Civil society organisation ACNCIPO head Chea Hean said on Monday he will send a letter to Minister of Environment Say Sam Al next week requesting officials to investigate Central Cardamom National Park director Chea Yuthea and Southern Cardamom National Park director Long Si for allowing illegal loggers to transport timber through the parks.

But officials say he needs more evidence.

Hean said: “The two officials are corrupt. They don’t prevent perpetrators from logging in the Cardamom National Park Conservation Area.

“They did not crack down on crimes. Instead, they conspired with the traders. I plan to submit a request next week to the Minister of Environment to investigate these two people.

Hean said on Monday that he and a team of nine Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary rangers had been patrolling the sanctuary last weekend when they came across several tractors transporting timber.

He said one perpetrator dropped the timber from his tractor and drove away, leaving 50 pieces of logs between three and five metres long.

Hean said the logs were smuggled from the sanctuary and the Southern and Central Cardamom Mountains in Pursat province.

He said the traders planned on selling the lumber to a sawmill in Kampong Speu province, which would require them to pass through several Forestry Administration offices. But Hean said officials let the loggers pass without a hitch.

If Sam Al refuses to investigate the two park directors, Hean said he would file an additional case to the courts requesting action.

He said Yuthea and Si refused to collaborate with his organisation and hid information about forest crimes in the past.

Yuthea and Si could not be reached for comment on Monday.

But provincial Department of Environment director Pan Morakat said Hean’s comments were not true and baseless.

He maintained that his rangers have cooperated with several national and international organisations in their conservation efforts in the Central Cardamom National Park and the Southern Cardamom National Park.

Morakat said their teamwork resulted in the prevention of many forest crimes. He said ACNCIPO had never sought communication with his rangers.

As for the crimes Hean is reporting, he said he didn’t know where they had occurred.

“About his request to the Ministry of Environment to investigate the two officials, I have no comment. It depends on him and the decision of higher authorities.

“I would like to say that before he accuses any official, he should come down directly and ask for details first,” Morakat said.

Secretary of state and ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said on Monday that he has asked Hean to help him find more evidence to prove that the two officials are corrupt.

If he has clear evidence, Pheaktra said, he should file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit, which handles cases involving official corruption.

“If he has evidence that shows the individuals are corrupt, he should present it. Just showing images doesn’t provide a solid legal basis to implement legal action,” he said.