Government

In the coming weeks, a task force composed of officials from the ministries of tourism, religion, culture and education will lead an expedition to a remote patch of forest on Kampot province’s Bokor Mountain where Vietnamese tourists pray, the education minister said Monday. ...

Due to a lack of funding, the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts has delayed publishing guidelines that are meant to increase clarity on inspection procedures for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). ...

Families in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district have been protesting since Friday against wealthy businessman Khun Sear’s plan to build a brick wall that will effectively block access to their village. ...

Representatives of more than 60 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and an electoral reform group on Monday boycotted a national workshop held Cambodia’s ruling and opposition parties on the electoral reform draft law, saying they did not have enough time to review the documents. ...

The Transport Ministry is speeding up work on a joint plan for bus services that would link the far South and Malaysia to meet the needs of commuters between the two countries. Thailand also plans to hold talks with Cambodian authorities this month over increasing ...

Environment Minister, Say Sam Al, said on Monday that the Royal Government of Cambodia has cut off over 14,000 hectares of land and handed over to citizens, and military forces. ...

Cambodia’s construction sector attracted a total investment of 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, down 10 percent from 2.77 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, according to official data on Monday. ...

At the behest of Prime Minister Hun Sen, prisons across the country Sunday marked International Women’s Day by releasing a total of 22 female inmates who are either pregnant or had young children with them in jail, including a woman convicted of attempted murder over ...

Dozens of NGOs are planning to boycott a workshop Monday to discuss the new election law, saying that the CPP and CNRP have not given them enough time to review the draft and that they do not want to give the event a veneer of ...

The National Assembly’s Anti-Corruption Commission will visit Siem Reap this month to further probe claims Angkor Archaeological Park’s manager, the Apsara Authority, underreported ticket sales, as new figures show a drop in visitors to the World Heritage site last month. ...

The Interior Ministry has given Cambodian dissident Sourn Serey Ratha permission to proceed with the registration of a political party despite the self-exiled government critic’s recent conviction in absentia for plotting an attack on the state. ...

An annual US-led military training exercise, which was marred by controversy last year when a major rights group said it was teaching tactics that would assist Cambodia’s “abusive armed forces” in crackdowns, will officially open today in Kampong Speu province. ...

The allocation of two new seats to Preah Sihanouk province and absence of seats for Phnom Penh in the recently distributed draft law on electoral reform has prompted concerns that attempts are being made to manipulate the playing field ahead of the 2018 election. Ou Virak, ...

Two government ministers will meet with a National Assembly commission on Monday to discuss a tourism management plan for Bo­kor Mountain, according to CNRP lawmaker Yem Ponhea­rith, who last month visited the mountain to inspect burial sites popular with Vietnamese tourists. ...

The son of a police lieutenant colonel and a member of a commune council were among four people arrested Thursday in Kom­pong Thom province for dealing drugs and were remanded in custody, a court prosecutor said Friday. ...

The country’s two major political parties signed off on the final draft of a revised and highly controversial election law on Friday, with civil society groups arguing that the bill is unconstitutional due to a provision that restricts their activity during the election campaign period. ...

A 20-year-old woman suffered serious burns to her face and body after being doused with acid in Phnom Penh on Friday in an attack allegedly carried out by a jealous wife who suspected the victim was sleeping with her husband. ...

The National Assembly’s banking and finance commission has called parliament’s chief administrator for questioning on Tuesday over alleged spending irregularities in a 2015 budget that included buying 30 new cars at $200,000 each and spending $25,000 on a flagpole. ...

A former official at the National Aids Authority (NAA) alleged this week that the organization falsified letters authorizing missions to three different provinces so that fraudulent expenses could be claimed. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen last week appointed 14 high-ranking officials to a working group that is now responsible for overseeing his bodyguard unit during all events that he and his wife attend, the unit’s commander said Thursday. ...

The revised national election law—expected to come before parliament this month—includes a provision that allows National Assembly seats to be taken away from any political party that attempts to boycott parliament following an election, according to a draft of the law made public Thursday. ...

Police shut down the Our Home orphanage and school in Phnom Penh on Thursday, two days after child sex abuse allegations led to the arrest of its director—a former head of the anti-pedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), which carried out the investigation. ...

In a meeting Thursday in Siem Reap province with about 270 provincial officials and members of the opposition CNRP, party President Sam Rainsy promised to find a “win-win solution” to the members’ demands that the provincial CNRP chief be removed from her post. ...

There are now more than 1 million estimated Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. This could be a threat to Cambodia’s economy and politics in the future, an analyst says. ...