Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry of Mines and Energy
Ministry blames ‘ineffective practices’ for over $400m in missing sand
Cambodia is overcoming “ineffective practices” and should not be held to the standards of developed countries, a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday amid renewed calls for the government to investigate over $400 million in unrecorded sand exports to Singapore. ...
Ben Paviour and Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-blames-ineffective-practices-400m-missing-sand-120025/
Messy sand depots suspended
The Mines and Energy Ministry yesterday shut down six sand depots in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district for allegedly failing to “respect” a ministry directive concerning the proper transportation of sand, but they will be allowed to reopen on Wednesday if they agree to comply. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31486/messy-sand-depots-suspended/
Path to responsible mining
In an effort to improve the governance of the Kingdom’s mining industry, with a focus on increasing revenue generation, the government has approved 11 articles largely concerning export permits for mined resources. A September 22 sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, but released by the ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30964/path-to-responsible-mining/
Singapore’s data mirrors UN’s in Cambodia’s sand export numbers
Singaporean customs data on sand imports from Cambodia show near identical figures to those recorded by the UN, which last month were dismissed by a top official amid a reporting discrepancy in the hundreds of millions of dollars. ...
Alex Willemyns and Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/singapores-data-mirrors-uns-cambodias-sand-export-numbers
Coal outgrows hydropower
As Cambodia’s demand for electricity grows and domestic energy production increases, new data released from the Ministry of Mines and Energy yesterday show that coal-fired energy generation surpassed hydroelectricity for the first time last year. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/coal-outgrows-hydropower
Jarai say no to Ratanakiri gold mine
An insurrection led by ethnic Jarai villagers against the Kingdom’s first commercial underground gold mine, to be operated by Indian-owned Mesco Gold (Cambodia), looms over the green, serene remote hamlet of Plung, a few kilometers from the Vietnamese border, in Ratanakiri’s O’Yadaw district. ...
Sonny Inbaraj Krishnan and May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30569/jarai-say-no-to-ratanakiri-gold-mine/
Gov’t scoops up more mining revenue
In the first eight months of the year the Ministry of Mines and Energy has already surpassed its annual target for non-tax revenue collection from sand dredging and construction material-related mining operations, collecting 117 percent of the $6.6 million outlined in the 2016 national budget, ...
Kali Kotoski and Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/govt-scoops-more-mining-revenue
Lower Sesan II dam on schedule
The Lower Sesan II dam is expected to generate electricity as planned by 2017, filling a power void in the country as national grid construction is under way, according to the deputy provincial governor of Stung Treng. The dam, located in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district, ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30380/lower-sesan-ii-dam-on-schedule/
New mining licences issued, others revoked
Over 40 new mining licences were issued during the first half of the year to satisfy the high demand for construction materials by Cambodian infrastructure and real estate projects, while more than 100 licences were revoked due to environmental concerns or inactivity, a government official ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/new-mining-licences-issued-others-revoked
Sambo hydro dam info urged
Youth groups and environmental activists have requested the government release the latest documents concerning the proposed Sambo hydroelectric dam in Kratie province, amid lingering concerns of the possible environmental damage the dam may cause. The dam, if constructed, will be the largest in the country and ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30164/sambo-hydro-dam-info-urged/
Asean energy demand discussed
Cambodia urged the heads of all Asean national oil companies to cooperate together to ensure that there is demand and supply of energy in the 10-nation grouping, said a senior official in the Ministry of Mines and Energy. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29822/asean-energy-demand-discussed/
Ministry tells Phnom Penh to put end to digging
In the wake of recent illegal digging in the capital, Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem has called on the Phnom Penh city governor to stop issuing licences allowing businesses to dig soil in the city and to strengthen its enforcement on a longstanding ...
Mech Dara and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-tells-phnom-penh-put-end-digging
Oil meeting in Siem Reap
The 42nd Asean Council on Petroleum members’ meeting will be held in Siem Reap next month, a senior government official told Khmer Times. The meeting, which will include representatives from the national petroleum companies of the nine other Asean members, plus Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28903/oil-meeting-in-siem-reap/
Villages no longer dark
The Cambodian government is on track to provide electricity to all villages in the Kingdom by 2020 as this year’s seven-month data, from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, indicate that 71 percent of rural areas now have regular power supply. Ith Praing, secretary of state ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28315/villages-no-longer-dark/
Sacred site threatened by construction in Mondulkiri
Villagers in Mondulkiri province are protesting the construction of a Ministry of Mines vocational training centre on a piece of land they say is sacred with cultural significance to people across the province. ...
Phak Seangly and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sacred-site-threatened-construction-mondulkiri
Mining companies told to comply
Only a few days after the Koh Kong Provincial Court found three environmental activists guilty for protesting against a sand dredging company, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has called for greater civilian participation in protecting The Kingdom’s natural resources. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26950/mining-companies-told-to-comply/
Koh Kong sand-dredging opponents on trial over alleged threats
After more than 10 months in pretrial detention, a trio of activists from environmental group Mother Nature yesterday faced court for allegedly threatening to destroy dredging equipment during a protest against sand mining in Koh Kong province last year. ...
Phak Seangly and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/koh-kong-sand-dredging-opponents-trial-over-alleged-threats
Making villages see the light
More than 60 percent of rural homes in the Kingdom will have electricity by the end of this month and all villages in the country will no longer be engulfed in pitch darkness at night when they are connected to the national grid by 2020. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26423/making-villages-see-the-light/
Gold mine license suspended again
A Vietnamese-owned gold mine in Battambang province’s Phnom Prek district failed to acquire an operating license from the Ministry of Mines and Energy yesterday after failing to meet their guidelines, according to officials. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26377/gold-mine-license-suspended-again/
Renewables receive $30M funding boost
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has received $30 million in funding from the Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low-Income Countries Program (SREP) – an arm of the global Climate Investment Funds initiative – for a solar energy development program that includes home systems, mini-grids ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/renewables-receive-30m-funding-boost
Giant coal plant taking shape in Sihanoukville
Nearly half of a massive 700-megawatt coal-fired power plant that will fuel the country’s biggest industrial park and feed the national grid is set to be completed by the end of the year, according to officials at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. ...
Kali Kotoski and Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/giant-coal-plant-taking-shape-sihanoukville
Sand dredging licences secretly soaring
Despite the government’s vow to be more transparent with regulations and the issuing of sand-dredging licences, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has granted nearly 70 new such licences without holding public auctions or requiring companies to disclose environmental impact assessments (EIA) results to ...
Ayanna Runcie
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/sand-dredging-licences-secretly-soaring
Ministry findings hint at illegal gold mining in Ratanakkiri
An investigating team from the Ministry of Mines and Energy has concluded that evidence at Chhay Ching Heang Group’s operations in Ratanakkiri province seemingly points to illegal gold mining, though lab results from minerals extracted by the company are still pending, according to a ministry ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-findings-hint-illegal-gold-mining-ratanakkiri
Nuclear power plant planned
The Cambodian and Russian governments have signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to help build a nuclear power plant in the Kingdom, despite previous statements saying the opposite and with no timeline as to when such a plant would be built, according to the Ministry ...
Tin Sokhavuth
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25333/nuclear-power-plant-planned/