ODC English Site
BHP Billiton Faces Bribery Charges After Abandoned Project
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the country’s financial regulator have informed Australia-based mining giant BHP Billiton it could still be charged over allegations the company bribed overseas officials, which include claims of improper payments to members of the Cambodian government. Prime Minister Hun Sen ...
Microsoft decries pirated software
Microsoft Cambodia has found that an overwhelming majority of computer retailers surveyed earlier this year failed to offer customers the option to purchase licensed, as opposed to pirated, software. Out of the 54 Cambodian computer retailers included in the May survey, the results of which were ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/microsoft-decries-pirated-software
Feature: Slum dwellers in Cambodian capital want to benefit from development
Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital and largest city, has seen rapid development in the last decade — numerous high-rises, large shopping malls and business centres as well as public parks are beautifying this city — in the meantime, slum-dwellers are also on the rise. According to the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/18/c_132641165.htm
Ecosystems in the Greater Mekong: past trends, current status, possible futures
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Yunnan and Guangxi in China) is undergoing unprecedented changes. Many of these are positive, reflecting political stabilization and economic growth following decades of poverty and conflict. But the rate and type of development is ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=ZjY4MTUzZGZkNmQ
Sri Lankan company to plant 20,000 hectares of rubber in Cambodia
Sri Lankan agricultural group Lankem Ceylon PLC says it plans to plant 20,000 hectares of rubber in Cambodia as part of a diversification strategy. Lankem chairman A Rajaratnam disclosed the strategy in the company’s annual report for the year to March, 2012, released by the company ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OGEzOGYyMjJhYTI
UN Rights Envoy Says Democracy Is Limited in Cambodia
Cambodia is falling short of the full liberal democracy enshrined in its Constitution, the government is becoming increasingly intolerant to constructive criticism and judicial, parliamentary and electoral reforms have been slow to take effect, according to U.N. human rights envoy Surya Subedi’s latest report on ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-rights-envoy-says-democracy-is-limited-in-cambodia-39949/
Happy Birthday, ODC!
Members of the ODC Team and John WeeksIt’s Open Development Cambodia’s Second Birthday! We have grown tremendously since our soft launch on August 16, 2011. Some of you have been part of our development over the past two years! Others of you have been dedicated ...
CNRP Walks Out of NEC Complaints Hearing
The opposition CNRP on Thursday walked out of an election complaints session at the headquarters of the National Election Committee (NEC), claiming the body was investigating complaints improperly and without the presence of its leadership. The CNRP, which has called for a transparent and independent investigation ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cnrp-walks-out-of-nec-complaints-hearing-39840/
Fearing Unrest, Garment Workers Abandon Jobs
Phnom Penh’s garment factories are operating at a greatly reduced capacity as workers return home to the provinces in droves in response to the government’s decision to increase security after the opposition warned they plan to hold mass demonstrations against the election results. Ken Loo, secretary-general ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/fearing-unrest-garment-workers-abandon-jobs-39842/
Driven by data: Open Development Cambodia turns two and goes viral
— MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT —Phnom Penh, 15 August 2013 – Open Development Cambodia (ODC), the innovative open data website that brings together a treasure trove of economic, environmental and social data on the Kingdom in one place, is celebrating its second birthday tomorrow, 16 August. And ...
Opposition Voters in Preah Vihear Claim Threat of Eviction
Locals and rights groups on Wednesday said dozens of farmers in a village in Preah Vihear province have been singled out for eviction after supporting the opposition CNRP in last month’s vote, a claim their village chief denied. Residents of Choam Ksan district’s Kom Prak village ...
