Cambodia carve-up under the spotlight
There were scenes of jubilation in Cambodia’s capital last month when a group of 13 imprisoned women – including a 72-year-old grandmother – was set free by an appeal court. The women were arrested in May during peaceful demonstrations against the forced eviction of thousands ...
Forest activists, firm facing off once again
The Prey Lang Community Network yesterday delivered a letter to authorities in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district calling for the postponement of a Vietnamese concessionaire’s forest clearing and notifying authorities of their intention to deliver a lawsuit to the provincial hall tomorrow, network activists said. According ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021261309/National/forest-activists-firm-facing-off-once-again.html
Tens of Thousands Eligible for Land Titles Under New Policy
Tens of thousands of families – many of them currently embroiled in land disputes – will be eligible for land titles under an ambitious policy announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen last week, government officials said yesterday. On June 14, Mr. Hun Sen announced an ...
Small concession in eviction fight
Authorities have partially backed down on an order forcing 196 residents in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district to move their homes, but refused to scrap the plan completely when confronted at Chaom Chao commune hall yesterday. Phuong Sopheap, one of about 20 residents that congregated ...
Questions over China dams
Some questions remain about whether hydro dams on the upper Mekong River in China exacerbated conditions during Cambodia’s devastating drought of 2010, environmental groups say, as China’s dam program powers ahead. When the first power-generating unit was switched on last month at China’s giant 262-metre tall ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102359350/National-news/questions-over-china-dams.html
Cambodia's energy costs deter investors
Cambodia’s infrastructure is deterring highly anticipated investment into the production of raw materials to support its rapidly growing garment sector, experts say. While garment exports rose 10.2 per cent to $5.48 billion last year, the increase of raw materials imported to support this growth increased about ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020761221/Business/cambodia-s-energy-costs-deter-investors.html
Court to Question 4 Bavet Shooting Witnesses
The Svay Rieng Provincial Court will question four new witnesses to the February shooting of garment workers in Bavet City allegedly committed by former city governor Chhouk Bundith, a court official said yesterday. “We are preparing to schedule the questioning of four new witnesses. It ...
Sugar company axes child labour
Rulling party Senator Ly Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company announced yesterday that it had amended its hiring policy to forbid contractors from employing children, while at the same time, opposition parliamentarian Mu Sochua made public her plans to visit the company to investigate its ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011560790/National/sugar-company-axes-child-labour.html
US Seeks Infrastructure Deals in Cambodia
Looking to compete with Chinese influence in the region, the U.S. government is making plans to help American companies win large-scale infrastructure projects in Cambodia, U.S. officials said yesterday in Phnom Penh. The plans, which come as part of a strategic and economic embracing of Asia ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/us-seeks-infrastructure-deals-in-cambodia-7945/
Russian Firm Steps Up Dam Deal
Laos has stepped up plans for three hydropower dams on Mekong River tributaries, updating an eight-year-old deal with a Russian investor to build the projects for U.S. $1.5 billion. Lao authorities signed a project development agreement with Russia’s Regional Oil for the Sekong 4, Sekong 5, ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/hydropower-02062013151208.html
Round 2 at Phnom Penh's Borei Keila district
Four families who were violently evicted from Borei Keila in January last year built shelters yesterday in the rubbish where their houses once stood, claiming the land still belonged to them. The evictees erected small frames on the land, in the capital’s Prampi Makara district, irritating ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361918/National/round-2-at-borei-keila.html
Details murky on Koh Pich dredge
Even as bulldozers slowly pushed freshly dredged sand into the Tonle Bassac yesterday, expanding Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich, developers and officials could say little about the massive project slated to occupy the new space – a 555-metre tower that would be the tallest in Asia, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040564919/National/details-murky-on-koh-pich-dredge.html
Water Supply Begins to Return to Sihanoukville
Anco Water Supply, a private company that is supplying Sihanoukville with access to fresh water has alleviated a water shortage that began when a state-owned reservoir dried up more than a week ago. Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Sbuon Sarath said that running water had been restored ...
Government tells telcos off
The Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued warning letters to mobile operators Beeline and Smart over their recent advertisement, stating it violates the Inter-Ministerial Prakas, or edict, signed in 2009. The separate letters, obtained by the Post last week, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040864932/Business/government-tells-telcos-off.html
Villagers Petition Against Crematorium’s Removal
More than 1,000 villagers in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district have signed a petition protesting the removal of a crematorium that is currently on land slated for a large development project. According to a letter from the Council of Ministers addressed to the Ministry of Cults ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-petition-against-crematoriums-removal-27487/
Poipet Vendors Protest Corrupt Border Officials
More than 800 street vendors and drivers of taxis, tuk-tuks and motorcycles working the border area between Banteay Meanchey province and Thailand yesterday marched through Poipet City calling for an end to the rampant corruption being carried out by border officials. Migrant workers who cross ...
Malaysian motos to enter market
Naza Bikes Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysia-based Naza Group of Companies, will enter Cambodia’s crowded motorbike sector, according to the local brand manager. “[Business] will probably be launched on the first of next month,” Hay Chamreoun, the manager, said yesterday, adding that construction for the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/malaysian-motos-enter-market
NEC Sets Date to Issue Official Election Results
The National Election Committee (NEC) said Wednesday it will release final election results by September 8, while political parties and local authorities have filed a total of 14 reports on election-day irregularities since Friday. An NEC subcommittee will investigate the 14 reports, which include accusations of ...
Kuch Naren and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/nec-sets-date-to-issue-official-election-results-38700/
Workers begin Clearing Land for Lower Sesan 2
Workers in Stung Treng province have begun clearing forested land with chainsaws in order to make way for the reservoir of a massive hydropower dam that has drawn ire from local villagers who say they have not been informed about the dam’s construction plans. The National ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-begin-clearing-land-for-lower-sesan-2-16743/
Work of Observers Key to Fair Election, Monitor Says
WASHINGTON DC – The head of the election monitoring group Comfrel says a number of election irregularities and fraud have taken place during the campaign period, as observers prepare for Election Day on Sunday. Voter lists have numerous flaws, with some people unable to find their ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/work-of-observers-key-to-fair-election-monitor-says/1710055.html