The Cambodia Daily
Sesan Dam Approval Angers Villagers, Human Rights Groups
The government approved the Lower Sesan 2 dam project in Stung Treng province without any prior consultation with the most affected communities in Sesan district, where at least 5,000 people stand to be displaced, rights groups and villagers said yesterday. A study published earlier this ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sesan-dam-approval-angers-villagers-rights-groups-5231/
Sam Rainsy deleted from Voter Registration
The National Election Committee (NEC) has removed opposition leader Sam Rainsy from the voter list for next year’s national election on the grounds that he is a convicted criminal, an NEC official said yesterday. The decision means that even if Mr. Rainsy is granted a royal ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sam-rainsy-deleted-from-voter-list-for-election-5229/
Indonesia in Talks With Cambodia Over Rice Export Deal
An Indonesian trade delegation is scheduled to visit Cambodia this month to finalize a trade deal that could see up to 100,000 tons of rice exported to Indonesia each year, Thon Virak, director general of state-owned rice exporter Green Trade Co., said on Friday. “Indonesia wants ...
Workshop Calls for Revenue Transparency in Oil, Gas Sector
The government and private companies are being encouraged to adopt a voluntary initiative in order to make revenues generated by the extractives sector more transparent. The workshop on the Best Practice of Governance in Extractive Industries and Revenue Management, which was held in Phnom Penh on Friday by ...
Japanese Investment Grows; Hurdles Remain
Japanese investment in Cambodia is steadily increasing as a result of sharply rising wages in China and other Southeast Asian nations. But experts warned this week that for sustained investment growth—and to avoid driving Japanese companies to other attractive investment destinations such as Burma —the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/japanese-investment-grows-hurdles-remain-5144/
Government Approves Dam On Lower Sesan
The Council of Ministers on Friday signed off on the Lower Sesan 2 dam project in Stung Treng province, despite long-standing criticism leveled against the project by environmental groups who say it would adversely affect 100,000 people as a consequence of reduced access to fish. The ...
Killer in Chut Wutty Case Walks Free Six Months Later
Rann Boroth, the only man convicted in the double killing six months ago of the country’s leading environmental activist, Chut Wutty, and military police officer, walked free from prison on Friday after the Koh Kong Provincial Court issued an order for his release. On October ...
Court Charges General Denounced by Hun Sen Over Land Claim
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday charged a Ministry of Interior police general with intimidation and unlawful interference in the discharge of a public function for allegedly attempting to use Prime Minister Hun Sen’s student volunteer program to settle a personal land dispute. Mr. ...
Svay Rieng Court Delays Hearings for Ex Bavet City Governor
The Svay Rieng Provinical Court has missed its October deadline to hear the triple shooting case involving former Bavet City governor Chhouk Bundith, a court official said yesterday. A court investigation into the Febuary 20 shooting in a special economic zone that left three garment workers ...
French Delegation to Discuss Water Treatment
Delegates from eight French-owned companies in the water management sector will meet with government officials and officials from the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority today to explore business opportunities in Cambodia, according to a French Embassy statement yesterday. As a part of a two-day visit, ...
Analog to be Replaced by Fully Digital Television by 2020
Analog broadcasts from television stations all over Cambodia will cease and be replaced by digital transmissions by 2020 at the latest, Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said yesterday. Speaking at a press conference to representatives from 13 television stations, Mr Kanharith said Cambodia needs to transition ...
As Insurance Claims Grow, So Do Premiums
The total amount of claims paid out by local insurance firms during the first nine months of the year have tripled to more than $11 million compared to the same period in 2011 According to data from General Insurance Association of Cambodia (GIAC), paid claims grew ...
Bunong Minority Villagers Protest Against Rubber Company
About 80 ethnic Bunong villagers living in Mondolkiri’s Pech Chreada district staged a protest against the Socfin-KCD rubber company Monday, demanding that the firm honor its long-standing pledge to return 1,000 hectares of farmland located inside its concession. Socfin-KCD, a join venture between Socfin, a ...
NGO Says Dispatch of Troops Against Protesters Unjustifiable
Soldiers should not have been deployed in support of a warrant to arrest land dispute protesters in Kratie province in May—an operation that led to the killing of a 14-year-old girl by armed forces, a Japanese human rights group said in a new report. The report ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ngo-says-dispatch-of-troops-against-protesters-unjustifiable-4971/
Complaint to Be Filed in US Over Koh Kong Sugar Plantations
Families in Koh Kong province will today file a complaint with the U.S. government against American Sugar Refining (ASR) over farmland they claim they were violently evicted from to make way for two sugar plantations that supply the New York-based company. The 207 Koh Kong ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/complaint-to-be-filed-in-us-over-koh-kong-sugar-plantations-4956/
Families Claim Officials Extort Fees at Checkpoints
More than 30 families living in Pursat province’s Dangkeab village have filed complaints with their village chief against environmental officials, whom they claim extorted money from them to pass illegal checkpoints as they transported firewood from a nearby forest to the village, authorities said yesterday. “Since ...
Hun Sen Says Cambodia Is Not Ready for Nuclear Power
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday denied giving the green light for a neighboring country to construct an electricity-generating nuclear power plant in Cambodia, saying it would be too dangerous. Senior Minister and Vice Chairman for the Council for the Development of Cambodia Sun Chanthol said ...
Australian Senate Pushes for Fair Elections in Cambodia
The Australian Senate yesterday urged the Cambodian government to run free and fair national elections next year without the “harassment or intimidation” of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who remains in self-imposed exile avoiding an 11-year jail sentence. The appeal comes only days after the European Parliament ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/australian-senate-pushes-for-fair-elections-in-cambodia-4930/
Cambodia to Resume International Adoptions on January 1
Cambodia will allow inter-country adoptions to resume from January 1 next year, four years after the government stopped adoptions amid claims of corruption and baby selling, government officials confirmed yesterday. Speaking after a meeting with Susan Jacobs, the U.S. State Department’s special adviser on children’s issues, Secretary of ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-to-resume-international-adoptions-on-january-1-4934/
Phnom Penh Clerk Charged With Taking $250K
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged one of its own clerks [Kruoch Borath] with breach of trust for taking $250,000 dollars that was paid to the clerk to facilitate a speedy trial without “problems,” officials said. [Another clerk for Judge Lim Meng] Mr. Khen ...
Firm to Offer Financing for Motorcycles
Thailand’s GL Finance Plc. launched its business in Cambodia on Friday by opening eight branches in Phnom Penh and Kandal province that will operate hire purchase operations out of Honda motorcycle dealership. Speaking during the opening ceremony for its branch in Phnom Penh’s Prampi Makara district, ...
'Gender Cafe' Offers Women a Place to Express Themselves
Busy juggling jobs, children, and housework, Cambodian women do not have the time, or platforms, to discuss bigger women-related issues like abuse, migration and forced eviction. And that is why a new initiative, called “Gender Cafe,” aims to change that by giving local women a ...
Pol Pot-Era Airbase Earmarked as Future Tourist Gateway
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Saturday that in order to manage future tourist numbers, the government will construct a new international airport on the site of the Kampong Chhnang airbase, which was built by slave labor during the Khmer Rouge regime. Mr. Hun Sen said that ...
Hun Sen Slams Use of Wife's, Red Cross' Name to Grab Land
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday accused unnamed individuals of attempting to grab land in Kompong Thom province by invoking his wife’s name and ordered one of his sons to investigate and give back any misappropriated land. According to Mr. Hun Sen, unscrupulous individuals were ...