More than 10,000 people have been relocated to temporary shelter centres in Attapeu and Champassak provinces after the flood waters impacted 13 villages, the district governor, Mr Bounhome Phommasane said.

“Many people need more assistance because the flash flood took everything from them,” Director of Attapeu province Health Department, Dr Onphiew Phothilath told Vientiane Times.

“We still need more essential supplies, in particular, food, rice, clothes, blankets, drinking water, medicines, and anything to help the flood victims. We are continuing to mobilise funds and essential supplies to assist the victim’s families,” she said.

Local authorities in cooperation with rescue teams and soldiers were building temporary shelter centres for victims with nine in Sanamxay district and another in Pakxong district, Champassak province but these were crowded, she said.

“The authorities are also building temporary toilets at the centres but there is still not enough because so many people have been affected by the flood,” she said.

Some victims have been sick from skin infections and diarrhoea but medical teams from Laos, Vietnam and China were providing first aid and treatment at the temporary shelter centres, Dr Onphiew explained.

Currently, authorities and volunteers from neighbouring countries are using the temporary shelter centres to cook and provide food to the victims but they still need more.

Many government and private sector organisations from home and abroad such as Thailand and Japan have provided food, water and other essentials, according to an Sanamxay district official in charge.

However, other items like shoes, toothpaste, toothbrushes and essentials for children and women were also required.

Those interested in helping or donating household items are invited to call local authorities at the district office on 020 5553 6888 and 5563 6210.

The 135 foreign tourists were trapped at Segara Anak Lake, a crater lake shaped like a crescent, in the area.

“There was one fatality,” head of Region II of Mount Rinjani National Park Benediktus Rio Wibawanto said on Sunday night as reported by kompas.com, adding the victim, identified as Muhammad Ainul Taksin, 25, from Makassar, South Sulawesi, suffered head injuries.

(Read also: At least 14 killed in Lombok earthquake)

An evacuation team was sent out on Monday morning. The team comprises people from the Mount Rinjani National Park Agency, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the National Police, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the nature lovers community of the University of Mataram (Mapala Unram), and medics.

    Helicopters and search teams have been deployed to scour the slopes of Mount Rinjani, which is crisscrossed with hiking routes popular with tourists, while rescuers have made airdrops of food supplies to those stranded.

Tonnes of rock and mud were dislodged on the mountain in the 6.4-magnitude quake, which struck early Sunday and was followed by scores of aftershocks, leaving hikers with no easy way down to safety.

“There are still 560 people trapped,” said the head of Rinjani national park Sudiyono, who goes by one name.

Those believed to be stranded include citizens from the United States, France, the Netherlands, Thailand and Germany, as well as many other countries, search and rescue officials said.

Hundreds of other hikers managed to get off the mountain on Sunday, according to officials.

At least 16 people were killed in the earthquake across affected areas of Lombok, while hundreds of buildings were destroyed including a health clinic.

The quake created panic on the holiday island and sent locals and tourists running outside their homes and hotels.

The rescue operation on Mount Rinjani is likely to run until at least Tuesday and a military helicopter has dropped supplies at several spots on the mountain.

“For supplies, they can still survive for another one to two days,” Agus Hendra Sanjaya, spokesman for Mataram’s search and rescue agency, told AFP.

Rising some 3,726 metres (12,224 feet) above sea level, Rinjani is the second-tallest volcano in Indonesia and a favourite among sightseers keen to take in its expansive views.

Hiking trails on the mountain were closed following the quake due to fear of further landslides.

Thailand’s embassy in Jakarta said 239 of its citizens were stuck in the area surrounding the mountain.

Thai national Thanapon Worawutchainan, who was at the summit when the earthquake occurred, posted a video on Facebook showing people stumbling down the slopes in the aftermath.

He said the ground shook violently and people lay down until the tremors stopped.

“It looked like the mountain in front of me was going to collapse,” another stranded Thai, Funknathee Prapasawat, said on Facebook. “Some people were injured by rocks falling off the mountain”.

– Thousands in shelters –

The epicentre of the earthquake was 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lombok’s main city Mataram, the United States Geological Survey said, far from the main tourist spots on the south and west of the island.

The initial tremor was followed by two strong secondary quakes and more than 100 aftershocks.

The jolt was felt some 100 km (60 miles) away on the bustling resort island of Bali, although there were no reports of damage there.

