Farmers Petition to Change Agricultural Draft Law
About 200 farmers protested in front of the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday and submitted a petition requesting changes to a draft law on the management of agricultural land, which rights groups have said could effectively legalize land grabs from poor farmers. The government says the ...
Opposition Lawmakers Want ‘Social’ Land to Go to Farmers
Cambodian lawmakers have passed a new law on agriculture, but critics say the law does not go far enough to protect the country’s farmers. The law passed on Thursday evening, but not before debate at the National Assembly. During the debate opposition representatives called on the ...
Factory Dining Hall Collapses in Phnom Penh; 23 injured
The dining hall of a garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district that supplies clothes to U.S. brand Gap collapsed into a pond Monday, injuring more than 20 workers who were eating lunch, workers and officials said. The hall, which is part of Top World Garment ...
Solar panels see sunny times ahead
Officials and business people say solar panels are gaining in popularity in rural areas, where the power grid does not reach. Mao Sangat, director of solar Energy Cambodia, told the Post yesterday that his company saw increases of installation of solar power systems for families whose ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052165730/Business/solar-panels-see-sunny-times-ahead.html
Ratch pulls out of JV for Cambodia power plant
Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding will cancel its joint-venture agreement with KK Power to build a 1.8-gigawatt coal-fired power plant in Koh Kong province of southwestern Cambodia. Pongdith Potchana, chief executive of Ratch, said yesterday that the company had revised the plan after its analysis indicated that ...
Official DisputesWhen Dam Clearing Ceased
A Stung Treng province district official on Sunday contradicted claims that logging in the area designated for the Sesan 2 dam had ceased a month ago, saying that it had only stopped last week after direct orders from the government to do so. On Thursday, Ministry ...
Chhorn Chansy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/official-disputeswhen-dam-clearing-ceased-46002/
Land Dispute Families Submit Complaint Over Snake Attack
Three families involved in a land dispute with a private company filed a complaint Monday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court accusing the company’s owner, businessman Khun Sear, of waging an ongoing campaign of intimidation as he tries to force the families from their homes ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/land-dispute-families-submit-complaint-over-snake-attack-46605/
Cambodia's customs officials urge importers to pay "tax fees, not pay bribe"
Cambodia’s customs officials on Wednesday called on all importers to pay”tax fees as stated by law, not pay bribe”to customs officers. The appeal came after some Chinese importers have complained that Cambodian customs officers have increased tariffs for their imported products, or not allowed their ...
Asean-China-Center News Staff
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2013-11/14/c_132886796.htm
Unicef Says Girls’ Access to Education Limited
Despite progress having been made in recent years to improve girls’ access to education, there is still a gender-based inequality, particularly in rural areas, children’s rights experts said on the International Day of the Girl Child on Friday. “At the moment there is still a slight ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unicef-says-girls-access-to-education-limited-44937/
Military winner in draft budget
Government officials were still tight-lipped about the 2014 draft budget yesterday, though some details did continue to trickle out, such as the announcement of a sizeable increase in national defence spending. Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker and banking and finance committee member Cheam Yeap said yesterday that ...
Vong Sokheng and Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/military-winner-draft-budget
H&M pledges living wage for textile workers in Bangladesh and Cambodia
H&M has pledged to pay a living wage to 850,000 textile workers after expressing frustration over a lack of action by governments to address working conditions in Asian factories in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster. The world’s second-biggest clothing retailer said it would support ...
Sean Farrell
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/25/h-m-living-wage-textile-workers-bangladesh-cambodia
Prison oversight lags: UN
Five years after first ratifying the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), Cambodia remains delinquent in honouring some of its commitments under the treaty, UN representatives said yesterday. Under the OPCAT, Cambodia was obliged to create an independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to ...
Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prison-oversight-lags-un
Cambodia’s GMAC says factory closures continue due to ongoing strikes
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said Thursday most of its 559 factories would continue to be closed due to security concerns after six pro-opposition trade unions led striking workers to destroy factories’ properties and forced workers to join their protests. “Because of the current ...
NZ Week News Staff
http://www.nzweek.com/world/cambodias-gmac-says-factory-closures-continue-due-to-ongoing-strikes-107149/
Tycoon back in firing line
For the second time in as many weeks, an NGO has accused tycoon Try Pheap of facilitating illegal logging in a protected forest during the election campaign and post-election period, and with the protection of authorities. In a report set to be released today by the ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tycoon-back-firing-line
Flooding Kills 7, Spreads to Kandal Province
Flooding across the country has now killed seven people, including four children, since water reached emergency levels in some areas on Friday, the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) said Monday. Flooding is affecting a total of seven provinces and authorities have already evacuated hundreds of families ...
Ben Sokhean and Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/flooding-kills-7-spreads-to-kandal-province-43053/
New highway to run through Boeung Tompong
A new highway that is being built is expected to not only reduce traffic jams, but to also open up a large area for real estate development. The new highway, called Samdech Techo Hun Sen Blvd, runs from the intersection of Road 271 and Monivong Blvd ...
Siv Meng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/new-highway-run-through-boeung-tompong
National Assembly’s Finance Committee Approves 2014 Budget
The National Assembly’s CPP-run finance committee approved the country’s $3.54 billion draft budget for 2014 Wednesday, its last hurdle before debate and a possible vote can be held by the full Assembly, where the opposition is still refusing to take nearly half the seats. “After the ...
Kuch Naren and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/national-assemblys-finance-committee-approves-2014-budget-46714/
Major Brands Concerned About Cambodia Violence
Major labels that have clothing manufactured in Cambodian factories have written an open letter expressing concern for the recent shootings of workers demonstrating for higher wages. Adidas, Gap, H&M, Levi’s and Puma were among those that signed the January 7 letter to the Phnom Penh government, ...
VOA News Staff
http://www.voanews.com/content/major-brands-express-concern-for-violence-against-striking-cambodians/1826132.html
Council accepts first complaint in process
Though most of the opposition complaints reviewed by the Constitutional Council have been dismissed so far, one has been deemed credible and appropriate, a council spokesman said. According to spokesman Uth Chhorn, one complaint regarding a campaign-period clash between supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/council-accepts-first-complaint-process
Report cites election day voter fraud
Voter rolls at several polling stations appear to have been “intentionally manipulated” in advance of the election to allow large groups of individuals to cast fraudulent ballots in communes where they were ineligible, according to a report released Saturday by rights group Licadho. One of the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/report-cites-election-day-voter-fraud