The Phnom Penh Post
Evictees prepping complaint
Former residents of two villages in Koh Kong province that were razed last week by security guards for Chinese firm Union Development Group are preparing to file a complaint to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Fourteen homes were destroyed by company security guards Thursday morning, according to ...
Taing Vida
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/evictees-prepping-complaint
Protest held at Prey Sar in support of detainees
Hundreds of people gathered yesterday morning in front of Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison to demand the release of 17 incarcerated activists, monks and opposition members. The detainees include 10 land activists, three monks and four members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. Fifteen of ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/protest-held-prey-sar-support-detainees
New members named for top judicial council
King Norodom Sihamoni officially appointed new members to the judicial body that oversees the Kingdom’s judges and prosecutors last week, following the passing of a controversial law earlier this year outlining its organisation and functioning. According to a Royal Decree that was signed Thursday by the ...
Cheang Sokha
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/new-members-named-top-judicial-council
Mine found buried near S’ville road
Officials are requesting the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) to destroy an anti-tank mine unearthed last week next to a Sihanoukville town street. According to village chief Heng Bunly, Commune 4 is rife with UXO because it was a former military base during the Lon ...
Phak Seangly
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/mine-found-buried-near-s%E2%80%99ville-road
Most are OK with the new wage, not all
After meeting with members, several labour union leaders yesterday said that they will not hold protests against the government-set garment industry minimum wage for 2015. Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng last week approved $128 as 2015’s minimum monthly wage in Cambodia’s garment sector. The increase, ...
Mom Kunthear
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/most-are-ok-new-wage-not-all
Hun Sen and Tony abbot affirm deal
Prime Minister Hun Sen and Australian PM Tony Abbott agreed at the ASEAN summit in Myanmar this week to forge ahead with a controversial refugee resettlement agreement, despite protests in both countries. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/hun-sen-and-tony-abbot-affirm-deal
Garment union will not protest wage
One of Cambodia’s most prominent garment worker unions, which had battled for a $140 minimum monthly wage in the sector, has decided not to hold street protests against the $128 figure decided by the government on Wednesday. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/garment-union-will-not-protest-wage
Permits given for $2b of projects this year
Figures from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction show that more than $2 billion worth of Cambodian construction projects have been given the green light so far this year. ...
Hin Pisei
http://phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/permits-given-2b-projects-year
‘SOS’ to PM this time
Villagers faced with losing their homes to the planned expansion of the Phnom Penh International Airport used a tried-and-tested method yesterday of attracting attention to their plight, sending their second “SOS” in two years. In November 2012, families who had been told their homes would be ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98sos%E2%80%99-pm-time
GTI price resilient over strikes
It’s been a testing month for Taiwanese garment manufacturer Grand Twins International (GTI), with recurring worker demonstrations and a new sector-wide minimum-wage level set just this week. But despite the turbulence, GTI stock – one of just two companies trading on the Cambodian Stock Exchange (CSX) ...
Eddie Morton
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/gti-price-resilient-over-strikes
Justice deferred: ‘The 23’ look forward to appeal date
The Appeal Court has set a date to hear the case of 23 garment workers and unionists who were convicted in May in connection with violent protests calling for a doubling of the sector’s minimum wage. ...
May Titthara
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/justice-deferred-%E2%80%98-23%E2%80%99-look-forward-appeal-date
Judges need regulations: legal expert
Following days of high-profile convictions and charges dealt at breakneck speed, based on little evidence and little investigation, a prominent legal expert said yesterday that the law “needs to be updated” to change Cambodia’s widely decried court system. ...
Alice Cuddy
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/judges-need-regulations-legal-expert
Maid MoU drawing near
Cambodia and Malaysia expect to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the end of the year that would reopen the pipeline of local maids being sent to work there, officials said on the sidelines of a final round of discussions yesterday between the countries. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/maid-mou-drawing-near
Business bribery is rife: report
Cambodia has again ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world with the release of global anti-bribery association TRACE’s bribery risk index. According to the index, titled the TRACE Matrix and released on November 11, Cambodia is the fifth most at risk country ...
Eddie Morton
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/business-bribery-rife-report
New pier to attract tourists
Kampot province’s City Hall yesterday revealed plans for a new passenger pier to siphon more coastal tourism business from Thailand and Vietnam. Sim Vuthea, administrative director of Kampot City Hall, said the new $40 million passenger pier, which will be funded by the Asian Development Bank ...
Chan Muyhong
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/new-pier-attract-tourists
Still work to do on land issue: envoy
Germany’s ambassador to Cambodia, Joachim Baron von Marschall, yesterday cautioned against too much optimism in the land sector in the face of ongoing disputes and forced evictions. The ambassador made the comments at a workshop on sustainable land policy in the capital, where speakers from ...
Taing Vida
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/still-work-do-land-issue-envoy
Massive luxury timber haul in Mondulkiri
Forestry Administration officials in Mondulkiri province are on the lookout for illegal loggers, after finding 130 pieces of luxury-grade timber in Koh Nhek district. The find comes on the heels of 3,221 pieces of timber found in Mondulkiri’s Pech Chreada district last month. ...
Phak Seangly
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/massive-luxury-timber-haul-mondulkiri
Rice federation seeking loan
The Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) is seeking financing from China’s Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) to build much-needed infrastructure such as warehouses and drying facilities to hopefully increase milled rice export capacities. Sok Puthyvuth, president of the CRF told the Post yesterday that the CRF had set up ...
May Kunmakara
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-federation-seeking-loan
Gov't audit shows Vietnam Rubber Group missing millions
Contentious plantation giant Vietnam Rubber Group reportedly “lost” nearly $391 million of state funds over five years, including $22.75 million from a rubber plantation in Cambodia, an official investigation into the firm’s dealings has found, according to Vietnamese media. Hanoi’s anti-corruption body, the General Inspectorate, last ...
Daniel Pye and May Titthara
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-audit-shows-vietnam-rubber-group-missing-millions
No boycott: Union meet could decide wage today
Independent labour unions will take part in the Ministry of Labour’s Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) meeting today, possibly making their decision on next year’s minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment sector. NIFTUC and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) considered boycotting the LAC ...
Sean Teehan
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/no-boycott-union-meet-could-decide-wage-today
Mitr Phol disputants to testify
Representatives of Oddar Meanchey villagers who allegedly lost their homes in a 2008 land grab by Thai-owned sugar giant Mitr Phol are hopeful a settlement may soon be reached after they testify before Thai human rights officials today. Witnesses representing more than 400 families are slated ...
Sean Teehan
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/mitr-phol-disputants-testify
Prey Lang activists say logger ‘connected’
Members of a conservation group in Kampong Thom province stopped a van carrying illegal timber on Sunday night only to be threatened by a man claiming to be the nephew of a powerful National Assembly parliamentarian. The van was driving with no licence plate and was ...
Taing Vida
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/prey-lang-activists-say-logger-%E2%80%98connected%E2%80%99
Education funds to get bump
The proposed 2015 education budget is inching upwards from last year’s funding, however it still falls short of internationally recommended minimums. Education is slated to take up a $396 million chunk of the $3.75 billion draft budget, which has yet to be approved by the National ...
Laignee Barron and Taing Vida
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/education-funds-get-bump
Cambodia, Japan trade up
Cambodia is quickly becoming a hub for Japanese exports, according to the latest figures from the Japan External Trade Agency, JETRO. The state-run agency’s latest trade figures show Cambodia exported more than $584 million worth of locally made products to Japan over the first nine months ...
Hor Kimsay
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-japan-trade