Some 160 people were injured in Lombok as a result of the quake, said Mohammad Rum, head of West Nusa Tenggara disaster agency.

A Malaysian was among the dead, with another six citizens injured, the foreign ministry in Kuala Lumpur said.

A total of 5,141 people are staying in temporary shelters and in need of clean water, Indonesian disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told MetroTV.

President Joko Widodo visited affected areas on Monday and promised financial support for those who have lost their homes.

“We must be aware that our country is in the Ring of Fire, so people need to be prepared to face any disaster,” Widodo said.

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and a large portion of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.//AFP

Voters began streaming into Cambodia’s polling stations on Sunday morning (July 29) after weeks of campaigning marked by calls from political exiles to boycott the one-sided election, according to Straits Time’s journalists.

“Over the past year, several independent outlets, citing pressure from the government, have ceased operations. On Saturday, officials confirmed to Voice of America (VOA) journalists that they had ordered Internet service providers to block access at least 15 websites, including the Voice of America’s Khmer service, the Radio Free Asia’s Khmer service, and the Voice of Democracy.”

Foreign Criticism 

Rights groups have criticized the elections both before and after polls citing the lack of opposition to Hun Sen.

According to Human Rights Watch:

“Serious problems with the electoral process include: arbitrary dissolution of the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), and surveillance, intimidation, detention, and politically motivated prosecution of key opposition members. Other major concerns include a crackdown on independent media, a lack of fair and equal access to the media, and repressive laws restricting speech, association, and assembly. The national election commission is not independent. Across the country, senior military and police officials have been continuously campaigning for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

According to the ICJ:

During the course of ensuring it will win the national election scheduled for this Sunday (29 July), Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has, since the last election, systematically altered the country’s constitutional and legal framework – and these changes will remain in place after the election has passed.

This misuse of the law is a significant development in the history of modern Cambodia and represents a determined move away from the vision enshrined in the historic 1991 Paris Peace Agreements that ended years of conflict and sought to establish a peaceful and democratic Cambodia founded on respect for human rights and the rule of law.

And it risks cementing the human rights and rule of law crisis that now exists within Cambodia for years to come.

Cambodian Response: 

Despite these criticisms, Cambodia remained bullish about the election at hit back at Human Rights Watch and several other organizations.

The National Election Committee (NEC) and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) reacted strongly to the statements from Human Rights Watch (HRW) which had called the July 29 general election “not genuine”.

The NEC called the statement politically motivated while a CPP leader said the watchdog had no right to determine the fate of the Kingdom’s people, and that its comment was an attack on his party.

CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said the international human rights organisation has no right to evaluate the election in Cambodia. He said the body has “ill-intentions” toward Cambodia and the CPP in particular.

“There will be no foreign evaluation to determine the fate of the Cambodian people. Only Cambodians can determine the fate of the Kingdom.

“The HRW has ill intentions toward the CPP because his [Brad Adams’] brain determines that the CPP is a communist party, and close with the Communist Party of China. That is why it is not happy,” Eysan said.

US relations under scrutiny 

Prior to the elections, the United States’ House of Representatives passed the Cambodia Democracy Act which aimed sanctions at Hun Sen’s inner circle in a bid to “promote free and fair elections, political freedoms and human rights in Cambodia and impose sanctions on Hun Sen’s inner circle.”

Cambodia has hit back at the legislation saying that such a bill would only harm bilateral relations. Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told reporters that any act against the Kingdom’s leaders equally affects the people and will effectively destroy Cambodia-US relations.

“It will also cause considerable harm to US-Asean bilateral relations due to the economic bloc’s policy of ‘non-interference in the internal affairs of foreign nations’,” he added.

An emergency relief team composed of 15 medical personnel and five support staff arrived at Pakse International Airport in Champasak Province, southern Laos, at about 6 p.m. (on local time) aboard a Korean military plane.

They are on a 10-day mission to treat displaced residents in the rain-lashed southern Laotian province of Attapeu and prevent the spread of contagious diseases, according to the South Korean foreign ministry.

A dam built on a mountain saddle of a larger hydropower dam project gave way on Monday. SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean firm, is a partner in the project.

The dam is one of five auxiliary dams in the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy project, which collapsed, flooding seven nearby villages and displacing more than 6,600 people. The flooding killed at least 27 people, leaving more than 130 missing, according to local media reports.

