Land
Housing Activists Clash With Police in Street Protest
At least two women were injured Monday as housing rights activists clashed with police in Phnom Penh. The activists had been demonstrating by sitting in a major street in front of City Hall to demand land titles in two ongoing land disputes in the capital, those ...
Rubber Company Joins CPP Gift-Giving Ceremony in Ratanakkiri
Representatives of a Vietnamese rubber firm that has been accused of contributing to the illegal deforestation of vast tracts of land in northeast Cambodia joined local CPP-aligned government officials in Ratanakkiri province on Friday to hand out rice, salt and sugar to more than 400 ...
Desperate families pursue final options
Families who claim a foreigner fabricated documents to sell their land to port officials and a military commander more than seven years ago have desperately appealed to government bodies to intervene. The 104 families who have exhausted legal avenues after both the provincial and Supreme Court ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013062866543/National/desperate-families-pursue-final-options.html
Unlike Past Elections, Property Investors Remain Buoyant
Ahead of elections 10 years ago, people across the country would hoard rice in case the vote sent the country spiraling into a state of turmoil. Businesses across the country would bide their time before making any major investments. And those who could afford to ...
China to help conserve Cambodia's Angkor World Heritage Site
Cambodia’s Apsara Authority and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project of sustainable management of the existing resources for conservation and sustainable development in Angkor World Heritage Site and Siem Reap region. The deal was inked between ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-06/27/c_132492881.htm
Families in Land Dispute With City Detained for Questioning
Three men locked in a land dispute with Phnom Penh authorities were questioned both by the police and the municipal court Wednesday after they were accused of destroying property on land the government has swapped with a private firm. Ly Bun Heang, said that he, his ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/families-in-land-dispute-with-city-detained-for-questioning-32193/
Ratanakkiri reporter alleges illegal logging assault
A reporter from Cheat Sachak newspaper in Ratanakkiri province filed a complaint to provincial military police and rights group Adhoc on Monday, claiming he had been beaten by a group of illegal loggers to stop him from reporting on their activities. Phon Bun Thoen, 53, said ...
Group Considers Complaint Against Sugar Giant
A London-based sugar trade association aiming to promote a more ethical and sustainable industry will meet early next month to consider a request from Cambodian farmers that it eject U.K.-based sugar firm Tate & Lyle from the group unless it gives them back their land. Some ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/group-considers-complaint-against-sugar-giant-32001/
Fraud Case Highlights Bribery Around Requests for Citizenship
The Court of Appeal on Monday acquitted a South Korean businessman who allegedly stole $50,000 that was supposed to be used to acquire Cambodian citizenship for his boss in 2007. Koo Bonkwang, the former president of Commerce Central Finance, a microlender, said he paid the money ...
Govt and UN to save coasts
The Fisheries Administration and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Friday officially launched a program to protect Cambodia’s coastline from over-fishing, erosion and other damage to coastal environments and livelihoods. Since the beginning of the year, the program has been training local officials ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013062466440/National/govt-and-un-to-save-coasts.html
Six Cambodian Loggers Killed in One Month
The Ministry of Interior has said six Cambodians were shot dead by Thai forces in the course of a month, in a rare report outlining the impact of the ongoing trade in luxury rosewood, and authorities’ efforts to curb it. The report also says that ...
Despite Law, Minority Rights Receive Very Few Protections
The government does little to protect the rights and livelihoods of the country’s many ethnic minorities who are under constant threat from rapid development, representatives of indigenous groups said yesterday. “We have polices laws and guidelines to protect indigenous people, but we see that it doesn’t ...
In Mondolkiri, Political Candidates Address Ethnic Minority Concerns
Human rights workers and other civil society groups on Wednesday urged the competing political parties for July’s election to address the ongoing land crises and illegal deforestation that are hurting indigenous populations. About 100 people from various ethnic minority groups from five provinces attended a forum ...
Demand for cheap rentals outnumbers supply
The boom in high-rise buildings in Phnom Penh indicates the robust economic growth of the Kingdom, but this trend does not include the lower-end accommodation where most economic migrants to Phnom Penh rent.“Cheap rental accommodation plays a crucial role in providing appropriate settlements to those ...
Sam Sopanharith
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/demand-cheap-rentals-outnumbers-supply
Housing development on Cambodian islands not the right time yet
Although currently there are a lot of development projects for resorts and guesthouses on various islands off Cambodia’s coast, experts say it is not the right time for such developments. Po Eavkong, managing director of Asia Real Estate Cambodia, said the development activities on islands in ...
Judge forces sparse settlement on family of beaten children
The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday forced a family whose three children were allegedly beaten by DM Group firm employees last month to accept only $1,000 in compensation in place of the $40,000 the family initially had demanded, the children’s father claimed. Ry Sarun, 52, said that ...
Police Detain Protesting NagaWorld Staff
Nineteen NagaWorld casino employees were detained Tuesday afternoon as police attempted to break up a protest of more than 500 workers who had picketed in front of the casino for the past six days, demanding the company increase their salaries. The workers had been striking non-violently ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-detain-protesting-nagaworld-staff-31336/
Skyscraper’s woes continue
The saga of the stalled $240 million Gold Tower 42 was revived last week when it emerged that a supplier for the project had accused the owner and builder of failing to pay out nearly $500,000 in fees, according to an injunction request obtained by ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061866319/Business/skyscraper-s-woes-continue.html
Police block Beoung Kak protesters
More than 100 police and security guards, including riot squad members, were deployed to the capital’s Boeung Kak lake community yesterday to block a protest that, at times, involved only three shouting women. About 50 members of the Boeung Kak community tried to march from Village ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061866329/National/police-block-beoung-kak-protesters.html
BHP bribery scandal not thoroughly investigated
Reports have today emerged criminal allegations that BHP Billiton employees bribed officials in Cambodia and China were not thoroughly investigated by the Australian Federal Police, with the matter instead being passed over to corporate regulator ASIC, which also ran no in-depth investigation. The documents released ...
http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/bhp-bribery-scandal-not-thoroughly-investigated
Jail Sentence for Anti-Eviction Activist Upheld
The Court of Appeal on Friday upheld the guilty verdict for anti-eviction activist Yorm Bopha, but reduced her sentence from three-to two-years imprisonment, of which one year was suspended. The ruling means that Ms. Bopha will not be released until late 2014. Supporters and human rights groups ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/jail-sentence-for-anti-eviction-activist-upheld-31073/
Hundreds Protest Over Forest Land Seizures
More than 700 villagers from five provinces yesterday protested in front of the provincial government headquarters in Kompong Chhnang after losing their community forests to large agro-industry firms. Organized by the Cambodian Grassroots People’s Assembly- a network of communities that includes forestry and land activists as ...
Protesters Mix Petitions, Black Magic to Get Land
Sporting red bandanas and armed with the accoutrements of Khmer black magic, several hundred demonstrators representing embattled communities throughout the country held noisy protests outside several government offices yesterday, where they placed curses on corrupt officials and submitted written petitions demanding justice. Unlike previous protests that ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protesters-mix-petitions-black-magic-to-get-land-30761/
Call for Oversight of Cambodian Land Campaign
A land titling campaign in Cambodia launched and financed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s lacks transparency and could leave thousands of people landless, a human rights group said Wednesday, urging the country’s donors to push for reform of the program. The campaign, which employs volunteer youth ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-06122013150317.html