Environment and natural resources
Water resources
Work underway on 'catastrophic' Cambodian dam
Srekor village has stood on the banks of the Se San River in northeastern Cambodia for generations. In a few years it will be gone, submerged along with more than 300 square kilometres of surrounding farmland and forest. For 37-year-old rice farmer Pa Tou, the ...
http://www.dw.de/work-underway-on-catastrophic-cambodian-dam/a-16803423
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 ...
Ratanakkiri Hydropower Dams Deemed Economically Viable
Two massive hydropower dams planned for the Mekong’s tributaries in Ratanakkiri province have been deemed economically viable by two feasibility studies conducted by a pair of giant Chinese conglomerates, a provincial industry, mines and energy official said yesterday. Despite the feasibility studies having been completed, ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ratanakkiri-hydropower-dams-deemed-economically-viable-23116/
Work Begins on Controversial Cambodian Dam
As work begins on Cambodia’s biggest dam, those advocating against its construction have warned that the region’s rush for hydropower will have a disastrous effect on millions of people who rely on the Mekong River to survive. Last month, workers began preparing an area in northeastern ...
http://www.voanews.com/content/work-begins-on-controversial-hydropower-dam/1656035.html
Flooded Forest Gets Protection
A Northeastern section of the Mekong River that is home to a number of endangered species has been designated a conservation site by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. A prakas issued by Minister Chan Sarun on April 23 officially declared a 56-kilometre section of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050765443/National/flooded-forest-gets-protection.html
Mekong forest facing sharp decline: WWF
BANGKOK: Demand for farmland may strip the Greater Mekong region of a third of its remaining forest cover over the next two decades without swift government action, a leading conservation group warned Thursday. Forests are being cleared for commodities such as rubber and rice while illegal logging is decimating ...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/mekong-forest-facing-sharp-decline-wwf/661574.html
Tourism: More Info Needed
In diversifing its holiday attractions, Cambodia’s tourism industry should focus on three key areas – the country’s northeastern region, the coasts and the vicinity around Siem Reap – but efforts to promote these destinations are still lacking, an industry leader says. Statistics from the Ministry ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050265365/Business/tourism-more-info-needed.html
Investors Look For Hotel Opportunities In Southeast Asia
Hotel transaction volumes in Asia hit US$620 million (Bt18.18 billion) in the first quarter, up 190 per cent from the same period last year, and properties in Southeast Asia are attracting investor attention, according to real-estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle. “Rising visitor arrivals, robust trading ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NGM4ODkxZTEzMjg
New Kampot Salt Farm Has Big Ambitions
TOEK CHHOU DISTRICT, Kampot province – A donor-backed project launched here on Saturday aims to produce Cambodia’s first export-quality sea salt and invigorate the struggling local salt industry. In a ceremony among Kampot’s vast fields of coastal saltpans and low levees, company representatives from Asia Salt ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/new-kampot-salt-farm-has-big-ambitions-20505/
Hun Sen Demands Answers to Sihanoukville Water Shortage
Prime Minister Hun Sen chastised local authorities in Preah Sihanouk province on Friday for their inability to prevent a water shortage in early April that crippled businesses in the tourist hub of Sihanoukville and left locals without running water for almost a week. The incident ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-demands-answers-to-water-shortage-20480/
ADB supports integration of regional energy systems
Countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region can save US$14 billion over the next 20 years if they integrate their power transmission systems, according to a senior official from the Asian Development Bank. A regional power grid connection would enable countries with hydro-power plants to export energy ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZGE3NWI5YWNjYTV
Long Rainy Season to Help Increase Rice Yields
Farmers can expect better rice paddy yields this year compared to last year after the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology yesterday predicted that the rainy season would run from mid-May until November with only a short dry spell. Chhomg Sopal, agriculture development ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/long-rainy-season-to-help-increase%E2%80%88rice-yields-20266/
Fishermen feeling the heat
Rising water temperatures are affecting fisheries and marine life, said several representatives of Cambodia’s aquaculture industry, and the effect is decreasing seed production and lowering aquaculture farmers’ productivity. Say Sorn, president of aquaculture seed production in Siem Reap province, told the Post yesterday that water temperature ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013041165024/Business/fishermen-feeling-the-heat.html
Water Supply Begins to Return to Sihanoukville
Anco Water Supply, a private company that is supplying Sihanoukville with access to fresh water has alleviated a water shortage that began when a state-owned reservoir dried up more than a week ago. Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Sbuon Sarath said that running water had been restored ...
Cambodia-France discuss tram system project
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with Serge Mostura, French Ambassador to Cambodia, to discuss a tram system project to benefit the residents of Phnom Penh, an official said Monday. Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said, the two sides discussed ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&title=cambodia&token=YmZhZWE5YzkyNWJ
Xi hails ties with Cambodia
China-Cambodia relations have become a model of friendly coexistence and close cooperation among countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at an international forum that opened on Sunday. China and Cambodia are good neighbors, friends, partners and brothers, Xi said while meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-04/07/c_132290730.htm
Koh Rong airport plans foggy
Plans are in place for a new $10 million international airport on Koh Rong island, but questions remain as to when construction would commence and when funding would be available. Designs for the roughly 7,200-square-metre airport terminal, which will consist of Khmer- and resort-style architecture, were ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040564911/Business/koh-rong-airport-plans-foggy.html
Price of Water Spikes as Sihanoukville Shortages Drag On
As Sihanoukville’s water shortage drags on, the price of water being delivered by private suppliers has skyrocketed with residents and business owners growing ever more desperate to get clean water into their homes, hotels and restaurants. Over the past week, since a reservoir supplying the city ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/price-of-water-spikes-as-sihanoukville-shortage-drags-on-17341/
SRP Commune Told to Stop Talking to Media about Dam
Officials from the Stung Treng provincial forestry administration have warned a local SRP commune chief against speaking to the media about the clearing of trees from a 36,000-hectare site to become the reservoir of a giant hydropower dam in the area, the commune chief said ...
No Power Leads to No Water In Sihanoukville
The water shortage that has led to tens of thousands of households in Sihanoukville without running water for the past week occurred after provincial officials decided to limit power to a water pumping facility operated by the tourist town’s privately-owned distributor, a manager at the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/no-power-leads-to-no-water-in-sihanoukville-16858/
Workers begin Clearing Land for Lower Sesan 2
Workers in Stung Treng province have begun clearing forested land with chainsaws in order to make way for the reservoir of a massive hydropower dam that has drawn ire from local villagers who say they have not been informed about the dam’s construction plans. The National ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-begin-clearing-land-for-lower-sesan-2-16743/
Sihanoukville Runs Dry During Water Crisis
A water shortage in the tourist town of Sihanoukville has led authorities to advise scores of businesses to dig their own wells as only 50 percent of local demand is currently being met after high temperatures dried up the water supplier’s only reservoir. On March ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sihanoukville-runs-dry-during-water-crisis-16609/
Climate change to affect Mekong production
Climate change will have a significant effect on major industrial and food crops in the Lower Mekong basin countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, says a new study. The study, conducted by the Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change Project for the U.S. Agency ...
Pursat Police Official Charged Over Illegal Fishing
The Pursat Provincial court on Friday charged Krakor district’s judicial police bureau chief for taking bribes in order to allow illegal fishing in the Tonle Sap Lake, officials said yesterday. [Hong Bunthoeun] stands accused of accepting bribes to allow illicit fishing in parts of the Tonle ...