ODC English Site
The canes of wrath
Satiating the demands of the global sugar industry is big business for Cambodia’s sugarcane plantations. Yet accusations of human rights abuses and land grabs in the Kingdom have left a bitter aftertaste for many on the ground as companies vie for a larger slice of ...
Navy arrests 4 Cambodian rosewood smugglers
Royal Thai Navy ships intercepted a Cambodian fishing boat illegally smuggling 10 million baht in Siamese rosewood out of the kingdom. The HTMS Chao Phraya staffed with military, customs and forestry office personnel captured the 18-meter-long fishing vessel carrying 296 logs in its fish holds ...
http://www.pattayamail.com/localnews/navy-arrests-4-cambodian-rosewood-smugglers-25782?ref=pmci
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
Opposition Lawmakers Want ‘Social’ Land to Go to Farmers
Cambodian lawmakers have passed a new law on agriculture, but critics say the law does not go far enough to protect the country’s farmers. The law passed on Thursday evening, but not before debate at the National Assembly. During the debate opposition representatives called on the ...
Villagers Make Heady Claims Against NGO
Families living in Koh Kong province have called on the provincial governor to intervene in what they claim are ongoing land disputes with Forestry Administration authorities and conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance. Thirty-eight families from Mondul Seima and Khemarak Pumin districts have 110 hectares of land between ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051065550/National/villagers-make-heady-claims-against-ngo.html
‘Power cuts just a transitional problem’
Recurring power cuts and power shortages draw sharp complaints from Cambodia’s public, the political opposition and business owners. Keo Ratanak, director-general of Electricite du Cambodge (EDC), talked to the Post’s Sarah Thust. What is EDC doing to reduce electricity cuts here? The issue of power shortage is ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051065532/Business/power-cuts-just-a-transitional-problem.html
Cambodian Parliament Ratifies ASEAN-China Maritime Transport Agreement
The National Assembly of Cambodia on Friday ratified the agreement on maritime transport between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, saying the agreement is essential to develop trade and economic ties between ASEAN and China. “The agreement aims to facilitate and foster ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-05/10/c_132372924.htm
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 ...
Residents Call for Foul-Smelling Factory to Move
About 100 people protested Wednesday evening outside a Phnom Penh ice-making factory owned by the daughter of deputy Kompong Spue governor Tong Seng, complaining that the factory causes a bad smell and that the health of residents in Russei Keo district’s Kilometer 6 commune was ...
Wage Hike Leads To Rent Fears
Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun yesterday appealed to landlords with properties close to garment factories not to take advantage of the industry’s minimum wage increase by raising rent prices. The minimum monthly salary in the garment sector – Cambodia’s biggest export industry – officially ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051065555/National/wage-hike-leads-to-rent-fears.html
New Kompong Thom Governor Vows to Give Land to Evictees
The newly appointed Kompong Thom provincial governor on Tuesday promised more than 500 families who were forcefully evicted by a Vietnamese rubber plantation more than three years ago that they would be given replacement land to farm on early next month. Security forces evicted villagers from ...
Delta Electronics eyes Cambodia expansion
Delta Electronics (Thailand), one of the world’s leading producers of power supplies and electronic components, plans to expand to Cambodia and Myanmar, the Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday. “There is no indication of a specific timeframe for the expansion, but the company sees these countries . ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051065533/Business/delta-electronics-eyes-cambodia-expansion.html
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/
Private property, public greed in Cambodia
Mark Moorstein knew little about Cambodia before he got involved in a lawsuit on behalf of land owners there. But as it’s turning out, the suit could end up affecting most every country in Asia. Moorstein is a land-use lawyer in Northern Virginia who, like many ...
Cambodia’s Economic Opportunity
While significant obstacles remain, the success of the rice sector is a potentially crucial driver in Cambodia’s prosperous and equitable development. Cambodia announced two major bilateral trade agreements recently, with the Philippines and Thailand, that are expected to further expand the country’s rice export sector. ...
http://thediplomat.com/2013/05/09/cambodias-economic-opportunity/
Gold resource in northeastern Cambodia estimated at 1.2 mln ounces
Australia’s Renaissance Minerals (Cambodia) Ltd. unveiled Thursday that it estimated that gold resource[s] at O’kvau area in Cambodia’s Mondolkiri province could be as much as 1.2 million ounces, the firm’s Managing Director Justin Tremain said. Speaking during a meeting with Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mines and ...
Trade with Vietnam increases
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and neighbouring Vietnam rose more than 10 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, data from the Vietnam Embassy in Phnom Penh showed. Officials said cross-border trade facilitation by both countries significantly contributed to the growth. But they said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050965501/Business/trade-with-vietnam-increases-2013.html
Kampong Thom Governor Vows to Give Land to Evictees
The newly appointed Kompong Thom provincial governor on Tuesday promised more than 500 families who were forcefully evicted by a Vietnamese rubber plantation more than three years ago that they would be given replacement land to farm on early next month. Security forces evicted villagers from ...
Qatar’s maid claims amiss: gov’t
The Cambodian government has denied any agreement was signed to send women to Qatar to work as domestic workers, an official from the Labour Ministry said this week. The denial comes after a report late last month by Qatari newspaper Gulf Times – which said an ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050965504/National/qatar-s-maid-claims-amiss-gov-t.html
Workers Get Benefits, Not Jobs
India’s ambassador to Cambodia, Dinesh Patnaik, said yesterday that his government will pay outstanding benefits to about 30 restoration workers who lost their jobs at Siem Reap province’s Ta Prohm temple in February – but will not reinstate them. The entire restoration team – more than ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050965505/National/workers-get-benefits-not-jobs.html
Firm Given Rights to All ELC Timber in Ratanakkiri
The Ministry of Agriculture has signed a deal with Try Pheap Import Export to give the firm the right to purchase all timber felled in economic land concessions (ELCs) in Ratanakkiri province, according to a letter sent from the Agriculture Ministry to the Forestry Administration ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/firm-given-rights-to-all-elc-timber-in-ratanakkiri-22788/
Committee Formed to Sell Off Mfone’s Assets
The administrator dealing with the debts of defunct mobile operator Mfone yesterday established a committee to sell off the company’s remaining assets. Since it filed for bankruptcy in January, more than 1,000 creditors, including former staff, have claimed Mfone owes them a combined $160 million. Mfone’s remaining ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/committee-formed-to-sell-off-mfones-assets-22715/
Father Suing Rubber Firm for Beating His Three Children
The father of three children attacked with wooden sticks and steel poles by employees of well-connected DM Group in Ratanakkiri province has filed a lawsuit against the firm, and is asking for tens of thousands of dollars in compensation. .. The provincial court has charged the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/father-suing-rubber-firm-for-beating-his-three-children-22805/
Court Upholds Verdict for Minister's Wife's Firm
The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a verdict by Kompong Chhang Provincial Court over a land dispute in Konmpong Tralach district between a 70-year old woman and a company owned by the wife of the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy over a 3,000-square-meter parcel ...