Environment and natural resources

A prominent rights group on Monday wrote to Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, calling on him to remind ministries and local authorities that demonstrators do not require their permission to hold public gatherings. ...

Floods caused by heavy rains and increase of water level in Mekong river have claimed 35 lives, Nhim Vanda, first vice chairman of National Committee for Disaster Management. ...

Laos has suspended the construction project of controversial 260-megawatt Don Sahong hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River following requests from other countries, newly-designated Laos ambassador to Cambodia Prasith Sayasith said Tuesday. ...

At dawn on the Dangrek Mountain range, 62-year-old logger Suon Song* uses an empty beer can to boil water for his morning coffee. He’ll need it to stay alert during the illegal and dangerous work ahead, after the first of several sleepless nights in the ...

Recent flooding has claimed another victim, a child in Kratie province who drowned, bringing the total death toll to 30, Keo Vy, cabinet director at the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), said yesterday. While water levels are declining across the 12 provinces affected by flooding, ...

The sixth Chinese-built hydropower plant, located in the Koh Kong province of   southwestern Cambodia, has begun producing electricity after more than four years of construction, the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC) said in a  statement  on Thursday. CHMC started to develop the 246-megawatt Tatay River Hydropower Plant in 2010. The dam comprises three generators, each capable of producing 82 megawatts, the statement said. ...

Military police in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district on Monday were duped into letting a detained immigration official walk free just hours after he was arrested for alleged involvement in the cross-border illegal timber trade, police said yesterday. District military police chief Sok Min said yesterday that ...

Flooding across 12 provinces has killed another two people, bringing the death toll to 29, an official said yesterday. The deaths occurred in Kampong Cham and Prey Veng provinces, according to Keo Vy, cabinet director at the National Committee for Disaster Management. ...

The U.N.’s human rights representative in Cambodia visited ethnic Bunong villagers in Mondolkiri province this week, days after local authorities prevented hundreds of them from marching to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. Wan-Hea Lee met with villagers in Pech Chreada district’s Bosra commune ...

The death toll from lethal floods has climbed to 27, with more than 10,000 families across 12 provinces evacuated from their homes to escape rising floodwaters, according to a report from the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM). The report, released yesterday, also shows that almost ...

An immigration official at the Ministry of Interior’s office in Ratanakkiri province was arrested yesterday, accused of illegal logging, district police said. O’Yadav police chief Sok Min said provincial court prosecutor Liv Sreng led military and police officials on a car chase that ended with the ...

The death toll from recent floods has climbed to 20 while rivers engorged with floodwater have completely swept away 10 houses, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management. In Prey Veng, the body of a police officer who slipped into a river while helping people ...

Most of the infrastructure required for enhanced connectivity in the Greater Mekong Subregion has been put in place, particularly the transport links that form the base of the envisaged economic corridors, Bindu Lohani, vice president of the Asian Development Bank, said yesterday. He made the remark ...

At least 19 people were killed and thousands have been evacuated from their homes in Cambodia due floods caused by heavy rains and overflowing rivers, an official said Saturday. According to the official, more than 8,000 families have been evacuated to higher grounds, Xinhua reported. ...

An annual vulture census carried out across Cambodia has recorded the second lowest population estimate for ten years. The new figures follow a major vulture poisoning incident that occurred in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri Protected Forest back in february when 13 vultures were found dead. This is the largest ...

Villagers in Mondolkiri province this week seized four trucks transporting luxury-grade timber out of a plantation they accuse of logging outside its government-granted land concession and turned the haul over to local authorities. The ethnic minority Banong villagers accuse Villa Development, which owns a local rubber ...

Six people across the country, including two young children, died in flood-related incidents yesterday, bringing the total number killed so far this rainy season to 17, according to government figures. Keo Vy, cabinet director at the National Committee for Disaster Management, said that fatalities were recorded ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has ordered provincial authorities to stop Vattanac Properties, a land developer, from filling in a lake in Kandal’s Kien Svay district because it would affect water supplies to farms of nearby residents. ...

The Mekong River Commission issued flood warnings on Wednesday for Kratie, Kampong Cham and Stung Treng as well as the southern Lao city of Pakse. After surpassing alarm levels in recent days, the Mekong is expected to reach the flood stage in Kratie on Saturday, according ...

A provincial police officer appeared for questioning at the Pailin Provincial Court on Tuesday after military police, led by a local wildlife NGO founded by U.S. actress Angelina Jolie, caught him transporting more than 177 kg of illegally logged rosewood on Sunday. Sor Phalla was arrested ...

Cambodian officials say flooding across 12 provinces has left at least eight people dead. The flooding has been caused by major rain due to Typhoon Rammasun, which has hit coastal China hard. Authorities say they expect the waters to recede in coming days, making this year’s ...

The death toll from recent floods has reached six people, while inundations have caused more than 4,400 families across four provinces to be evacuated from their homes, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management. “The full extent of the damage is not known yet,” said ...

Rainfall over the weekend, which caused flooding in 13 provinces, could improve crop yields for rice growers, provincial authorities say. Agricultural departments in Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and Battambang provinces – some of the worst hit on the weekend – all said water was ...

Boeung Kak residents delivered a petition to the Singaporean Embassy yesterday, calling on it to pressure Singapore-listed HLH Group to halt dealings with a controversial development project at the site until a land row is settled. HLH Group entered a $14.9 million purchase deal in June ...