Agriculture and fishing
Commander Says Prosecutor Deployed Troops
Armed troops that were deployed last month to quell a land dispute protest outside the Kompong Speu Provincial Court were ordered to do so by a court prosecutor, a commander in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) said yesterday. On Feb. 9, a detachment of ...
Fishermen to be freed
Two days after extending indefinitely a ban on commercial fishing in Tonle Sap Lake, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday called for the release of all prisoners detained during the government crackdown, officials close to the premier said yesterday. Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhayli told the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030654880/National-news/fishermen-to-be-freed.html
Hun Sen Orders Fishing Criminals Released
Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the release of all prisoners serving sentences and suspects facing charges related to illegal fishing, officials said yesterday, though it was unclear when the directive would take effect. Nao Thuok, director general of the Fisheries Administration, said the prime ...
Police Arrest TTY Manager Over Shooting
Kratie provincial police have arrested the general manager of TTY rubber company, and he is now facing charges for his role in a Jan. 18 shooting of four villagers by the company’s armed guards, police and court officials said yesterday. Authorities arrested two TTY guards ...
Arrest over Kratie gunfire
The long-time general manager of TTY Company, Un Piseth, was arrested on Saturday on suspicion he ordered gunfire that injured four protesters in Kratie province on January 18. Deputy provincial prosecutor Hak Hoin said the 47-year-old had been detained after questioning on Saturday over the shootings, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030554859/National-news/arrest-over-kratie-gunfire.html
Cambodia, Brazil ink broad new agreement
Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday with Brazil, the largest Latin American economy, to boost cooperation in areas that include agriculture, technology and diplomatic ties, officials said. The MoU was signed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by secretary of state Ouch Borith and ...
Corn sales fall, profits sought in cassava
Revenues from Cambodian corn exports fell by 52 per cent last year as farmers scrapped the crop for the more lucrative, but less stable, cassava plant. The Kingdom exported 35,381 tonnes of corn, worth US$2.2 million, in 2011, down from 86,533 tonnes worth $4.57 million the ...
Minorities Seek Land Dispute March Approval
Local human rights group Adhoc has requested provincial approval to stage a large-scale march later this month involving hundreds of indigenous minorities embroiled in a land dispute in Ratanakiri province. The demonstration is being organized to bring attention to what minority villagers claim is judicial ...
Certification Quandry Stunts Sugar Exports
In April 2010, Kampot Pepper and Kompong Speu palm sugar both gained a geographical indication (GI) from the Ministry of Commerce that recognized their unique qualities and protected their name. But while Kampot pepper producers export almost all of their 17-ton annual production at high ...
Indigenous land exploited
The Royal Government of Cambodia and private land developers were exploiting indigenous communities in Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri provinces by signing concession deals for the communities’ land without prior consultation, advocates said yesterday. “We urge the government as well as the private sector to respect [indigenous peoples’] ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030254821/National-news/indigenous-land-exploited.html
Cambodia Potential
The potential for investment in Cambodia certainly appears to be there, as the country’s location in Indochina affords much opportunity for cross-border trade with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, says Mark Mobius. Mr Mobius, who oversees more than US $40 billion worth of investments as executive chairman ...
Kandal villagers seek resolution to dispute
More than 200 villagers from Kandal’s Kien Svay district gathered in protest yesterday to urge the National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution to resolve their long-standing dispute with a CPP official. The protesters assembled in the Samrong Thom commune brandishing photos of the prime minister and ...
Villagers Appeal to Halt Stung Treng Dam
Eleven village representatives from Stung Treng and Ratanakiri provinces traveled to Phnom Penh yesterday to meet with National Assembly lawmakers and appeal for an end to the planned construction of the Lower Sesan 2 Dam. The hydropower project, funded by Vietnam Electricity, will flood tens ...
Kingdom’s arable land all but gone
If the government continues to grant economic land and mining concessions at the current rate, there will be no more arable land left in the country to give away within one year, a researcher from the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights said yesterday. Pointing to the ...
River Dolphin Conservation Gets Go-Ahead
A government committee yesterday approved a draft sub-decree aimed at protecting the endangered Mekong River dolphin and will send it to the Council of Ministers within a few weeks. Among the provisions contained in the sub-decree is the creation of a 180-km-long conservation area stretching ...
A refuge for river dolphins
The government yesterday moved to protect endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River, announcing plans for a 180-kilometre-long conservation area that would stretch from the Lao border through Stung Treng province to Kratie town. Touch Seang Tana, chairman of the Commission for Conservation and Development of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030154794/National-news/a-refuge-for-river-dolphins.html
Land Concessions Now at 1.2 Million Hectares, Official Says
The total number of land concessions offered by the government to private agro-industrial firms hit 1.19 million hectares, or 13.5 percent of Cambodia’s total land mass, a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday. The government figure undermines figures released late last year ...
Hun Sen bans industry fishing at Tonle Sap lake permanently
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday extended indefinitely a ban on commercial fishing in Tonle Sap lake, citing ongoing illegal fishing to the detriment of local villagers. The premier had first imposed the ban on 35 fishing lots in the lake in August, as a result of ...
Battambang families seek land-dispute aid
Representatives of more than 300 families in Battambang province’s Bavel district yesterday urged government officials to intervene in a land dispute with provincial authorities and a businessman. Representative Thuy Ry said the 305 families had lived on the 3,638 hectares of land in Ampil Pram Doeum ...
Hun Sen Ends Tonle Sap Fishing Lot System
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that he would permanentlycance all 35 fishing lots on the Tonle Sap lake – which had already been suspended in recent months – and turn them into a conservation zone to protect the lake’s pressurized wild fisheries, on which ...
Net Vegetable Yields Still Miss Demand
Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said yesterday that Cambodia currently produces only half as many vegetables as it needs to meet demand and that more needs to be done to remedy the situation. “Cambodia only produces 40 to 60 perent of its needs and imports, the ...
IMF says Cambodian economy to grow 6.5 per cent, but warns of risks
Cambodia’s economy is expected to grow 6.5 per cent in 2012, up from 5.75 per cent last year, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual review, adding that government policies to boost the investment climate were paying off. However, in its assessment, which was released ...
Villagers in capital to protest development
Representatives from five communes in Koh Kong province are scheduled to hold a press conference in the capital today, appealing for government intervention in a land dispute with a Chinese development company that has spanned nearly four years. Lov Hov, a representative from Thmar Sar commune, ...
RCAF Soldiers Shoot to Intimidate Banteay Meanchey Protesters
Several RCAF soldiers sent by Banteay Meanchey provincial authorities to defuse a protest against an agro-industrial company Friday allegedly shot their weapons into the ground near a group of protesters, a villager and a rights worker said yesterday. The approximately 200 villagers were attempting to ...