Environment and natural resources

Rice production grew by 6.42 percent last year, despite vast tracts of paddy being devastated by flooding, according to figures released yesterday by the Ministry of Agriculture. In the 2011 to 2012 season, 8.78 million tons of rice were harvested from 2.78 million hectares of ...

Nine villagers were injured and about 270 homes damaged when a storm ravaged Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district on Friday, police said yesterday. Sandan district governor Sim Vanna told the Post that gale-force winds and heavy rain had swept across the region, leaving a trail of ...

Forty families from Kandal province’s Chroy Snor village filed a complaint with Licadho yesterday, accusing district fishery officials of keeping an illegal fishing lot open and renting it to businessmen.   ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance yesterday signed a US$60.3 million loan package with Asian Development Bank to aid in reconstruction efforts after the Kingdom last year suffered its worst floods in a decade. ...

Two hundred tons of unmilled rice slated for export to Vietnam was destroyed in a warehouse fire in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district early yesterday morning ...

Cambodia’s Heng Development Co Ltd, in co-operation with Thai and Chinese companies, plans to invest about US$200 million in a water-treatment project this year, according to the company’s general director. ...

Members of the Asean People’s Forum, a coalition of NGOs that convened in Phnom Penh last week, declared yesterday that their rights had been violated after four workshops on sensitive issues were canceled by the venue where they met. In a statement representing more than 1,200 ...

Storms that swept through Kampot and Banteay Meanchey provinces on Friday and Saturday damaged more than 100 houses and three schools, officials said yesterday. ...

The Japanese government sealed the deal yesterday on an agreement to provide Cambodia with a US$86 million loan for a project that will supply Siem Reap town residents with water from the Tonle Sap lake and alleviate their need for water drawn from wells. The 40-year ...

In an effort to stop their homes from being swallowed up by a Chinese mega-tourism project, Koh Kong villagers said they will submit a petition to the Chinese Embassy today, calling for intervention from visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao. Villager representative Tith Ten, 54, from Kiri ...

The Cambodian government has reclassified 12,000 hectares of wildlife sanctuary to make way for agro-industry concessions for three companies, according to the royal book issued on March 19. The land has been cut from the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest protected area in Cambodia, which ...

The European Union has launched a $4.5 million program aimed at increasing food security among indigenous minorities in Ratanakkiri province, including those whose land has been affected by the growing number of economic land concessions in the area. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch in ...

About 70 residents from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak lake met with Daun Penh district governor Sok Sambath yesterday to discuss the first phase of a new drainage system around the lake area that will protect against floods, a villager and municipal official said. ...

Kampong Thom province Villagers patrolling Prey Lang forest claimed yesterday that about 600 resin trees they found inside a sawmill in the Kampong Thom province had been cut down illegally – an allegation government officials quickly denied. After resistance from police and soldiers monitoring their actions this ...

In addition to security and public order initiatives in the lead-up to next week’s Asean Summit, Phnom Penh authorities said yesterday they would be redoubling their “clean city” efforts. “We’re keeping security and order, and we asked Cintri [waste disposal company] to double the numbers of ...

Kampong Thom province Villagers patrolling Prey Lang forest on motorbikes yesterday defended their decision to burn more than 360 cubic metres of timber, tear down 10 huts used by “illegal loggers” and confiscate a chainsaw, a villager representative said. “All the villagers who provide evidence about ...

Hundreds of villagers patrolling Prey Long forest for illegal logging discovered and burned more than 370 cubic meters of wood during the first four days of their campaign, an organizer said yesterday. About 400 villagers from Kompong Thom, Kratie, Stung Treng and Preah Vihear provinces who ...

Top military officials from all 10 Asean countries yesterday attended the second Asean Military Operations Informal Meeting in Phnom Penh, an event aimed primarily at enhancing cooperation between the countries in terms of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. ...

As dignitaries marked the groundbreaking of a project to improve Phnom Penh’s defenses against flooding yesterday, a complaint had already been filed against the project’s contractor for impeding a public road. The Japanese government is putting $46 million into a new phase of the city’s flood ...

Kampong Thom province Police and soldiers have been deployed to Prey Lang forest to monitor the activities of about 500 villagers patrolling for illegal loggers, a police official said yesterday. The police and military officers gathered along a road leading to the CRCK rubber company, which has ...

Cambodia border police arrested 12 people last week who attempted to cross illegally from Preah Vihear province into Thailand to log rosewood, officials said yesterday. .. ...

Rangers paid by an internationally funded conservation organisation have been directly profiting for years from the very trade they are supposed to be preventing in southwest Cambodia, documents obtained by the Post allege. Former Conservation International (CI) staff members say when they spoke up about endemic ...

One man was killed and one injured in two separate shooting incidents that took place last week at the borders with Thailand and Laos, officials said yesterday. In both cases, the Cambodians are believed to have been shot while illegally logging highly coveted luxury rosewood in ...

Kampong Thom province About 500 frustrated villagers, citing the authorities’ inaction as their motivation, rode some 250 motorbikes into Prey Lang forest over the weekend in yet another effort to combat illegal logging they say is decimating the area. The villagers from four provinces surrounding Prey Lang ...