Anti-tank mine explodes, killing 6 in Cambodia
Six farmers were killed on the spot and another one seriously injured after a home-made tractor ran onto an old anti-tank mine in northwestern Preah Vihear province, police chief confirmed Thursday. The accident occurred in a forest in Chom-ksan district when the tractor hit the mine ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/15/c_132632791.htm
Villagers in a drawn-out land fight summonsed
Five Tumpuon villagers have again been summonsed for questioning by the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court in a lengthy dispute after private firm Ly Sokim Co Ltd accused villagers of destroying its property. In the latest summons, dated July 30, villagers are warned that failing to show up ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-drawn-out-land-fight-summonsed
Irrawaddy Dolphin Killed in Mekong River by Illegal Fishing
An Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead yesterday morning tied up in a fishing net and floating in the Mekong River in Kratie province, officials said. Khieu Kin, chief of Kratie’s provincial fishery administration, said that the 2.03-meter long, 105kg female dolphin had likely become entangled in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/irrawaddy-dolphin-killed-in-mekong-river-by-illegal-fishing-39628/
After vote, land issues heat up
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights yesterday expressed concern at a recent spate of land disputes coming on the heels of last month’s vote, and questioned whether campaign promises of resolving the Kingdom’s ongoing land issues had been forgotten now that the election has passed. The ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/after-vote-land-issues-heat
Striking Power Plant Trainees Get Wage Raise
More than 170 trainees at a Chinese-backed power plant under construction in Preah Sihanouk province ended a five-day protest on Monday after securing higher wages from their employer, according to a union representative and provincial official. Khmer Workers Power Federation Union president Chey Sovann, who negotiated ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/striking-power-plant-trainees-get-wage-raise-39520/
Maternal health gets a boost in 3 provinces
About 300,000 women of reproductive age will receive higher-quality emergency obstetric and newborn-care services thanks to a sizeable handover of medical equipment and supplies to government health centres and hospitals in Kampong Thom, Kampot and Kep provinces. Through a partnership seeking to improve the social healthcare ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/maternal-health-gets-boost-3-provinces
Flood death toll hits seven
Relentless floodwater in Banteay Meanchey has killed at least seven people since late last month, when water began inundating the province, national disaster officials confirmed. Fatalities from the deluge in Banteay Meanchey include four adults and three children, National Committee for Disaster Management chief Keo Vy ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/flood-death-toll-hits-seven
Sand-Dredging Boats Active One Day After Ban Announced
Sand-dredging boats were active along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on Tuesday, despite the city’s municipal governor, Pa Socheatvong, having ordered a complete suspension of dredging in the city the day before. Phnom Penh City Hall on Monday put in place the temporary ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sand-dredging-boats-active-one-day-after-ban-announced-39522/
Capital governor declares moratorium on dredging
Phnom Penh municipal governor Pa Socheatvong has ordered a complete suspension of all sand-dredging activities while the municipality investigates whether the companies are operating illegally, a spokesman said. The order came during a meeting yesterday between the governor and his subordinates, City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/capital-governor-declares-moratorium-dredging
Two Cambodian children hospitalized with H5N1
Cambodia’s health ministry today announced two more H5N1 avian flu cases, both in children, the hardest-hit group in that country so far. The patients are a 9-year-old boy from Battambang province and a 5-year-old girl from Kandal province, according to a joint statement today from Cambodia’s ...
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/08/two-cambodian-children-hospitalized-h5n1
Villagers Concerned Over Impact of Gold Mine
More than 700 families living in Stung Treng province’s Siem Pang district have appealed to local authorities, demanding that they intervene to stop a Chinese company mining gold near their homes. Sin Dan, chief of Thma Keo commune, said he had delivered the petition to both ...
Worker applications eased
Candidates for a government program that sends Cambodians to work in South Korea can file paperwork closer to home this year, as applications will now be distributed in 13 provinces. Applications will be available until Friday in provincial labour offices in Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/worker-applications-eased
Cambodia dispacthes 11,940 laborers abroad in first 6 months
Cambodia has sent about 11,940 laborers overseas in the first six months of this year, down 29 percent from 16,900 it sent over the same period last year, the figures of the Ministry of Labor showed Tuesday. In January to June period this year, the country ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/13/c_132627422.htm