ODC English Site
Two people killed as mine collapses
Police officials said yesterday two people had died when a Mondulkiri gold mine collapsed on Saturday, but that neither of them worked for the mining company that owns it. Provincial police chief Nhem Vanny said two men aged 25 and 30, had died in a ...
Resettlement Plans Begin for Families Affected by Sesan Dam
Thousand of families that stand to be evicted when construction work on the Lower Sesan 2 Dam begins in 2014 will each receive a 1-hectare plot of land for a home as well as a 5 additional hectares for growing crops, provincial officials said yesterday. Provincial ...
Cambodian Economy Hurt by Land Evictions
Kratie province – Cambodia’s transformation from war-torn basket-case to one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies is being overshadowed by a backwards lurch in human rights and land policies that critics say are entrenching poverty. Next week’s visit by Barack Obama, the fist by a U.S. ...
Two Die While Illegally Digging for Gold
Two men died in Mondolkiri province’s Pech Chreada district on Sunday after a gold mining pit they were digging collapsed in on top of them, police said yesterday. Provincial police chief Nhem Vanny said that the victims, Sao Leng, 20, and Tharn Kim, 19, had been ...
Constructing a safer industry
Construction worker Samnang (not his real name), spent weeks confined to a hospital bed after piles of cement crashed down on him while he toiled without a hard hat. During the ensuing weeks of recovery at his home, the 28-year-old nursed head injuries and a broken ...
Three Arrested at Border
Three Cambodians including a border patrol solider were arrested by Thai soldiers whilst they and several other villagers transported illegally logged rosewood from Thailand into Cambodia last Friday. “Seven villagers escaped and three were arrested,” said Khuon Srey Sros, cheif of Oddar Meanchey Province, Thmor Daun ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012111359703/National-news/three-arrested-at-border.html
Leaders of Japan, China to Attend Asean, East Asia Summits
The leaders of two of Cambodia’s biggest donors, China and Japan, will attend the up coming Asean and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh next week, Prime Minister Hun Sen confirmed during a speech in Siem Reap province yesterday. “China Prime Minister [Wen Jiabao] will arrive ...
Anti-Eviction Protesters Continue to Rally Outside US Embassy
Insisting on a response from American authorities, more than 100 eviction protestors from Phnom Penh continued to rally outside the U.S. Embassy yesterday and resubmitted a petition asking for President Barack Obama to address their land rights when he visits the country next week. Since confirmation ...
Kampot Residents Confront Eviction by Local Company
An agriculture and transportation company has allegedly threatened to demolish the homes of about 100 families on Wednesday if they refuse to move off an agricultural land concession in Kampot province’s Chhuk district, villagers said yesterday. “So Nguon company and [Decho Aphivat commune chief] Chum Soeun ...
Still no date for Bandith trial
Nine months after former Bavet town Governor Chhouk Bandith allegedly shot three Garment workers during a protest, the Svay Reing provincial prosecutor has wrapped up his investigation, though a court date has not yet been set , a court official said yesterday. But the slow ...
Maids find local Champion
The abuse of Cambodian maids overseas has become one of the most documented human rights violation here. But as the Government, media, NGOs and aid agencies focus their energies on domestic laborer living abroad, advocates have begun to urge that closer attention be paid to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012111359705/National-news/maids-find-local-champion.html
Evictees still awaiting Obama
As more than 100 protesters continued to spend their days camped outside the US embassy appealing for the release of two land activists, a delegation from Amnesty International visited the Boeung Kak Community yesterday to offer support for their fight Amnesty International would continue to monitor ...
Boutique hotels on the rise
Local company VLK Royal Tourism Group has embarked on a joint venture with a Thai partner to build OC Hotel, a four-star boutique hotel in Sihanoukville. The venture was prompted by rising demand as well as increasing tourist numbers to the coastal area off the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012111359696/Business/boutique-hotels-on-the-rise.html
AK Shots provoke complaints
Villagers in Ratanakirri province filed complaints to the provincial court and rights group Adhoc yesterday, claiming three security guards patrolling former state forest in O’Chum district threatened them and fired an AK-47 to scare them away. Kreung ethnic villager Travh Khambon, 37 of La’ak commune Kam ...
Laos hydro dam upsets Mekong River neighbors
Laos began construction last week on a multi-billion dollar hydro dam project that is opposed by other countries along the Mekong River, and activists who say the project will significantly impact the environment and the economies of four countries that rely on the river for ...
Insight: Land conflict, impunity dims Cambodia's awakening
Cambodia’s transformation from war-torn basket-case to one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies is being overshadowed by a backwards lurch in human rights and land policies that critics say are entrenching poverty. ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/12/us-cambodia-protests-idUSBRE8AB17J20121112
Hanging by a Thread
Cambodia’s tradition of silk production is one that dates back as far as the 13th century. A long-standing symbol of status for the rich and the country, ancient Angkorian silk producing Cambodia bore unique weaving and reeling techniques that have been passed down from generation ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/320823/hanging-by-a-thread
Cambodia: shrinking forests breed violence
Hang Serei Oudom told his 7-month pregnant wife that he was going out to meet a source. A journalist for Vorakchun Khmer Daily, he was investigating illegal logging for luxury woods in the jungles of Cambodia’s northeastern Ratanakkiri province. Three days later, on Sept. 11, he ...
Maruhan Japan Bank buys stake in MFI – Sathapana
Maruhan Japan Bank yesterday became the first commercial bank in Cambodia to make a direct equity investment into a microfinance institution by becoming Sathapana’s majority shareholder, with a 95.1 per cent stake. Financial details were not disclosed. The shareholders who sold out to Maruhan were FMO, ...
http://www.cbre.com.kh/2012/11/maruhan-japan-bank-buys-stake-mfi-sathapana/
Regional, Local Activists Plan Forums to Coincide With Summits
Activist groups are planning to hold two separate forums this week in Phnom Penh to call attention to human rights issues and other problems in Asean countries as a meeting of regional and world leaders begin in the city. The assembly will meet ahead of ...
Senator Offers Cash Compensation to Evictees
CPP Senator and business tycoon Ly Yong Phat last week continued to offer families in Koh Kong province cash compensation to get them to drop out of a lawsuit against two sugar cane plantations he once owned, according to villagers. But villager Phann Khly yesterday ...
Cambodian legislators, officials talk to enhance migrant worker rights
Approximately 150 parliamentarians, government officials, recruitment agency representatives, trade unions leaders, and development partners gathered here on Monday to discuss ways and measures to promote and protect the rights of Cambodian migrant workers. Speaking at the opening of the parliamentary forum on the promotion and protection ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/12/c_131967978.htm
Controversial Pöyry tapped for Xayaburi
Multinational consulting and engineering firm Pöyry has signed a contract with the Lao government to supervise construction of the divisive Xayaburi hydropower dam in the country’s north, it announced Friday. This work, carried out by its Energy Business Group, will include reviewing the design and ...
Benefits from ‘black gold’- Revenue from Cambodian oil fields could provide a big boost to development, if it’s done right
If Cambodia’s oil and gas sector is well managed, and transparent, it could provide the country a golden opportunity for investment, development and poverty reduction, said independent economist Chan Sophal, who spoke at a recent gathering looking at the economies of oil-producing countries. Chan Sophal said ...