“The role of a humanitarian mission is important as this disaster also involves a South Korean firm,” said Roh Dong-whan, the leader of the relief team. “We’d like to provide assistance to affected residents warmly and actively.”

The team plans to install a base camp, possibly on Monday, at a health service center in the Sanamxay town of Attapeu Province and work in cooperation with the medical staff from the provincial hospital. “We’re going to move quickly with a goal of setting up a clinic there tomorrow,” Roh said. “We will also dispatch our medical personnel to the provincial hospital upon request.”

The team is the first South Korean emergency medical team to be dispatched since 2014, when the government sent a team to Ebola-hit Sierra Leone.

In rescue efforts, the government will provide $500,000 in cash and $500,000 worth of materials to help Laos recover from the disaster.

Two Korean military aircraft carrying relief supplies arrived in Laos Saturday (local time) via the Philippines, according to government officials.

The supplies include 1,200 blankets, clothing and sanitation items provided by the government, the South Korean Red Cross and SK Engineering & Construction Co. (SK E&C), the ministry said.

The supplies will be delivered to the Laotian authorities with South Korean Ambassador to Vientiane Shin Sung-soon and Leth Xaiyaphone, the governor of Attapeu Province, attending the handover event.

Shin said that Laos is apparently viewing the heavy rains as the cause of the dam collapse, but it is also focusing on the possibility of faulty construction.

“The Laotian government seemed to think that even if heavy rain came down, (the dam) should have been constructed in a way to withstand the deluge,” the envoy added.

Meanwhile, SK E&C said it is in the process of building lodgings for 150 households currently being accommodated at three schools. The builder said that the 200 workers sent to the country are working without rest and are moving swiftly to distribute 2 billion won ($1.78 million) worth of relief supplies to those affected by the flooding.

The company has brought in 50 tons of food, 50 tons of medicine and household goods and 10 tons of clothing to help those displaced by the disaster. (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap)

The 410 MW capacity hydro plant is a joint venture between SK Engineering and Construction (Republic of Korea), Korea Western Power (Republic of Korea), Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding PCL (Thailand), and Lao Holding State Enterprise (Laos).

The collapse of the dam flooded many villages in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, having located the remains of 10 people as of  yesterday and with more than 100 still declared missing. Thousands more have been left homeless.

Mr Thongloun pledged a thorough investigation into the cause of the collapse, saying it would take place in a transparent and just manner.

“The government of the Lao PDR will cooperate with the governments of countries whose companies have been registered [as a stakeholder] to address this issue,” he said while visiting the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to witness the donation of relief supplies.

“The government of Laos will investigate intensively to find out the true cause.”

The design, the construction contractor, and the consulting companies will also be investigated, he added.

“The government will also look into the responsibilities of the authorities,” the premier told officials and media present at the ministry.

All of the investigations will take place in a “transparent and just manner”, the prime minister said. Mr Thongloun told media last week that the newly-established National Ad Hoc Committee in charge of dealing the disaster will work with the project developers to seek common ground concerning the responsibilities and obligations of the party whose actions were deemed to have caused the tragedy.

Minister of Energy and Mines Dr Khammany Inthirath told a press conference last week that the company concerned would not be in a position to deny its responsibility for the deadly flood, the biggest to occur in Laos.

“Regarding the matter of compensation, I would like to affirm that, based on the concession agreement, all incidents related to the construction of the dam must be borne by the project developer 100 percent,” he said.

An official from the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company agreed that the firm would take full responsibility under the law and its concession agreement.

Mr Thongloun pledged that the government, with support and assistance from all sectors, friendly countries and international organisations, would do its utmost to search for and rescue all those who were still missing.

The government will also do its best to provide relief assistance and rehabilitate those who had lost houses and other property as well as rebuilding their communities to enable them to return to a normal life.

Representing the Lao government and people, he expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Lao people, all sectors, the governments and peoples of friendly countries as well as international organisations for all the valuable assistance and support extended in the search, rescue and relief effort.

Not to be missed is a village that produces home-made torches for export to overseas |markets. The facility provides interesting insights into the production of traditional |torches.

In Anlong Veng commune’s Kandal Krom |village, residents dry Preal leaves, the main raw material, under the scorching sun. It’s easy to tell which families make torches, from the sight of stoves used to bake rubber in front of their homes. Around half of the village’s 125 families have them.

The villagers would call visitors “teacher”, a term used to show respect for people even if they are not actually in the teaching profession.

