PHNOM PENH, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Thursday sentenced Cambodia's ex-ambassador to South Korea Suth Dina to five years in prison for corruption-related offenses.
Dina, 45, who had served as the ambassador to South Korea for 25 months, was taken into custody by the country's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) in April, following a raft of complaints against him.
The ACU announced that an investigation had found that Dina had 7.2 million U.S. dollars in cash, up from 4.2 million U.S. dollars when his ambassadorial appointment began in Feb. 2014. Also, Dina owned 12.7 kg of gold worth about 500,000 dollars and several houses and pieces of land.
The ACU said Dina had embezzled 116,995 dollars from selling visa stickers and withdrew more than 180,000 dollars from the embassy's administrative budget for informal salary expenses.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court in April charged Dina with embezzlement and abuse of power.
"The court decides to sentence Suth Dina to five years in prison and to fine him 10 million riel (2,500 U.S. dollars)," said the verdict.
Dina appeared in the courtroom to hear his verdict.
by Maria Vasileiou
THE HAGUE Wholesale Robert Horry Jersey , Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Multifunctional, technology enhanced and innovative water defence levees figure prominently in the largest ever dike reinforcement program undertaken in the Netherlands, adding new impetus to the low-lying country's millennium long fight against flooding.
"With sea levels climbing and climate change expected to boost storm frequency and intensity in the Northern Sea and increase discharges in the rivers reinforcing and making the dike system much safer has become an absolute necessity," Richard Jorissen, director of the flood protection program at the Dutch national and regional water authorities Wholesale Byron Scott Jersey , told Xinhua in an interview.
Dutch dikes are subject to strict safety criteria requiring that almost one third (1,100 km) of the prime dikes and 256 locks and pumps undergo reinforcement. As of 2017 the safety criteria will become even stricter to reflect the increased population and values protected by the dikes.
In response to changing social, urban and economic needs the main players involved, Rijkswaterstaat and regional water boards, sought to augment the 300 repair projects with new functions Wholesale Derek Fisher Jersey , while combining innovative and cost-effective approaches.
"Our endeavour is not just to repair infrastructure. We aim at adding new dimensions to the dikes and combine them with coastal, urban, agricultural, spatial and high technology developments," explained the Dutch engineer in charge of a proposed 7.4-billion-euro (about 8 billion U.S. dollars) package of flood-protection upgrades until 2028.
MULTIFUNCTIONAL DIKES
Integrating various functions Wholesale Timofey Mozgov Jersey , whether recreational, urban or public, into dike reinforcement are already in the pipeline.
One such example, with plans expected to finalise later this year, involves flood protection combined with creating new agricultural land in the north of the Netherlands off the city of Groningen Wholesale Anthony Brown Jersey , an area vulnerable to flooding not only because of adverse weather conditions, but also due to earthquakes caused by gas extraction.
"To reinforce the existing coastal dike we are planning to build a new secondary levee and use the land for suitable to salt water cultivations," explained the program director.
A 5-km long and 1.5-km wide chunk of land stretching between the two dikes will be divided in two areas, allowing sea water to bring in silt and raise the soil level on the one, while the other half will be used for cultivations of suitable crops Wholesale D'Angelo Russell Jersey , such as cockles and samphires.
"New dike development could also be combined with housing or recreational functions," said the expert in hydraulic engineering, "ensuring that dikes continue to be part of the Dutch life as has been the case for centuries."
The Netherlands is divided and ringed by the world's most extensive dike network of over 22,500 km.
"There are dikes practically everywhere. In the cities, along the rivers and the coasts Wholesale Jose Calderon Jersey , concealed under cycling and walking paths, roads and dunes," said Jorissen, who has participated over the past 10 years in some of the largest infrastructure and hydraulic projects in his country.
In the coastal area near the seaside town of Katwijk in the northern outskirts of The Hague the new dike-in-a-dune construction became a "multi-dike" when combined with an adjacent parking space.
"The project involved creating a dike within a dune to secure the area against flooding and meeting the requirements for a car park, while retaining the passage between the beach and the village Wholesale Nick Young Jersey ," said Jorissen.
The Wakkere Dijk in Munnikenland, situated in the heart of the Netherlands between river Waal and Maas, serves as a flood evacuation area for large livestock and a strand is being constructed as a recreational observation point.
Also in the tourist town of Dalfsen along river Vecht in the east of the country a dike has been integrated in a housing and shopping development.
Dikes have been for over 1,000 years an intrinsic part of flood safety in the Netherlands.
Today nine million Dutch, more than half the population Wholesale Julius Randle Jersey , live at areas in risk of flooding as one forth of the country lies below sea level. Even after the construction of the high technology enhanced delta works and dams, following the big flood of 1953, which left unprecedented damage and 1,836 casualties, dikes still remain significant pillars of the country's flood protection system.
Together with creating additional room for the rivers and continuously nourishing the sandy shores and dunes Rijkswaterstaat and regional water authorities deliver the required safety measures.
The Dutch invest over 1 billion euros a year in water safety Wholesale Larry Nance Jr. Jersey , while water management, including delta and water technology, is t.