News

As Mekong River Commission (MRC) countries prepare for a crucial meeting next week to debate Laos’ proposal to build the first Lower Mekong River dam, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has called for a delay of the controversial project. The US Senate’s concern was echoed ...

China’s Erdos Hongjun planned to build a bauxite processing plant in Kratie province as part of the company’s US$1.5 billion venture in the Kingdom’s northeast, provincial officials said yesterday. The plant would serve Erdos’s mine in neighbouring Mondulkiri, an exploration licence for which was granted by ...

Consumer prices in the Kingdom rose about five per cent year-on-year in October, according to the National Institute of Statistics, though they held steady from September. Declining food and fuel prices, along with an appreciating US dollar, were listed as the main reasons for the stabilisation ...

Female workers were rushed to hospital in a second mass fainting yesterday at Su Tong Fang Ying Kam garment factory in Russey Keo district, unionists said. About 17 female workers became overwhelmed with diesel fumes from their sewing machines and were rushed to Calmette Hospital, where ...

About 60 businessmen from Kompong Cham province protested at the Agriculture Ministry yesterday over Prime Minister Hun Sen’s decision to cancel their bids to operate fishing lots. Mr Hun Sen on Friday annulled the results of an October bidding process for companies interested in operating fishing lots ...

Police and military police stopped about 200 villagers from entering rice fields in Battambang province yesterday, saying they had no right to harvest in the 100-hectare area because it belonged to well-known businessman Song Thon, villagers said. Chhut Mao, a 64-year-old village representative of Lvea commune, ...

Workers and managers at Cambo Handsome 1 garment factory were continuing discussions last night after a fourth day of protest in which union leaders said more than 20 employees were injured in a confrontation with police. The workers are protesting against the suspension of three union ...

Six Oddar Meanchey villagers were arrested Monday afternoon while attempting to cross into Thailand to illegally log rosewood in the same area where three loggers were shot and killed by Thai authorities last week, officials said yesterday In a separate case, two loggers were reported missing ...

The Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies (ACRA) plans to propose a set of measures to the government that would put the association in charge of improving protection for Cambodian maids working in Malaysia. A human rights worker, however, disapproved of the plan because it only involved ...

Environmental Group World Wildlife Fund yesterday called on the four member governments of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to shelve Laos’ proposal to build the first Lower Mekong River hydropower dam when the countries meet next week in Siem Reap province. Las has planned numerous dams ...

Prison directors across the country said yesterday they were eager to launch for-profit manufacturing programs following the expected passage of a controversial prison law that legalizes such schemes. Human rights groups, however, called on the government to strike the provision, saying that it would violate ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged four female Boeng Kak lake residents with insulting police and obstructing public officials during a protest that turned violent on Monday. Earlier in the day, dozens of residents were blocked by riot police from leaving the lake area, ...

Ratings agency Moody’s kept the outlook on Cambodia’s government debt at stable, though the firm said that the risk of default was still high and had raised concerns over the country’s ability to manage its finances. In a report released on Sunday, Moody’s said that Cambodia’s ...

Cambodia aimed to become one of the region’s main rubber producers over the next few years despite the industry’s low international recognition, officials said during the second Global Rubber Conference, held in Phnom Penh on Friday. To that end, the Kingdom had encouraged companies and investors ...

In what is becoming an all too familiar tale, another mother of a domestic worker who was sent to Malaysia has filed a complaint alleging her daughter is being exploited. Chea Si Yan said yesterday she wanted her daughter and goddaughter to come home because they ...

A mother whose family face eviction from their home at Boeung Kak lake was farewelled at a funeral on Saturday evening, hours after her body was found in the Mekong River. Chea Dara’s body was identified by family members on Saturday in Samraong Thum commune, Kien ...

Police and military officials were searching for six missing Cambodians yesterday who villagers believe were shot dead by Thai soldiers on Saturday night after entering the Khun Han district of Thailand’s Si Saket province in search of luxury timber. Neth Hing, who lives in Oddar Meanchey’s ...

After discovering that government officials had fixed a bidding process for companies interested in operating fishing lots on the Mekong River, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday annulled the results of the bidding and rescheduled it for next year. Speaking at a plenary session at the ...

Hundreds of students attending a forum yesterday on plans of regional governments to develop hydropower dams on the Mekong River expressed concern over the river’s future, and they urged the governments to abandon the projects or proceed with caution. The forum in Phnom Penh was the ...

Cambodia has one of the world’s highest rates of deforestation, ranking ninth among 180 countries in terms of forest loss during the past decade, according to a new study, which said that economic land concessions and illegal logging were the primary cause for the demise ...

Cambodia’s total exports rose more than 40 per cent year-on-year through October, carried by strong growth in agriculture shipments. Total exports reached US$4.05 billion in the first 10 months of 2011 compared with $2.82 billion during the same period last year, an increase of 44 per ...

On a night when some of France’s finest wines were consumed by some of Cambodia’s most senior officials, the message was clear: France wants to strengthen its economic ties with Cambodia. On Wednesday night, the French-Cambodian Chamber of Commerce (CCFC) put on a lavish display of ...

Cambodia’s 2012 budget passed through the National Assembly yesterday unopposed, without a single question asked and no parliamentary debate in a situation the government, opposition and observers all said was unfortunate. It took just over three hours for the law to be passed, 86 to 0, ...

The Ministry of Land Management and Urban Planning announced yesterday that it will soon complete a new draft sub-decree that aims to guide and regulate urban development in towns and cities. Land and human rights groups, however, criticized the ministry for failing to consult them on ...