Environment and natural resources
Pollution and waste
Slums in capital decried
Unicef during a discussion yesterday pressured the Phnom Penh Municipality to develop a plan to eradicate slums in the capital, but government officials offered no quick fixes. According to the municipality, there are 281 slum communities in the capital, which 2,033 families call home. Earlier this month, ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/slums-capital-decried
Project to fix capital’s drains kicks into gear
The third phase of a project designed to revamp Phnom Penh’s drainage system, currently inundated by seasonal rains, began yesterday. Four areas of the city spanning a total of 369,445 metres will be witness to the next stage of the project’s implementation, part of an ongoing ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/project-fix-capital%E2%80%99s-drains-kicks-gear
Mekong residents voice their concerns
Residents living in the Mekong River basin are expressing concerns over water degradation in the Mekong river and its impact on farming, aquaculture and the livelihood of the millions of people who live in the region. People from Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam’s Cuu Long (Mekong) ...
http://vietnamnews.vn/society/242941/mekong-residents-voice-their-concerns.html
Villagers Fed Up With Garbage Dump Problems
Residents of three villages in Kompong Cham province’s Krala commune are growing increasingly frustrated with problems caused by a local garbage dump, saying it is a health hazard and that it emits an unpleasant odor. Khat Seang, chief of Tuol Porpel village, said the frustration may ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-fed-up-with-garbage-dump-problems-33611/
Lao Dams, Mining Ruining Sekong Water Quality in Cambodia
Dam-building and gold mining in southern Laos are ruining water quality downstream on the Sekong River in Cambodia, where villagers are no longer able to drink or use the water, according to an environmental group. The activities undertaken by Lao and Vietnamese companies on the Sekong’s ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/sekong-06252013190742.html
Try Pheap given OK to harvest yellow vine
Logging baron Try Pheap’s MDS Import Export Co, Ltd has been granted a licence to collect and process the controversial plant known as yellow vine around the Stung Atay hydropower dam in the Cardamom Mountains, according to documents received by the Post yesterday. The vine has ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060466045/National/try-pheap-given-ok-to-harvest-yellow-vine.html
Villagers Petition Against Crematorium’s Removal
More than 1,000 villagers in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district have signed a petition protesting the removal of a crematorium that is currently on land slated for a large development project. According to a letter from the Council of Ministers addressed to the Ministry of Cults ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-petition-against-crematoriums-removal-27487/
As Phnom Penh Grows, So Does Its Sewage Problem
Since 1998, Phnom Penh’s population has doubled to more than 2 million. High-rise buildings have popped up in the city’s center and housing developments have been hastily erected. Yet the city’s antiquated, decades-old drainage system has undergone little improvement in that time and experts say the ...
Trees being cleared for Sesan dam
As many as 40 workers are cutting down trees, marking other trees they plan to fell in protected forest areas and piling up luxury timber in a flood-safety zone in Stung Treng’s Srekor commune, a local official said yesterday. Commune chief Seak Mekong said the workers ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040264835/National/trees-being-cleared-for-sesan-dam.html
Ministry pushes for safer use of industrial chemicals
The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) and the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) yesterday discussed means of safely stocking industrial chemicals, with the hope of reducing environmental pollution in the region. At a conference on sustainable manufacturing practices, Sok Narin, the head of UNIDO ...
Runoff From Illegal Gold Mines Cause Cow Deaths
Toxic runoff from small-scale gold mining operations in Battambang province killed two cattle on Wednesday, the latest casualties from pollution in the area led to the closing of more than 100 mines earlier this year. Officials from the provincial mines department yesterday said they were unaware of ...
Mekong River threatened by transport of dangerous goods
The Mekong River Commission has released a comprehensive risk analysis of the transport of dangerous goods and issued recommendations to prevent oil spills, industrial waste and other emerging threats from navigation. Developed by the MRC Navigation Programme in Phnom Penh, the risk analysis finds that the ...
Rights activists concerned about status of human rights under AEC
Despite so much excitement in the run-up to the inception of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, experts and activists on human rights and democracy are ambivalent about what AEC’s repercussions will be on human rights and democracy. They have expressed concerns about AEC’s negative ...
Japan to Study Angkor Wat Park Environment
The Apsara Authority on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Japan Development Institute and two Japanese environmental management companies that will allow them to conduct a feasibility study into the natural environment and pollution in the Angkor Archaeological Park. Yuki Edano, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry, and Commerce ...
Coal justified: ministry
The general director of the Energy Department at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy has defended Cambodia’s energy needs and its use of coal power as the country attempts to use modern technology to reduce pollution ahead of the ASEAN Senior Energy Officials’ 30th ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357154/Business/coal-justified-ministry.html
Sand dredging deja-vu
They thought the days of scenic sunsets ruined by the noise and pollution of dredgers on the Tatai River were over, but villagers and business owners in the popular tourism destination now say they were duped in a promise from ruling party Senator Ly Yong ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011122753640/National-news/sand-dredging-deja-vu.html
New project aims to lower levels of industrial pollution
Industrial pollution ‘hot-spots’ have been identified in waterways in Phnom Penh, Kandal and Kompong Cham provinces following a five-month period of research as part of a UN-backed effort to encourage companies to adopt cleaner practices. The hot spots – defined as a source of pollution where ...
Sanya Motorcycles Officially Enter Cambodian Market
PHNOM PENH– The China-made Sanya-branded motorcycles have officially entered Cambodian market on Wednesday to compete in the country’s crowded motorcycle market. Pan Sorasak, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Commerce, expressed congratulations to the SCI Company Limited for being selected to be the exclusive distributor ...
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2011-08/24/content_13181497.htm
Sand for Singapore's Growth Comes at Environmental Cost to Poorer Neighbors
KOH KONG, Cambodia (AP) — Round a bend in Cambodia’s Tatai River and the virtual silence of a tropical idyll turns suddenly into an industrial nightmare. Lush jungle hills give way to a flotilla of dredgers operating 24 hours a day, scooping up sand and piling ...