after being infected by an unauthorized medical worker who reused syringes.

Battambang provincial governor Chan Sophal told RFA’ s Khmer Service that authorities had replaced the rice with a fresh shipment on Monday after villagers complained that it had spoiled and was inedible.

“We donated new rice to all the people who received rotten rice from the Red Cross,” he said.

“We hadn’t inspected the quality of the rice [before it was distributed by the Red Cross], and the villagers couldn’t eat it. Now we have donated fresh rice, so they can consume it.”

Chan Sophal said the rice had gone bad because it was stored incorrectly.

“The rice had been stored in humid warehouses for too long—that is why it smelled rotten,” he said, apologizing for the inconvenience caused to villagers.

Not fit for pigs

Villagers told RFA that after receiving the rice in February, they had cooked it, but couldn’t stand the smell and couldn’t eat it, adding that they also found the canned fish to be spoiled.

They said that they had left the cooked rice for their pigs to eat, but the animals wouldn’t even eat it.

“No one wants to buy the donated rice, even if I try to sell it cheap,” one villager said.

“Not only humans can’t eat it, animals can’t either.”

Another villager, suffering from HIV/AIDS, said the rice would sicken her and worsen her health condition.

“[Most of us] are patients and if we eat the rice, it will cause our health to deteriorate,” she said.

The villager suggested corruption was to blame for the poor quality of the donation provided by the Cambodian Red Cross, noting that during the ceremony, Bun Rany had referred to the rice as “expensive and of good quality.”

“It must be the local authorities who were in charge of buying the rice,” the villager said.

“[Bun Rasy] said the cost of the rice was 130,000 riel (U.S. $32) per sack but in reality, even at cheaper than 50,000 riel (U.S. $12) per sack, still no one would buy it.”

Cambodian Red Cross officer Uy Sam Ath refused to comment on the rice donation.

Villagers at risk

Last month, some infected Roka villagers complained of police indifference to their reports of thieves who took advantage of their physical weakness and inability to defend their homes by stealing their cows and other property.

In the meantime, authorities have charged Yem Chhrem, the unauthorized medical practitioner who worked in an unlicensed village clinic, with murder and other crimes related to the mass infection after he admitted to reusing needles to treat patients.

Reported by Samean Yun for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.