Ministries and other national bodies

Hundreds of residents locked in a land dispute with the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva district yesterday submitted a petition to the Land Management Ministry. ...

The National Assembly on Thursday approved amendments to Cambodia’s mining laws by revising 11 articles, in a move that would give officials the power to hand out fines or punishments instead of sending all disputes to court. In a full plenary session last week, 112 ...

Authorities in Mondolkiri province have given more than ten gold mining sites within the Chong Phlas Mining Community 15 days to shut down operations after concluding that they were not following the law. ...

More than one million cubic metres of illegal timber has flowed unhindered from protected areas in Cambodia’s northeast provinces to Vietnam as the latter continues its role as a serial illegal timber trade offender, according to a report issued by the Environmental Investigation Agency. ...

Several NGOs, including Plan International, have urged the government to pay more attention to climate change issues in the country, noting that Cambodia is more susceptible to it than most Asian countries. ...

Nearly 30 illegal gold mining operations have been shuttered in Mondolkiri province over the past week as officials with Mines and Environment ministries continue a compliance push in the wake of a poisoning case that killed 13 villagers downstream in Kratie province. ...

A Phnom Penh district authority supplied trucks for more than 100 workers from the First Gawon Apparel factory on Tuesday morning after they attempted to walk from the factory to the Ministry of Labour. The workers were again seeking Ministry of Labour intervention in a ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia welcomed the approval of the amendment of article 89 of the Labour Law on worker protection and severance pay by the government on Friday, but the organisation’s head said the move could financially burden employers. ...

An extended rail service from Battambang province to Pursat province is due to start today to improve transport for people and cargo, the Transport Ministry says. The first section of the rail line, linking Poipet and Serey Sophorn, was inaugurated last month. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has temporarily halted the import, supply and distribution of all pesticides. The ban comes after at least 14 people died and around 300 were warded after poisonings in Sre Norn and Alorch villages in Chet Borey district’s Kantuot ...

Chong Phlas commune, Mondulkiri province – As officials from the Mines and Environment ministries continue their compliance push here, villagers from the Chong Phlas Gold Mining Community have fled or withdrawn into their homes, too scared to continue their work for fear of being blamed ...

The government has announced the approval of a feasibility study to be conducted in Koh Kong province, signalling to demonstrators who have been rallying in front of the Land Management Ministry office in Phnom Penh that their land dispute may come to a close. ...

Senior Environment Ministry officials have urged owners of big businesses to help cut the use of plastic bags to reduce damage on the environment and people’s health. Tin Ponlok, secretary-general of the ministry’s national council for sustainable development, addressed the problem at a training workshop ...

The government has ordered the Ministry of Environment to work with the relevant authorities to grant Koh Kong province villagers land from Union Development Group (UDG), a Chinese company, following a long-standing dispute. ...

The private sector has called on the government to speed up enacting the organic food law, which is currently languishing in the draft stage. Having the law, it said, will provide product recognition. Ten Ra, the technical adviser on trade facilitation and standards for German ...

National Committee for Disaster Management spokesman Keo Vy said on Wednesday that the government had stockpiled 12,000 tonnes of rice and crop seeds to support Cambodians in rural areas facing natural disasters such as droughts and floods. Vy said natural disasters are notably caused by ...

Mines Minister Suy Sem yesterday ordered mining operators to follow the law to prevent mining waste from polluting rivers in the wake of more than 10 villagers dying from consuming tainted water in Kratie province. ...

About 70 people representing thousands of Kampong Speu province households yesterday gathered once again in front of the Land Management Ministry to appeal to the authorities to take action against three rubber plantations and a sugar cane plantation over more than 2,000 hectares of disputed ...

Mines Minister Suy Sem has dismissed a claim by Industry Minister Cham Prasidh, who said that villagers in Kratie province were poisoned and killed by cyanide-tainted water due to run-off from gold mines. ...

The Ministry of Tourism recently announced a new contest to find the best community-based tourism sites in the Kingdom and has called on villages and communities around the country to submit their application. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday said the government is trying to protect Cambodian migrant workers by creating more passport offices and cooperating with international bodies to protect them from labour abuses. ...

The permanent vice chair of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) delivered a progress report on efforts to eradicate child labour in the Kingdom on Tuesday, saying that factories are being investigated, and some shut down, for employing children illegally. ...

Aggrieved workers of First Gawon Apparel (Cambodia) plan to march to the offices of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) again on Tuesday, seeking a solution from the ministry in a salary dispute that has dragged on for more than five months. Heng ...

The China Huadian Corporation, who currently operates a 338-megawatt hydropower dam on the Russey Chrum River in Koh Kong, is now conducting negotiations with the government to build two more dams in the province. ...