Phnom Penh Governor Leaves Behind Mixed Legacy
During his speech last week at the swearing-in ceremony of Phnom Penh’s new governor, Pa Socheatvong, Interior Minister Sar Kheng noted that managing Cambodia’s capital is by no means an easy task. While critics of [former Phnom Penh governor] Mr. [Kep] Chuktema note his failure ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/phnom-penh-governor-leaves-behind-mixed-legacy-22697/
Startup Promises a Future for Former Boeng Kak Residents
In mid-August, on day seven of production at the Coco Khmer social enterprise, the team experienced a setback. Temperatures in the fermenting room must remain between 35 and 40 degrees to produce the organization’s virgin coconut oil, but the temperature on that rainy day refused to ...
Devon Geary and Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/startup-promises-a-future-for-former-boeng-kak-residents-41532/
Evicted railway families await ADB’s help
In 2011, Oeun Phirun took out a $450 loan from the Asian Development Bank, using half to buy a used motorbike and spending the rest on a small flock of ducks and chickens he hoped to raise. His family and about 1,000 others have been evicted ...
Zsombor Peter and Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/evicted-railway-families-await-adbs-help-56128/
The canes of wrath
Satiating the demands of the global sugar industry is big business for Cambodia’s sugarcane plantations. Yet accusations of human rights abuses and land grabs in the Kingdom have left a bitter aftertaste for many on the ground as companies vie for a larger slice of ...
After Reform Promise, a Return to Statecraft as Usual
In an epic, six-hour address in September, Prime Minister Hun Sen apologized for the government’s many “problems” and promised a more reformist government over the next five years of his rule. Targeting corruption, deforestation and the lack of transparency across government sectors, the prime minister made ...
Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-reform-promise-a-return-to-statecraft-as-usual-48602/
In Cambodia, Lost Retreats Once Again Found
Kep province – On a sunny weekday in Kep, a seaside village about halfway along Cambodia’s coast, the crab market was heaving. Women in straw hats and rubber boots stood knee deep in the surf shouting out prices, periodically darting into the sea to pull writhing ...
Jubilation as Pair Acquitted of Union Leader’s Assassination
Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, the men wrongfully sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2004 murder of Free Trade Union (FTU) leader Chea Vichea, were exonerated Wednesday by the Supreme Court of the crime. Responding to the acquittal, Chea Vichea’s brother, Chea Mony, ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/jubilation-as-pair-acquitted-of-union-leaders-assassination-43396/
Government Blasted for Eviction of Freedom Park
The U.N. and local human rights groups have condemned the government’s violent eviction of CNRP supporters from Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Saturday, as well as its indefinite ban on public protests in the city. On Saturday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court also summonsed opposition leaders ...
Colin Meyn and Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-blasted-for-eviction-of-freedom-park-50132/
The slaughterhouse blues
It’s 1am and, as Phnom Penh sleeps, the haunting squeals of distressed animals are all that can be heard in the darkness of a field in Russey Keo district. Pigs in open-air sheds have sensed what’s coming: Hundreds of them are about to be slaughtered for ...
Shane Worrell and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/slaughterhouse-blues