Malaysia firm to bring Oddar Meanchey onto national power grid
Malaysian-owned power infrastructure provider Pestech (Cambodia) Ltd has won a $26 million job to start on a new electricity project in Cambodia that will see Oddar Meanchey province connected to the national power grid, according to a filing on the Malaysian stock exchange. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/malaysia-firm-bring-oddar-meanchey-national-power-grid
Poipet locals get passes to Thailand
Banteay Meanchey provincial authorities yesterday began issuing a new border pass for residents who wish to cross into Thailand for business. The statement said the new border pass will cost $5 and be valid for two years for multiple entries in and out of Thailand. ...
Sen David
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5099633/poipet-locals-get-passes-thailand/
Freed Mother Nature activists decry ‘injustice’
Two Mother Nature activists, who were released from prison yesterday, said they had been “robbed” of their freedom for the past five months after being arrested for documenting suspected illegal sand-bearing vessels in Koh Kong without evidence that they had committed a crime. ...
Yesenia Amaro and Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/freed-mother-nature-activists-decry-injustice
New Laos dam draws criticism
News that Laos will move ahead with the proposed 912-megawatt Pak Beng dam, which would be the third mainstream dam in Laos’ Lower Mekong River, has sparked criticism from environmental groups who say downstream countries should decide the fate of potentially harmful development projects. ...
Cristina Maza
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-laos-dam-draws-criticism
Technical issue mars voter list publication
Prospective voters ran into problems yesterday during the first publication of the country’s new voter lists. Citizens will have until January 14 to check their names and information on voter lists to confirm they are correct, either in person, at registration offices or online. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/33877/technical-issue-mars-voter-list-publication/
Parties gear up for the elections
Political parties are scrambling to complete their internal processes and register ahead of this year’s commune elections, which are to be held in June. The National Election Committee (NEC) will be accepting registration applications for all parties’ candidates from March 3 to 5. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35331/parties-gear-up-for-the-elections/
Government task force destroys seized illegal fishing gear
A government task force charged with eliminating illegal fishing on the Tonle Sap lake has destroyed more than 100 km of nets and other equipment seized in Kompong Chhnang and Kompong Thom provinces this month, officials said on Monday. ...
Van Roeun
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-task-force-destroys-seized-illegal-fishing-gear-125494/
Campaign for local products
The “Buy Khmer Products” campaign continues this year, in a bid to promote local products among Cambodian people.Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, said last Friday that the campaign is “a momentum to inspire and awaken Cambodian citizens to acknowledge the value of local products.” ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36154/campaign-for-local-products/
PPAP to pay out dividends
Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) will distribute a cash dividend of 1,059,039,488 riel ($261,148), or 256 riel per share, to its private shareholders for its 2016 operations, the port operator said in a filing to the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX). ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ppap-pay-out-dividends
Canadian miner renews five licences, drops two
Canadian mining firm Angkor Gold has received approval from the Ministry of Mines and Energy to extend its exploration licences for five tenements for an additional three years with the option of extending another four years after, the company said in a press release. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/canadian-miner-renews-five-licences-drops-two
Indelible ink to be used at polls put to the test
Cambodia’s National Election Committee yesterday concluded that its indelible ink – whose indelibility was called into question earlier this month when samples were reportedly washed off – is acceptable for use in the upcoming June 4 commune elections after publicly testing it on 16 people. ...
Touch Sokha and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/indelible-ink-be-used-polls-put-test
When the spice is right
This is a typical morning for many villagers in Kampot province’s Kampong Trach district, where almost 400 families are members of Kampot Pepper Promotion Association. Black Kampot pepper currently sells for $15 per kilogramme, while red fetches $25 and white $28 per kg. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/38735/when-the-spice-is-right/
Monitor raises concerns over commune election integrity
The head of an independent election monitoring group on Thursday criticized the violent rhetoric of Prime Minister Hun Sen and other top government officials in the lead-up to the commune elections, saying it could affect whether voters see the process as free and fair. .. ...
Phan Soumy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/monitor-raises-concerns-over-commune-election-integrity-130428/
Mother Nature activists allege intimidation at sand dredging protest
About 30 villagers escorted two environmental activists from Kandal province’s Sa’ang district to the relative safety of Phnom Penh yesterday after the pair were allegedly harassed by local police for helping coordinate a protest against sand dredging in the area the day before. ...
Phak Seangly and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mother-nature-activists-allege-intimidation-sand-dredging-protest
Dry port, warehouse unveiled at Kandal SEZ
A $20 million dry port and bonded warehouse within the Sovannaphum special economic zone (SEZ) in Kandal province is slated to open by October of this year ahead of the full completion of the 214-hectare zone by 2020, a senior management official said yesterday. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/dry-port-warehouse-unveiled-kandal-sez
Sesan locals protest over supporters’ detention
The temporary detention and questioning of 24 people travelling to the reservoir area of the Lower Sesan II dam prompted a three-hour confrontation between Military Police and provincial police officials and more than 100 villagers in Stung Treng’s Kbal Romea village yesterday. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sesan-locals-protest-over-supporters-detention
Bananas find export appeal
Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), which last month became the first company to officially export bananas from Cambodia, has secured more orders for the fruit and will ship another 100 tonnes of bananas from its plantations in Ratanakkiri province today, a company representative said. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/bananas-find-export-appeal
Cambodia’s loss of LDC status will bring challenges: World Bank
As Cambodia continues its upward trajectory towards becoming a lower-middle-income country, it will face even greater challenges in reducing high levels of poverty as the Kingdom loses its preferential trade privileges and donor funding dries up, according to a new World Bank report. ...
Kali Kotoski and Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodias-loss-ldc-status-will-bring-challenges-world-bank
Cambodia wants GSP review
Cambodia has suggested that the US review its Generalised System of Preference for Duty-Free and Quota Free (GSP-DFQF) granted to the kingdom, as a less developed country, in order for its exports to have better preferential access to the North American market. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5080069/cambodia-wants-gsp-review/
Surveillance up ahead of CNRP verdict
Checkpoints went up on national roads, barricades were dumped in front of the Supreme Court and police paid unannounced visits to civil society organisations and opposition officials as darkness fell yesterday ahead of today’s Supreme Court hearing on the dissolution of the opposition CNRP. ...
Niem Chheng, Daphne Chen and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/surveillance-ahead-cnrp-verdict