New facility worries activists
Activists say a new sand-processing facility is under construction in Koh Kong’s Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary, in the vicinity of the area where two companies were granted permission to conduct environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for sand-dredging projects, documents show, despite a standing government ban on sand ...
Yesenia Amaro and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-facility-worries-activists
Logging probe moved to capital
A high-profile investigation into corruption charges levelled against Mondulkiri police officials for colluding with Vietnamese timber traders has been transferred from the provincial court to Phnom Penh due to a lethargic investigation by local police, many of whom are involved in the case, a court ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/logging-probe-moved-capital
Report shows need for Cambodia to diversify exports
Global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Services said yesterday that while it has retained Cambodia’s B2/stable sovereign rating alongside Vietnam’s B1/positive rating, the Kingdom’s low diversification of exports has put it at higher risk from external shocks than its eastern neighbour. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/report-shows-need-cambodia-diversify-exports
KrisEnergy signs oil deal next week
Singapore-based oil and gas company KrisEnergy is scheduled to sign an agreement with the Cambodian government next Wednesday for the extraction of petroleum from Block A to develop the Aspara oil field. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5078426/krisenergy-signs-oil-deal-next-week/
Koh Kong activists charged
Two Mother Nature activists arrested after filming suspected sand-bearing vessels have been charged with incitement and making unauthorised recordings of a person in “a private place” – an offence that drew skepticism yesterday, given they were in their own boat in the open ocean when ...
Phak Seangly and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/koh-kong-activists-charged
Phnong want damages for Sesan flooded graves
Fifty-eight Phnong ethnic families in Kbal Romeas village, whose land was flooded late last year by the reservoir of the controversial Lower Sesan II Dam, are seeking at least 1,500 buffaloes from authorities and company representatives in compensation for their ancestral graves that are now ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/phnong-want-damages-sesan-flooded-graves
World Bank urges government to accelerate reforms
The World Bank urged the Cambodian government Wednesday to accelerate reforms while taking a participatory approach to its National Strategic Development Plan. Speaking at a meeting of the Development Partner Coordination Committee, World Bank Country Director Annette Dixon congratulated the government on its current development plan ...
Executive hopes to help open mattress plant in Cambodia
A mission trip to Cambodia earlier this year opened Roger Pickett’s eyes to the need to boost the Cambodian home furnishings industry. Now Pickett, president of MurMaid Mattress here, is hoping to help a nonprofit group open a mattress factory in that country and give Cambodians ...
Thailand moves on double tax treaty with Cambodia
Thailand is moving forward to strike a double tax treaty with Cambodia, to cope with increasing cross-border trade. Sathit Rungkasiri, director general of the Revenue Department, said it is a priority to expand the double tax treaty with all countries in Asean to prepare for the ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Double-tax-treaty-with-Cambodia-eyed-30182041.html
Cambodia Beer to Ship First Export Batch to Japan
Less than two months after opening a $60 million brewery on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia Beer will be exported for the first time today when vessels carrying the beer set out for Japan from Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, according to a statement issued yesterday ...
Oz aid cuts won’t touch Cambodia
Despite major foreign aid budget cuts at home, Australia had upped its assistance to Cambodia by about US$17.4 million for 2012-2013, the embassy here said yesterday. Australia would provide a total of $95.3 million in “official development assistance to Cambodia”, the embassy said in a statement. ...
Xayaburi dam construction to proceed
The Laos government will continue to allow what it has dubbed “preparatory work” on the controversial Xayaburi dam, including the resettlement of villagers, despite promising to suspend the project at last week’s ASEAN Regional Forum, according to a media report in Laos. ...
Factory fainting: Garment workers fall ill in Kampong Speu
About 60 workers at the Anful Garment factory in Kampong Speu’s Samrong Tong district reported feeling dizzy yesterday, while three fainted, officials said. The union president also said she did not think the incident was caused by the factory environment, but rather, by the health ...
Unresolved Land Issues Could ‘Explode,” Analysts Say
Land issues will continue to be a serious problem for Cambodia’s government, given the high number of continued crackdowns, arrests and violence, analysts say. “If an issue is covered and unsolved, one day it will explode,” Lao Monghay, an independent political analyst, told “Hello VOA,” in ...
No bail for Sabrina unionists
According to defence lawyer Kao Ty, the court decided to uphold the decision of the provincial court in a closed-door hearing last Friday. “They said if those eight members and workers were released on bail, they would cause a problem again,” he said, adding that ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-bail-sabrina-unionists
Three brokers arrested for human smuggling
Three brokers were arrested last Friday after allegedly attempting to illegally smuggle nine Cambodians, including an infant, across the Thai border. Lured with promises of employment in Thailand, the group was attempting to illegally cross the border on motos when they were stopped by police ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/three-brokers-arrested-human-smuggling
Strikers block road, burn tyres
More than 1,000 workers from the Maru Chuen garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district blocked the Veng Sreng road on the outskirts of Phnom Penh for half an hour yesterday, burning about 20 tyres and demanding a monthly minimum wage increase from $61 to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031962011/National/strikers-block-road-burn-tyres.html
Spending in NagaCorp casino drops
Spending in NagaCorp’s casino has dropped by about 4.4 per cent in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year. Some $1.17 billion was gambled in the casino from January to March this year, said a company quarterly report released last ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052865866/Business/spending-in-nagacorp-casino-drops.html
Youth told demo can’t be on street
A youth demonstration planned for Sunday has been downgraded to a press conference after the government refused to lift its ban on public assemblies. Five hundred youth intended to deliver petitions calling for an amended election law that would allow for the direct election of district, ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/youth-told-demo-can%E2%80%99t-be-street
Tonle Sap Lake fisheries a concern for dam project
Already under attack by overfishing, pollution and deforestation, Tonle Sap Lake fisheries face an even bigger threat in the form of hydropower dams, according to experts. Laos’ planned Don Sahong Hydropower Project in particular has environmentalists fearing an emptier, less bio-diverse lake, and a nation pitched ...
Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tonle-sap-lake-fisheries-concern-dam-project