Election officials brace for Pchum Ben rush
Commune offices around the country are bracing for a surge in voter registrations over the Pchum Ben holiday that could become a make-or-miss moment in building the foundation for upcoming elections. After nearly a month of registrations, the National Election Committee reported on Tuesday that 3.5 href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/election-officials-brace-for-pchum-ben-rush/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Michael Dickison and Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/election-officials-brace-pchum-ben-rush-118530/
Land dispute pits PM’s brother against Brigade 70 general
The Kampong Speu Provincial Court has joined the fray in a land battle between Hun Sen’s elder brother and a general attached to RCAF’s infamous Brigade 70, ordering a halt to its clearing.A court officer, joined by 20 local authority officers and several members of href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/land-dispute-pits-pms-brother-against-brigade-70-general/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/land-dispute-pits-pms-brother-against-brigade-70-general
Sam Rainsy faces arrest warrant
Citing a seven-year-old defamation case, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Sam Rainsy, forcing the travelling Cambodia National Rescue Party president to choose whether to stay abroad or return and face a two-year prison term.The warrant, stemming from href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sam-rainsy-faces-arrest-warrant/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Phak Seangly and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/sam-rainsy-faces-arrest-warrant
Gov’t urged to step up on HIV funding
The Global Fund, provider of the lion’s share of money for Cambodia’s $12 million-a-year HIV treatment and prevention program, has told the government it expects it to begin footing more of the bill itself, a push that is prompting worries among local health-care providers. However, href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/govt-urged-to-step-up-on-hiv-funding/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Jamie Elliott
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-urged-step-hiv-funding
Deadly flooding spurs protest
After two deaths to flooding in as many rainy seasons and another close call on Monday, villagers from Khva Village in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor District are demanding action. They say that the cause of the flooding is the extraction of soil nearby by a company href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/deadly-flooding-spurs-protest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17215/deadly-flooding-spurs-protest/
Tbong Khmum to crack down on illegal Vietnam border checkpoints
Tbong Khmum provincial officials have announced a crackdown on illegal checkpoints along the Vietnamese border, possibly in response to a purported warning issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen to provincial Governor Ly Leng to monitor the transport of timber in the province. Local media reports contend href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/tbong-khmum-to-crack-down-on-illegal-vietnam-border-checkpoints/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tbong-khmum-crack-down-illegal-vietnam-border-checkpoints
Forests being cleared: report
Ten trucks fully loaded with timber have been spotted entering a heavily guarded sawmill near the Lower Sesan II dam on an hourly basis, claimed a report by the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF), which was released yesterday. According to the report, photos taken from href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/forests-being-cleared-report/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31962/forests-being-cleared--report/
Mondulkiri villages to get REDD+ funds
Twenty villages in Mondulkiri province are set to receive at least $10,000 each as a result of the $2.6 million carbon credit purchase by the Walt Disney Company in 2016, under a scheme meant to protect the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, officials said yesterday.This would href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mondulkiri-villages-to-get-redd-funds/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Yesenia Amaro and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mondulkiri-villages-get-redd-funds
Kingdom and Qatar to form labour watchdog
Cambodia’s next step in allowing workers such as maids and builders to travel to Qatar will be to create a committee with the Arab state to ensure their safety is protected, a senior labour official said yesterday. The Senate on Wednesday supported an agreement between the href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdom-and-qatar-to-form-labour-watchdog/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Stringer who reported on logging found dead
A local newspaper stringer who had written about illegal logging was found dead in the back of a car yesterday in Rattanakiri province’s O’Chum district. Hang Serei Oudom, 44, was a stringer for Vorakchun Khmer, or Khmer Hero, newspaper. Police said his body was covered in blood href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/stringer-who-reported-on-logging-found-dead/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Online Mapping Project for Cambodia Gets Under Way
Students, NGO workers and map enthusiasts came together Saturday in Phnom Penh to contribute information to an online map of Cambodia as part of a worldwide mapping effort, the event’s organizers said yesterday. The global project, known as the OpenStreetMap Project (OSM), uses a similar concept href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/online-mapping-project-for-cambodia-gets-under-way/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Cambodia approves land concessions, despite ban
Cambodia’s government has ignored a suspension on new land concessions to private companies, announcements in an official publication showed, despite ordering a freeze after growing discontent over forced evictions and illegal logging. Prime Minister Hun Sen signed off on 12 sub-decrees on June 7 and 12 href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-approves-land-concessions-despite-ban/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/26/us-cambodia-land-idUSBRE85P0G520120626
Court Charges General Denounced by Hun Sen Over Land Claim
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday charged a Ministry of Interior police general with intimidation and unlawful interference in the discharge of a public function for allegedly attempting to use Prime Minister Hun Sen’s student volunteer program to settle a personal land dispute. Mr. href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/court-changes-general-denounced-by-hun-sen-over-land-claim/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Should Minimum Wage Be Market Driven or Government-Dictated?
Manufacturers and unions aligned with the ruling CPP yesterday said the current labor shortage inside the garment industry would act as an incentive for employers to increase salaries, and that there was no need for the government to impose a new minimum wage. During a meeting href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/should-minimum-wage-be-market-driven-or-government-dictated/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Lawmakers to Discuss Sesan 2 Dam Draft Law
The National Assembly has announced that it will discuss a draft law on the financing of a controversial dam project in Stung Treng province on February 15, a move environmental groups called premature. Meach Mean, coordinator for 3S Rivers Protection Network – which has been href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/lawmakers-to-discuss-sesan-2-dam-draft-law/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Malay Hong Leong Bank plans Cambodian branch
Malaysia-based Hong Leong Bank, a subsidiary of Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad, is planning to open a branch in Cambodia sometime this year, which would make it the fourth Malaysian bank and the 33rd commercial bank in Cambodia’s crowded banking industry. Ngoun Sokha, director general of the href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/malay-hong-leong-bank-plans-cambodian-branch/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Mondulkiri village’s residents say they’d rather die than run
A combined force of police, soldiers and military police last night set a deadline of 8am this morning for villagers in Mondulkiri province’s tiny Rayum commune to leave their homes or face forcible eviction. Authorities, who have surrounded the village for a week, say the villagers’ href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mondulkiri-villages-residents-say-theyd-rather-die-than-run/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Workers at Honda Plant Given Back Their Jobs
A factory in Phnom Penh that assembles motorcycles for Honda decided on Friday to reinstate four workers who had been fired in December for creating a new trade union. About 300 workers at the Honda NCX Company in Pur Senchey district had been on strike since href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/workers-at-honda-plant-given-back-their-jobs/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Banks Look to Offer Services Using Renminbi
Banks here are trying to take advantage of a growth in Chinese investment by launching services that will allow payments from local banks to be made in China’s currency, the renminbi. Grant Knuckey, CEO of ANZ Royal Bank, said that because of a growing number of href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/banks-look-to-offer-services-using-renminbi/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
US criticizes Laos decision to build Mekong dam
The United States on Monday criticized a decision by the struggling Asian nation of Laos to build the first dam across the mainstream of the Mekong River, a project that environmentalists warn could affect tens of millions of livelihoods and trigger a dam-building spree along href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/us-criticizes-laos-decision-to-build-mekong-dam/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121105/us-us-laos-dam/