Helicopters to ‘Protect’ government
As political deadlock continues, Minister of Defence Tea Banh yesterday used the unveiling of 12 Chinese-made military helicopters to announce that the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces stand “ready to protect” the government and constitution, following what he called “free and fair” elections in July. Speaking in ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/helicopters-%E2%80%98protect%E2%80%99-government
Increase in Customs Taxes Raises Retail Prices in Cambodia
Customs officers along Cambodia’s border have been instructed to increase their efforts to properly inspect and tax products coming into the country, which has increased the cost of imports and led to a rise in retail prices for a host of goods, government officials, businessmen ...
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/increase-in-customs-taxes-raises-retail-prices-in-cambodia-48461/
Rule hanging over NA
A ruling party lawmaker and parliamentary spokesman said yesterday that the National Assembly will consider invoking an internal rule that could force the opposition party to replace its elected lawmakers with lower-ranked candidates from within the party if their boycott continues beyond a deadline. Principle 83 ...
Kevin Ponniah and Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rule-hanging-over-na
Cambodian dam feeding false hopes
RATANAKIRI PROVINCE, Cambodia – “I prefer the dam to the fish,” says middle-aged farmer Ton Noun, when asked his opinion on a proposed 400 megawatt dam on the Sesan river near his home in northeastern Cambodia. Then he chuckles and asks, “What fish?” That’s because ...
Michelle Tolson
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-02-181213.html
Banks Urged to Divest From Ratanakkiri-Based Rubber Firm
Environmental campaign group Global Witness on Thursday called on the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Deutsche Bank to divest immediately from a Vietnamese firm whose rubber plantations in Cambodia are accused of rampant illegal logging and forced evictions of indigenous communities. The call came exactly six ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/banks-urged-to-divest-from-ratanakkiri-based-rubber-firm-47045/
Report Says Election Results Not Reflective of People’s Will
Transparency International Cambodia (TIC) on Thursday concluded in a report that official results of the July 28 national election released by the National Election Committee (NEC) do not reflect the will of the people due to widespread irregularities occurring both before and on election day. The ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/report-says-election-results-not-reflective-of-peoples-will-42808/
Sok An, US Ambassador Discuss Formation of National Assembly
Deputy Prime Minister Sok An met with the top U.S. diplomat in Cambodia on Friday to discuss the formation of the country’s National Assembly following the disputed July 28 election. Both the ruling CPP and opposition CNRP claim to have won the ballot, and the opposition ...
Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/sok-an-us-ambassador-discuss-formation-of-national%E2%80%88assembly-39090/
Feature: Slum dwellers in Cambodian capital want to benefit from development
Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital and largest city, has seen rapid development in the last decade — numerous high-rises, large shopping malls and business centres as well as public parks are beautifying this city — in the meantime, slum-dwellers are also on the rise. According to the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/18/c_132641165.htm
Rubber Farmers Accuse Big Firm of Encroaching on Their Land
Roughly 100 rubber farmers in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Chum district blocked National Road 78A on Wednesday, demanding that authorities take action against a pair of laborers they accuse of stealing resin from their land. The laborers—Math Las, 40, and his wife, Nos Yas, 38—who are reportedly employed ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rubber-farmers-accuse-big-firm-of-encroaching-on-their-land-41712/
Environment Ministry Denies Issuing New ELC to Logging Firm
The Ministry of Environment on Thursday denied that a private agro-industry firm had been issued an “unofficial” land concession inside Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary, as stated on Monday by the provincial governor. In response to claims by local officials that Daun Penh Agrico Co. Ltd. ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/environment-ministry-denies-issuing-new-elc-to-logging-firm-47675/
Malaysia Fails to Guarantee Cambodian Maids’ Human Rights
The Ministry of Labor hopes that a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will see Cambodia resume sending domestic workers to Malaysia by February, but negotiations on the document have stalled after Malaysia recently rejected 90 percent of proposed provisions to protect workers’ rights. Most strikingly, Malaysia ...
Matt Blomberg and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/malaysia-fails-to-guarantee-cambodian-maids-human-rights-49629/
Cambodia to meet Malaysia over maids MoU
The Ministry of Labor said Wednesday that the government has agreed on a final draft of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia regarding sending Cambodian maids to work there, but that no timeframe for the signing of the agreement has been set. Following reports of ...
Denise Hruby and Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-to-meet-malaysia-over-maids-mou-53635/
Power couple linked to Sinohydro project
Two of the country’s most powerful and politically connected business owners are on the board of governors of the company thought to have brokered a controversial deal between the world’s largest hydropower developer and the Cambodian government, documents obtained by the Post show. Cambodian People’s Party ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/power-couple-linked-sinohydro-project
Scepticism over social land grants
Nearly a million hectares of land has been granted to ordinary Cambodian citizens through social land concessions (SLC) since May 2012, the government has claimed, though civil society groups have cast doubt on that high figure and questioned how many landless or evicted poor have ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/scepticism-over-social-land-grants
Nationwide garment factory strike sputters into second day
A few garment factories resumed operations in Phnom Penh on Friday, albeit at reduced capacity, as thousands of workers returned to the city after Khmer New Year celebrations in the provinces. While the majority of factories in Meanchey and Pur Senchey districts stayed closed, it remained ...
Sek Odom and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nationwide-garment-factory-strike-sputters-into-second-day-56740/
Cambodia’s Human Rights in focus: Full text of UN envoy
The UN envoy concluded his six-day visit to Cambodia producing a concrete report, which reflects both the positive and negative aspects of human rights situation in the Kingdom. As for the post-election political impasse, Prof. Surya P. Subedi, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=ZWMwNTZmODliZTA
Pro-Government Unions Call for Action Against Leaders of Strikes
Unions aligned with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government issued a statement Wednesday calling on it to “take action” against union leaders who they accuse of inciting workers to hold strikes and violent demonstrations. “We would like to request [CPP Labor Minister] Ith Sam Heng to take ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/pro-government-unions-call-for-action-against-leaders-of-strikes-50970/
Government says 3.4 million land titles issued
The government has issued a total of 3.4 million land titles across the country, 500,000 of them since a renewed push personally orchestrated by Prime Minister Hun Sen, according to new figures released by the Land Management Ministry. In a notice posted to its website Friday, ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-says-3-4-million-land-titles-issued-58477/
Clarification sought on government’s fraught NGO Law
A request has been sent to the government’s Human Rights Committee and the interior and foreign affairs ministries seeking clarification on the status and whereabouts of a draft law that will govern associations and non-governmental organizations, asking to see the latest version of the law ...
Phorn Bopha and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/clarification-sought-on-governments-fraught-ngo-law-52238/
Kings of concessions
Vietnam and China lead the pack of foreign companies granted economic land concessions in Cambodia for agro-industrial development by a wide margin, new data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries show. According to the ministry’s annual report, released last month, since 1993 the ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kings-concessions