Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction
Gov’t back for seconds at Licadho
For the second time in as many weeks, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction has asked rights group Licadho to provide data collected on the identity of land dispute complainants. ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/govt-back-seconds-licadho
Gov’t issues own dispute data
After heaping criticism on rights group Licadho for allegedly exaggerating the seriousness of Cambodia’s land rights crisis last month, the government has released its own annual report on land disputes. In a letter the following day, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/govt-issues-own-dispute-data
Licadho asked to show its data
Dismissing a recent report showing a sharp increase in land disputes, the government has said such conflicts are in fact decreasing and formally called on rights group Licadho to release its findings. Licadho reported last week that it recorded about three times as many new land ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/licadho-asked-show-its-data
Cracks leave tenants in fear
Residents of Phnom Penh’s historic White Building fled from their homes on Sunday night after large cracks suddenly appeared in the structure, which have been widely attributed to nearby construction work, sparking fears for their safety. A group of officials from City Hall and the Ministry ...
Sen David and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cracks-leave-tenants-fear
After hiatus, World Bank OKs proposal for new funding
Officials at the World Bank, which in 2011 froze new loans to Cambodia amid a furore surrounding the Boeung Kak lake evictions, have approved preliminary proposals to issue funding for a project that could see families forcibly removed in Kampong Thom province. Under the World Bank’s ...
Daniel Pye and Mom Kunthear
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/after-hiatus-world-bank-oks-proposal-new-funding
Permits given for $2b of projects this year
Figures from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction show that more than $2 billion worth of Cambodian construction projects have been given the green light so far this year. ...
Hin Pisei
http://phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/permits-given-2b-projects-year
Poor urban renters a ‘forgotten demographic’
When Hay Bunny left her home in Prey Veng province some five years ago to find a job in Phnom Penh, she was not expecting to wind up living in a small tin shack hemmed in by dozens of nearly identical dwellings on a single ...
Holly Robertson and Ouch Sony
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/poor-urban-renters-a-forgotten-demographic-72322/
Still work to do on land issue: envoy
Germany’s ambassador to Cambodia, Joachim Baron von Marschall, yesterday cautioned against too much optimism in the land sector in the face of ongoing disputes and forced evictions. The ambassador made the comments at a workshop on sustainable land policy in the capital, where speakers from ...
Taing Vida
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/still-work-do-land-issue-envoy
One million hectares reclassified, gov’t says
More than 1 million hectares of forest terrain and land leased by private companies has been put under government control since Prime Minister Hun Sen initiated a moratorium on new economic land concessions (ELCs) in May 2012, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and ...
May Titthara
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/one-million-hectares-reclassified-gov%E2%80%99t-says
Massive satellite city’s major boulevard nearing completion
A key component of the enormous ING City satellite city south of Phnom Penh – Samdech Techo Hun Sen Boulevard – is nearing completion. It will also provide access to ING City – previously known as AZ City – which is being constructed on land ...
Lack of construction regulations a concern
Cambodia is experiencing a runaway property boom that must be constrained by laws and regulations in order to draw investment from European developers, which are largely absent in the country, experts said at an industry conference in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Simon Griffiths, senior manager at ...
Kang Sothear and George Styllis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/lack-of-construction-regulations-a-concern-68862/
Cambodia holds construction, property expo as construction sector booms
An international construction and property exhibition kicked off here, in the capital city of Cambodia, on Wednesday as the country’s construction continued enjoying strong growth, officials said. Andrew Siow, chief executive officer of AMB Event-Cambodia, which organized the expo at the capital’s Diamond Island Exhibition Center, ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-09/10/c_133632913.htm
Firm calls fraud case a ‘misunderstanding’
The director of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court last week formally accused a property developer of attempting to defraud him of more than $200,000 he paid for a villa in Tuol Kok district when his name was not transferred to the land title, the businessman’s ...
