Agriculture and fishing
Concerns mount over dam
Sketchy details that fail to specify when construction of the Lower Sesan 2 hydro dam will begin, or name the Chinese company involved, have villagers fearing for their future, representatives and environmental groups say. Since the Council of Ministers announced on Friday it had signed off ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012110559575/National-news/concerns-mount-over-dam.html
Cop nabbed in timber bust
The Anti-Corruption Unit has arrested a military police officer accused of involvement in an illegal luxury timber racket in Pursat province’s Krakor district – an area where government investigators conceded that complicity by the powerful was rife. On Saturday, the anti-graft agency arrested military police officer ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012110559576/National-news/cop-nabbed-in-timber-bust.html
Ministry on trail of the apple snail
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, along with Prey Veng provincial agriculture experts and villagers in Svay Ourntor district, are taking measures to eradicate golden apple snails, which feed on rice seedlings, agriculture officials said. According to Prey Veng agriculture chief Ouk Samnang, only a ...
Farming implicated in climate change
Food production accounts for almost one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to a study published last week by the agricultural research organisation CGIAR. Food systems, from growing crops and raising livestock to storage and transportation, contribute 19 to 29 per cent of global ...
Cambodia Accuses Europe of Interference
In its first official response to a highly critical resolution on Cambodia from the European Parliament, the government has rejected all criticism and instead accused the Parliament in Brussels of playing politics and interfering in Phnom Penh’s affairs. In its resolution approved October 26, the European ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-accuses-europe-of-interference-5183/
Trade with Thailand increases
Trade between Cambodia and Thailand increased by about 40 per cent to US$3 billion in the first nine months of this year in comparison with the same period last year, according to figures provided by the Royal Embassy of Thailand in Cambodia. According to Nat Vimonchandra, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012110559559/Business/trade-with-thailand-increases.html
Indonesia in Talks With Cambodia Over Rice Export Deal
An Indonesian trade delegation is scheduled to visit Cambodia this month to finalize a trade deal that could see up to 100,000 tons of rice exported to Indonesia each year, Thon Virak, director general of state-owned rice exporter Green Trade Co., said on Friday. “Indonesia wants ...
Government Approves Dam On Lower Sesan
The Council of Ministers on Friday signed off on the Lower Sesan 2 dam project in Stung Treng province, despite long-standing criticism leveled against the project by environmental groups who say it would adversely affect 100,000 people as a consequence of reduced access to fish. The ...
October 2012 Maps Update
– Economic Land Concessions (Government Data Complete 16 items) Click here to download – Mining ( Secondary Source Data 19 items) Click here to download ...
Protected forest reclassified as private land
The entirety of three protected forests are now classified as private land, an investigation from rights group Adhoc has found, along with tens of thousands of additional hectares of what has once been state public land In three cases, Adhoc’s findings show that entire protected forests ...
Indonesia to import 100,000 tons of rice from Cambodia
Indonesia will import 100,000 tons of rice from Cambodia next month, Trade Ministry director general for foreign trade Deddy Saleh has said. The importation is a follow up from a joint trade agreement signed in August this year. “For the first batch, we will import 100,000 tons ...
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/01/indonesia-import-100000-tons-rice-cambodia.html
Bunong Minority Villagers Protest Against Rubber Company
About 80 ethnic Bunong villagers living in Mondolkiri’s Pech Chreada district staged a protest against the Socfin-KCD rubber company Monday, demanding that the firm honor its long-standing pledge to return 1,000 hectares of farmland located inside its concession. Socfin-KCD, a join venture between Socfin, a ...
Another major Xayaburi pact
The inking of a €300 million contract for water turbines, and job advertisements marked “urgent” appear to be the latest signs that Laos is powering forward with the Xayaburi hydroelectric dam project on the Mekong River. Assurances the $3.8 billion project was on hold pending further ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012103159486/National-news/another-major-xayaburi-pact.html
Complaint to Be Filed in US Over Koh Kong Sugar Plantations
Families in Koh Kong province will today file a complaint with the U.S. government against American Sugar Refining (ASR) over farmland they claim they were violently evicted from to make way for two sugar plantations that supply the New York-based company. The 207 Koh Kong ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/complaint-to-be-filed-in-us-over-koh-kong-sugar-plantations-4956/
Cambodian vegetable farmers forced to compete with Vietnamese rivals
Cambodian vegetable farmers say they are being forced to compete with more efficient farmers in Vietnam who use farming techniques to make their vegetables grow faster. Farmers in Sambork Meas, a village on the Mekong River in Mokkompul commune in Bakkeng district in Kandal province, say ...
Beef price almost doubles
High demand for beef, particularly during the Islamic Qurban festival which ended yesterday, caused beef prices to almost double compared with the same period last year, according to Islamic leaders and officials. Him Khortieth, IKatan Mahabbah Muslimin’s (IMAN) representative in Cambodia, said the association planned to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012103059462/Business/beef-price-almost-doubles.html
Milled rice boost: Cambodia gets US$1 million grant for milled rice exports
Cambodia has received a US$1 million grant in order to develop its milled rice industry and strengthen the country’s exporting capacity, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce. It is part of a larger, US$3-4 million grant from the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), a partnership ...
Communities want to ban gillnet use to protect dolphins
Fishermen representing five Cambodian communities will publicly express their support for a ban on gillnet use in a ceremony highlighting the importance of the Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin. The event organised by the Commission for Dolphin Conservation and Development of the Mekong River Dolphin Eco-tourism Zone, ...
Hun Sen Slams Use of Wife's, Red Cross' Name to Grab Land
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday accused unnamed individuals of attempting to grab land in Kompong Thom province by invoking his wife’s name and ordered one of his sons to investigate and give back any misappropriated land. According to Mr. Hun Sen, unscrupulous individuals were ...
Collective approach to 'help poor'
The collective power of agricultural co-operatives could bring huge benefits to poor, small-scale farmers, a Phnom Penh conference for international World Food Day heard on Friday. The sentiments were shared by the director of Cambodia’s General Directorate of Agriculture, So Khan Rithy Kun, who said farming ...
Europe Adopts Resolution on Cambodian Rights Situation
Drawing from a long list of human rights abuses, the European Parliament has urged the Cambodian government to stop forced evictions, called on the European Commission (E.C.) to investigate the country’s controversial land concessions policy, and raised the prospect of sanctions. In a resolution passed Friday ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/europe-adopts-resolution-on-cambodian-rights-situation-4862/
European body sends a message
The European Parliament, representing one of the country’s largest donors, on Friday called for a moratorium on forced evictions, an overhaul of elections and even went so far as to suggest to the European Union that it suspend tariff-free imports of agricultural goods linked to ...
Cooperatives Key to Help Farmers, Combat Hunger
The key to lifting people out of poverty could be found in the setting up of farming cooperatives, the country director of the World Food Program said on Friday, which was also World Food Day. Jean-Pierre de Margerie, country director of the World Food Program, said ...
Fight to Save Mekong Dolphin Makes Enemies
Sitting at his outpost overlooking the Mekong River, Deab Kuy remembers an incident some years ago when fishermen threatened to attack him if they were stopped from casting their nets around the river’s sandy islets here in Sambok commune. The outpost, little more than a wooden house on ...