Sot Pov, 49, whose body is smudged with black coal used to bake rubber, has been in the business for five years. Traders would come to his home to buy torches.

“Traders would come to give me rubber in exchange for torches. If, for example, they give me a ton of rubber, they would get 3,000 torches in return.”

“For the remaining torches [approximately 1,000], I sell them to customers for profit. If I am left with 1,000 torches, I would make a lot of money. If I was left with 600 pieces, you do the math. One torch sells for only 800 riel,” he says.

Pov says torch-making is just a snap. What is difficult is collecting enough Preal leaves and rubber.

“First of all, you tie a bunch of leaves into small bundles and dry them under the sun, then dip the bundles into burning rubber.

“Villagers have to travel long distances each year to Preah Vihear province to harvest Preal leaves. This year there is lots of rain, so I just headed to nearer Trapeang Prasat district,” he says.

Kandal Krom village chief Orom Meng says of the total 125 families in the village, 60 of them make torches for a living. He says there are other families making torches in Anlong Veng district, but only between 10 and 20 of them.

Mean Moeurn, another torch-maker, says he also dries the leaves then bundles and dips them into heated, bubbly latex.

With one hand making a torch, Moeurn says, “For one kilogram of rubber, I can make four torches. Within one day, I can make 500.”

Orom Meng, the village chief, says the torch-making business started not long ago.

“If I’m not mistaken, it only started six or seven years ago. First, there were only a few families learning to make torches. Realising its potential, other families followed suit. Thai traders came to buy their torches, but there weren’t enough for sale.

“The business idea has been fast to catch on. The villagers’ torches sell fast and they are struggling to meet growing demands,” he says.

Meng says he is no stranger to the increasingly popular business.

“I myself made torches. I started when rubber cost only 40,000 riel [Bt327]; now it costs over one million riels per tonne. I quit when more and more villagers started to make torches,” says the village chief.

Torch-making families also double as guides, welcoming visitors to experience first-hand the process of torch-making.

Sporting a bright red T-shirt, Py Nara, a visitor from Phnom Penh, was keen to learn the torch-making process from villagers and even took selfies with them holding torch sticks.

“Born in the capital where electricity supply is abundant, such home-made torches really amaze me. Khmer ancestors were always creative in their daily lives,” Nara said.

A first-hand torch-making experience makes visitors appreciate the villagers who keep Khmer traditions alive, though they can only make a basic living from the business.

After a short tour around the village, 29-year-old Nara says torch-making is not a snap but a challenge. “I’ve tried making torches by myself but couldn’t make a good one like the villagers. I experienced the hardship in making torches, and I learned something wonderful from the villagers – patience,” Nara said.

Chief Justice Richard Malanjum, who inherited this problem, organised a mass volunteering session yesterday.

Apparently the cleaners have been on strike since last month as they have not been paid. It has been learnt that the government had paid the contractor, and the cleaning service was supposed to run until the end of this year.

Some 200 magistrate and sessions court staff and officers, judges and a lawyer were divided into 14 sections for the cleanup that started at 10am yesterday.

In the cleanup, corridor floors were mopped and swept and all toilets were cleaned on all eight floors of the court complex.

The cleanup was led by Chief Justice Richard Malanjum and Chief Judge of Malaya Zaharah Ibrahim was also present.

A High Court judge said she received the memo for the cleaningup session late on Friday evening.

“I have been washing my [own] washroom. Imagine me cleaning my toilet here when I haven’t had to do it since years ago at home.

“I am planning to take my maid to court to clean my chambers, my court and washroom. I will need to pay my maid extra for this,’’ said the judge with a huff.

She said the current situation was entirely undesirable.

“We have tonnes of documents, papers to go through. A dirty court to clean. Am feeling like I am in a chicken coop,” she added.

A senior lawyer said the state of cleanliness at all levels of the court complex is deplorable.

To make matters worse, the male toilets are not working.

“Several of these toilets have no lighting at all, leaving users in complete darkness.

“This, coupled with burst urinal pipes and wet unkempt floors, are accidents waiting to happen to unwary users.

“The stench … well, it attacks the senses way before the sight of it does,” added the lawyer who had to be in the court on most days of the week.

“If left unkempt, I dread to think what negative impression it would give to visitors both foreign and local of the administration of justice,” he added.

Some court staff had also posted on Facebook that they are doing “cleaners’ job” now.

Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to this year’s poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and political opponents.

That left him with little competition and no serious challengers.

Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) spokesman Sok Eysan told AFP late Sunday they expected to win “over 100 seats” in the 125-seat parliament, citing preliminary figures from the National Election Committee.

“The CPP will get more than 80 percent of the popular vote,” he said. “This is a huge victory for us.”

Hun Sen, 65, a one-time defector from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has pointed to stability and growth as the fruits of his rule — a message that resonates with his base.

“Compatriots have chosen the democratic path and used your rights,” he said on his Facebook page after polls closed in an apparent swipe at the opposition, which called for a boycott.

Voter turnout was 82 percent, according to the election committee, surpassing the final figure in 2013 of roughly 69 percent when the opposition took part.

– Spoiled ballots –

But there were also signs of despondency and indifference, and an expert on elections in Southeast Asia said the high turnout was misleading.

“With one-party rule election turnout is generally higher, not lower, because the party, in this case the Cambodian People’s Party, relies on voter intimidation more, relies on vote buying more, and turnout should be inflated that way,” said Lee Morgenbesser from the school of government and international relations at Griffith University.

Pictures of spoiled ballots circulated on social media though they could not be independently verified. AFP correspondents saw dozens of blank ballots set aside during counting.

“I did not go to vote. I slept at home,” said Khem Chan Vannak, a former commune chief elected with the now-banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

“A lot of my friends did not go to vote.”

Western governments withdrew their assistance from the election, citing its lack of credibility.

Nineteen small — or hitherto unknown — parties competed against the ruling CPP in the absence of the CNRP. But analysts say they are too obscure or new to make a meaningful difference.

The CPP has won every election since 1998.

The opposition, whose leaders are in jail, underground or in self-exile, urged a “clean-finger” boycott as the only safe form of protest, a reference to the ink applied to people’s hands after they vote.

Official results are expected on August 15.

– ‘Fist of a dictator’ –

More than eight million voters registered for the sixth general election since polls were organised by the United Nations in 1993.

At the time the country was emerging from decades of war, including the Khmer Rouge years from 1975-79 which killed a quarter of the population.

Hun Sen was installed aged just 32 as national leader during the Vietnamese occupation of 1979-89.

But a youthful population angered by corruption and with little memory of the Khmer Rouge era put the ruling party’s longevity in doubt.

Their votes helped the CNRP to secure more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and a similar share in local elections last year.

But Hun Sen snuffed out the looming electoral threat, accusing the rescue party of being involved in a plot to topple the government and arresting leader Kem Sokha. The Supreme Court dissolved the party in November 2017.

“This is a story of how democratic dreams die under the fist of a dictator,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said.

– Power and patronage –

A climate of fear driven by local-level ruling party members has made many reluctant to openly criticise the vote.

The election committee, which has been accused of being biased towards the ruling party, said there was no voter intimidation.

Hun Sen has maintained his grip on the country through political and family alliances in the police, military and media. He has placed his sons in key positions in what analysts see as an attempt to create a dynasty.

The United States and the European Union declined to send monitors for Sunday’s election but Cambodia’s ally China provided support.

Sam Rainsy, an opposition figure who lives in self-exile in France, said the foregone election victory was a “hollow one”.

The CNRP appealed to Cambodians not to vote in the “sham election that has no support and is not recognised by the international community”.

Authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges a poll boycott even though they insist voting is not compulsory.//AFP

The shallow 6.4magnitude quake that jolted the island triggered land and rockslides, preventing the tourists from going down the mountain.

The Thai embassy in Indonesia was alerted to the incident and has already contacted Indonesian authorities to rescue its nationals.

The incident came to light after one of the affected Thais, Nupa Wan, posted a Facebook message seeking help.

She posted some photos of the group that was stranded on Rinjani, which is an active volcano.

Her photos also showed rocks and mud falling from the mountain following the aftershocks.

Nupa Wan wrote that everybody in the group was safe but they could not go down because their paths were blocked by landslides and rocks from the impact of the earthquake.

About 80 per cent of some 500 people stranded were Thais, she wrote.

She asked readers of her posts to contact the Thai embassy in Jakarta about the incident.

She wrote that the group had enough food until tomorrow morning when they were originally scheduled to go down.

She wrote that there were a series of aftershocks following the quake.

At least 10 people including a Malaysian were killed when the tremor hit this tourist island.