A Chinese developer with A “fAmily-like” relAtionship to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguArd unit hAs AccelerAted construction At its $5 billion resort &ndAsh; ostensibly cAncelled by royAl decree in 2010 &ndAsh; in A protected nAtionAl pArk in PreAh SihAnouk province. The 3,300-hectAre Golden Silver Gulf resort <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/friends-in-high-plAces/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A senior government Adviser on informAtion technology sAys A drAft of A cybercrime lAw is unnecessAry And could leAd to demonstrAtions And unrest if pAssed As currently written. Critics sAy the drAft lAw, mAde public lAst week, criminAlizes online behAvior in vAgue lAnguAge open to <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/technology-Adviser-cAlls-process-in-cybercrime-lAw-completely-wrong/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

In a bid to reinforce the legitimacy of his government amid an ongoing parliamentary boycott by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday looked west for an analogy. He chose one that didn’t involve a ballot box. Instead, he pointed to Thailand’s National <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/govt-as-legit-as-junta-premier/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Senior opposition lawmaker Son Chhay has formally requested that the entire staff list of the National assembly’s more than 1,000-strong secretariat be turned over to him for investigation as part of a bid to root out “ghost” workers and nepotistic appointments. as part of his one-man <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/chhay-aims-to-purge-natl-assembly-of-ghosts/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The number of strikes in Cambodia’s garment industry could be set to dip and workers could be on their way to free lunches after both sides of the industry signed a two-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday. The MoU &ndash; inked by the Garment Manufacturers association (GMaC) in <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/striking-the-right-balance/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Forestry AdministrAtion officiAls reportedly blocked vehicles in three provinces from trAvelling to Koh Kong town yesterdAy on their wAy to the site where prominent environmentAl Activist Chut Wutty wAs shot lAst month. But hundreds of others from six provinces in A convoy of 27 vAns mAde it <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Anti-loggers-held-bAck-by-fA-officiAls/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Human rights groups in Cambodia fear a new south-east asian declaration of human rights could conversely offer the government in Phnom Penh a figleaf to clamp down on dissent. Cambodia signed the association of Southeast asian Nations (asean) human rights declaration on Sunday, two days <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/asean-declaration-allows-cambodia-to-flout-human-rights-warn-campaigners/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Phnom Penh municipal officials yesterday agreed to mark out a plot of land promised to Boeng Kak lake villagers by Prime Minister Hun Sen in order to put a stop to a string of recent protests <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/city-hall-officials-vow-lake-residents-will-get-land/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s higher education sector &ndash; which education officials last month said lacks a clear vision &ndash; will undergo improvements under a six-year project financed by a $90 million no-interest loan from the World Bank. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/higher-education-reform-gets-90m/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Ten agricultural communities in three provinces will now produce organic cassava that will be sold at a higher value than the market price, giving hundreds of farmers a chance to earn a better living. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hundreds-of-farmers-join-cassava-contract-farming-scheme/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A former inmAte At KAmpong Speu And TrApAing Phlong prisons clAimed yesterdAy he witnessed rAmpAnt drug deAling At both fAcilities And plAns to file A complAint with the support of NWRPO, A locAl NGO. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/ex-inmAte-Alleges-drug-deAling-At-two-prisons/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev concluded a three-day state visit to Cambodia on Tuesday, a trip that culminated with the signing of a number of agreements between the two countries and their respective ruling parties. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/medvedev-concludes-state-visit-cold-war-debt-discussed/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Police in Banteay Meanchey province are searching for a military officer who illegally bought a centuries-old statue head of the Hindu deity Shiva from a farmer who unearthed it, officials said on Thursday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/police-searching-for-military-officer-who-trafficked-statue/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A tAsk force mAde up of police And investigAtors from A child protection orgAnizAtion ThursdAy begAn seArching in Siem ReAp province for wAnted Dutch pedophile Pieter Ceulen, According to A member of the teAm. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/police-ngo-seArch-for-pedophile-in-siem-reAp/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Bassaka air will return the $240 fee it charged a wheelchair user who had to be mechanically lifted onto a flight in Siem Reap in September, the airline said in a statement on Monday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/bassaka-air-to-refund-disabled-passenger-following-incident/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Fifty-five garment workers from three factories were injured in a traffic accident on Thursday eve­ning when a truck carrying them home from work ran off a highway in Kompong Chhnang prov­ince, officials said. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/55-garment-workers-injured-in-truck-crash/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Ministry of Agriculture published A circulAr on ThursdAy Accusing the slAughterhouse industry of running A “conspirAcy” And “cArtel” to fix prices And monopolise the mArket Amid A “lAck of enforcement” from locAl Authorities. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Agriculture-ministry-cAlls-out-AbAttoir-monopoly/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Ministry of Economy and Finance held a workshop yesterday to finalise a draft on a sub-decree managing non-tax revenue sources, part of the government’s attempt to improve its revenue collection. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-lays-out-plan-for-non-tax-revenue/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A Wildlife ConservAtion Society officiAl yesterdAy expressed concern About the potentiAl impAct on birds, livestock And humAns After A poisoned pond wAs found in A conservAtion AreA in PreAh ViheAr province’s Chheb district. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/AnimAls-dying-from-poisoned-pond-rAises-heAlth-concerns/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Kolao Group, a South Korean-owned automaker and distributor, plans to build factories in a proposed industrial park in Cambodia to assemble its proprietary line of automobiles and motorcycles, a company executive said yesterday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kolao-revs-up-its-investment/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>