Hay Pisey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/firm-calls-fraud-case-a-misunderstanding-67656/
City Hall backtracks amid White Building outcry
With momentum gathering behind a movement to renovate rather than raze Phnom Penh’s famous White Building, City Hall on Thursday backtracked on its assertion earlier this week that the building was destined for demolition. On Tuesday, Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatvong said the iconic apartment block ...
Hul Reaksmey and Chan Cheuk Yin
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-backtracks-amid-white-building-outcry-67556/
Hun Sen gives hope to villagers in land fight
Last month, Prime Minister Hun Sen was mocked for claiming in a speech on August 18 that he was unaware of a land dispute in Kratie province’s Snuol district over which villagers had repeatedly petitioned his cabinet. But Mr. Hun Sen’s admission that he was unaware ...
Mech Dara and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-gives-hope-to-villagers-in-land-fight-67416/
After prolonged protest, villagers win back land
Land Management Minister Im Chhun Lim intervened in a high-profile land dispute between villagers from Kratie province’s Snuol district and a South Korean agribusiness firm over the weekend, announcing Saturday that the contested 1,562-hectare tract would be taken back from the company and awarded to ...
Aun Pheap and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-prolonged-protest-villagers-win-back-land-67344/
Kratie land dispute unsolved after latest talks
Representatives of villagers in Kratie province locked in a land dispute with an agribusiness firm said discussions with land management and provincial officials at the Snuol district hall ended Tuesday without a resolution. ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/kratie-land-dispute-unsolved-after-latest-talks-67198/
NGO says legal action over land disputes on the rise
The number of people charged in land disputes across the country so far this year has already surpassed the number of charges in all of 2013 in what rights group Adhoc on Tuesday called an “alarming” increase in legal action against those wrapped up in ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ngo-says-legal-action-over-land-disputes-on-the-rise-66873/
Hun Sen’s student volunteer land-titling program under fire
More than a year after Prime Minister Hun Sen’s land-titling program was suspended in the lead-up to the 2013 national elections, it has still not begun again despite government claims that the program would resume following the poll. The unfinished work left by student volunteers, who ...
Ben Sokhean and Holly Robertson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sens-student-volunteer-land-titling-program-under-fire-65503/
South Korean Embassy defends rubber firm, but villagers want its help
Villagers representing families in Kratie province petitioned the South Korean Embassy for help Tuesday in their dispute with a South Korean agribusiness firm, after hearing that the embassy had lodged a complaint against them. About 200 villagers from Kratie province’s Snuol district are staying at the ...
Aun Pheap and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/south-korean-embassy-defends-rubber-firm-but-villagers-want-its-help-65263/
Land issues creating mistrust of local officials, observers say
Despite a number of agencies dispatched to solve land dispute, rights workers say people continue to face forced evictions and rights abuses by land developments. These problems are not being handled at the local level, fueling mistrust in local government, rights workers say. Rights workers from myriad ...
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/land-issues-creating-mistrust-of-local-officials-observers-say/1947717.html
Chinese company unveils development plan for eco-tourism farm in northeastern Cambodia
Macao’s Guo Hong (International) Investment and Development Co. Ltd was officially launched in Cambodia on Monday with an investment plan in developing a large- scale eco-tourism farm in northeastern Cambodia, the company’s Managing Director Wu Jinlong said. ...
Global Post News Staff
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140623/chinese-company-unveils-development-plan-eco-tourism-farm-no
Construction raking in cash
Foreign and domestic investment in construction projects skyrocketed in the first four months of the year, government data suggests. Ministry of Land Management and Urban Planning data revealed last week shows total investment in new construction projects reached more than $1.4 billion at the end of ...
May Kunmakara and Sum Manet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/construction-raking-cash
K Speu families threaten to take back farms
Representatives for about 250 families involved in a long-running dispute with an agri-business firm in Kompong Speu province have filed a complaint with rights group Adhoc and say they will attempt to retake land that was stolen from them. About 60 of the villagers traveled to ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/k-speu-families-threaten-to-take-back-farms-60033/