Government
Crackdown on illegal checkpoints
The General Commissariat of National Police has announced it will take legal action against police officers found abusing their positions and demanding money from people at illegal checkpoints. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35280/crackdown--on-illegal--checkpoints/
PM orders arrest of lying politicians
Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered authorities to arrest any politicians pledging to clear the debts of voters with micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and banks if their party wins the elections. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35279/pm-orders-arrest-of-lying-politicians/
Electric proposal Usage-based plan to lower power rates
Cambodia’s electricity regulator is set to roll out seven new plans designed to reduce electricity fees beginning in April and through 2020, with some fees dropping as low as 480 riel per kilowatt hour. ...
Yesenia Amaro and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/electric-proposal-usage-based-plan-lower-power-rates
RCAF gets Korean gear
Cambodia is expecting a shipment of military vehicles donated by South Korea, according to a sub-decree. The Ministry of Finance in December released about $1 million to the Defence Ministry to cover the equipment’s transportation, it says. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rcaf-gets-korean-gear
ANZ to offer online tax payment system
ANZ Royal customers will be able to make tax payments in local currency and in US dollars at all bank branches and online starting in April following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Economy and Finance Ministry on Friday. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35105/anz-to-offer-online-tax-payment-system/
Cambodia against ‘internationalization’ of Rohingya crisis
Prime Minister Hun Sen emerged from a meeting with visiting Burmese President Htin Kyaw on Saturday declaring he did not support the “internationalization” of Burma’s escalating Rohingya crisis, going against mounting global fears of an impending genocide. ...
Khuon Narim and Hannah Hawkins
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-against-internationalization-of-rohingya-crisis-124604/
PM affirms ‘One-China’ stance
Prime Minister Hun Sen has told a solidarity dinner with the Cambodian-Chinese Association that Cambodia backs the “One-China policy” and will not allow the Taiwanese flag to be raised in the kingdom. This stance would avoid affecting the good relationship between the two countries. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35123/pm-affirms----one-china----stance/
Land disputes with Phanimex to be resolved
The Land Management Ministry has said it will resolve the land disputes in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district and Kandal’s Ponhea Leu district between Suy Sophan and more than 500 families. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35083/land-disputes-with-phanimex-to-be-resolved/
More protests at Land Ministry
About 100 people representing nearly 200 families protested at the Ministry of Land Management in Phnom Penh yesterday, demanding the ministry expedite a solution to their land disputes with three sugarcane plantation companies in Koh Kong province. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35079/more-protests-at-land-ministry/
Parliament issues unconstitutional order on questioning
Violating the Constitution while following through on a threat from Prime Minister Hun Sen, the National Assembly’s CPP-staffed secretariat on Thursday issued an order saying that ministers would not appear before lawmakers unless the CNRP stopped boycotting parliamentary sessions. ...
Kuch Naren and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/parliament-issues-unconstitutional-order-on-questioning-124526/
PM: No questions for the ministers
Prime Minister Hun Sen said he will not allow members of the opposition to question government ministers in the National Assembly (NA), telling a pro-government news outlet that the opposition had to “respect the law first.” ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35026/pm--no-questions-for-the-ministers/
Government limits teacher overtime
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday issued a sub-decree to limit teacher overtime in public schools in an effort to fix teachers’ working hours in accordance with government budgetary constraints. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-limits-teacher-overtime
Tax tweak makes it hard to hide
An amendment to the tax code gives government auditors clearer authority to access individual and corporate financial data, providing a tool to identify tax evasion and a deterrent to prevent it, tax professionals said yesterday. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/tax-tweak-makes-it-hard-hide
Minister plans railway for workers
The Labor Ministry is considering constructing a railway line connecting Phnom Penh and select provinces to special economic zones (SEZ) or industrial areas in response to the high number of road accidents involving commuting workers. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/34978/minister-plans-railway-for-workers/
Council starts rejecting CNRP voter complaints
The Constitutional Council of Cambodia on Monday rejected the CNRP’s complaints against the first 76 of 2,441 people the opposition party says were unlawfully registered to vote last year, arguing, like the National Election Committee, that the opposition party lacked evidence to back up its ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/council-starts-rejecting-cnrp-voter-complaints-124317/
Online vehicle registration and driving tests launched
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport officially launched a pair of new websites yesterday that will allow Cambodians to register their vehicles as well as take the written portion of their driver’s exam online. ...
Sen David and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/online-vehicle-registration-and-driving-tests-launched
South Korea pledges $417 million in development loans to Cambodia
South Korea will hand out nearly $420 million in development loans to Cambodia this week, much of it for roads and other infrastructure, bringing its total assistance to more than $880 million since 2001. ...
Hannah Hawkins
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/south-korea-pledges-417m-in-development-loans-to-cambodia-124306/
Water authority overcharges village residents
Representatives for nearly 50 families protested yesterday asking the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) to rectify a clerical error that led to high monthly water bills for residents of two communities. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/34915/water-authority-overcharges-village-residents/
Constitutional Council to hear voter registration complaints
The Constitutional Council of Cambodia will today start hearing claims from the opposition CNRP that more than 2,400 non-citizens were recently added to the country’s voter rolls, days after the government’s National Election Committee threw out the same complaints. ...
Khuon Narim and Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/constitutional-council-to-hear-voter-registration-complaints-124233/
New public bus service to province
Kampong Speu province will be the second place after Phnom Penh to launch a public bus service after an agreement between the provincial authority and Brickston Cambodia on Wednesday.Provincial governor Vei Samnang said: “We cannot confirm the specific date because we need to process the ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/34817/new-public-bus-service-to-province/
CNRP may sit out rules change
Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers are considering boycotting next week’s extraordinary plenary session vote to strip away their role as the National Assembly’s minority group, saying the ruling party-backed proposal highlight’s the parliament’s weakness. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-may-sit-out-rules-change
Kingdom slips in TI’s graft index
For the fourth year in a row, Transparency International (TI) has rated Cambodia the country perceived as ASEAN’s most corrupt, and just ahead of North Korea and Afghanistan for the entire Asia-Pacific region.The 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index, which scores and ranks 176 countries and territories ...
Andrew Nachemson and Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-slips-tis-graft-index
Ambitious arts trial seeks to spark Cambodia’s creativity
A five-year pilot program is being created to integrate arts and culture into public schools throughout the country, and may help Cambodians develop a better understanding of their roots and the creative ability to take on global challenges. ...
Michelle Vachon
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ambitious-arts-trial-seeks-to-spark-cambodias-creativity-123982/
Post-Obama, Hun Sen faces uncertain US policy
If it wasn’t already clear, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday let an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos know how he really felt about former U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration’s “pivot” to Asia. ...
Colin Meyn
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/post-obama-hun-sen-faces-uncertain-us-policy-123860/