The Phnom Penh Post
CNRP calls for ‘public’ swearing-in
Authorities in Mondulkiri decided to switch a swearing-in ceremony for two newly elected Keo Seima district councillors to a commune hall after the opposition objected to it being held at the home of the district’s pro-ruling party governor, officials said. Khum Kan said he and a ...
Cheang Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-calls-%E2%80%98public%E2%80%99-swearing
After jail, Pov gains following
Before he was arrested in January, Vorn Pov and the union he created were not widely known outside of activist circles. But when he emerged from Phnom Penh’s CC1 prison on Friday, he walked away as one of the highest-profile unionists in the country, and a ...
Kevin Ponniah, May Titthara and Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/after-jail-pov-gains-following
Japan firm buys share of new power plant
In what looks to be a concerted push into the Southeast Asian energy sector, Japanese import and export conglomerate Marubeni Corporation has acquired a large stake of Cambodia’s power generation infrastructure. In a Tokyo Stock Exchange filing dated June 2, Marubeni announced it had purchased a ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/japan-firm-buys-share-new-power-plant
A factory or family dilemma
Being placed on consecutive short-term contracts in Cambodia’s predominantly female-staffed garment sector is forcing many women to choose between a family and a factory job, unionists and rights groups said yesterday. Ken Chenglang, acting president of the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia, said many ...
Amelia Woodside and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-or-family-dilemma
Rainfall still a month away, says ministry
The Ministry of Water and Meteorology has warned farmers of a rainfall shortage forecast to last at least another month, with average daily temperatures also forecast to remain above average. The announcement, issued on Monday, says that up until mid-July Phnom Penh, Kandal, Kampong Speu, Takeo, ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rainfall-still-month-away-says-ministry
ID card grace period nearing end
The Ministry of Interior yesterday reminded Cambodians of their obligation to obtain new or replacement national ID cards, a common piece of documentation required for people over 15 years of age and the validity of which had previously been extended to accommodate last year’s national ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/id-card-grace-period-nearing-end
Out of jail, garment worker sees uncertain future
When Pang Vunny walks around his rented room just off of Veng Sreng Boulevard, he waves his hand from side to side in front of him, like a man feeling his way in the dark. Ever since he was arrested and badly beaten on January 2 ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/out-jail-garment-worker-sees-uncertain-future
Protest blocked: Workers at factory seek full salaries
Police yesterday morning blocked more than 1,000 garment workers as they tried to march from their Por Sen Chey district factory to the Ministry of Labour to plead for intervention. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/protest-blocked-workers-factory-seek-full-salaries
Poipet poor ‘bearing brunt of water woes’
A private utilities company owned by wealthy businessman and ruling Cambodian People’s Party Senator Kok An is fulfilling only about half of Poipet’s demand for clean water, despite being contracted to supply the whole town, according to the city governor. With priority for the distribution of ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/poipet-poor-%E2%80%98bearing-brunt-water-woes%E2%80%99
Residents near lakes put up fight
Member of Phnom Penh’s lake communities who stand to have their lives uprooted by development projects filed complaints yesterday. Representatives of 260 families who live near Boeung Tamok in Sen Sok district’s Ponhea Pon commune filed a petition with City Hall asking for intervention over 200 ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/residents-near-lakes-put-fight
Factory faintings back on rise
More than 600 workers have fainted on factory floors so far this year, compared with about 800 such incidents over the whole of 2013, a Labour Ministry official said yesterday. Pok Vanthat, deputy director of the ministry’s labour health department and head of a committee that ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-faintings-back-rise
Protest blocked: Workers at factory seek full salaries
Police yesterday morning blocked more than 1,000 garment workers as they tried to march from their Por Sen Chey district factory to the Ministry of Labour to plead for intervention. Management at the Ocean Garment factory informed staff on May 24 that it would close for ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/protest-blocked-workers-factory-seek-full-salaries
Construction raking in cash
Foreign and domestic investment in construction projects skyrocketed in the first four months of the year, government data suggests. Ministry of Land Management and Urban Planning data revealed last week shows total investment in new construction projects reached more than $1.4 billion at the end of ...
May Kunmakara and Sum Manet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/construction-raking-cash
Out of jail, garment worker sees uncertain future
When Pang Vunny walks around his rented room just off of Veng Sreng Boulevard, he waves his hand from side to side in front of him, like a man feeling his way in the dark. Ever since he was arrested and badly beaten on January 2 ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/out-jail-garment-worker-sees-uncertain-future
Information law ‘on way in 3 years’
In three years’ time, Cambodia will have legislation clearly outlining what government information is available to the general public, according to a recently signed memorandum of understanding. Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith and Anne Lemaistre, UNESCO’s representative to Cambodia, signed the memorandum on Friday. The MoU ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/information-law-%E2%80%98-way-3-years%E2%80%99
Thai gamblers drop after coup
The number of Thai visitors crossing the border to place bets at Cambodian casinos has fallen since that country’s military staged a coup late last month. Kim Ledaro, managing director of Crown Resorts Co, which operates three Crown-branded casino resorts in Bantey Meanchey province’s Poipet town, ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/thai-gamblers-drop-after-coup
South Korea Denies Asking Gov’t to Stop Strike
The South Korean ambassador to Cambodia, Kim Han-soo, on Monday denied having asked the Labor Ministry to stop a strike at a South Korean-owned garment factory last week, but said the dispute has put a $40 million investment from the parent company on hold. On Sunday, ...
Zsombor Peter and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/south-korea-denies-asking-govt-to-stop-strike-60316/
Insurance law reform under way
The Council of Ministers last week approved a raft of changes to the country’s insurance laws, a move that industry insiders hope will better reflect the sector’s current state. The draft law, which was prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has an additional 14 ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/insurance-law-reform-under-way
Villagers won’t swap land for apartments
Villagers who claim a development project in Russey Keo district has already taken a bite out of their land said yesterday that they fear the plan will swallow the rest of their property, as they filed petitions and met with local authorities. Members of 80 families ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-won%E2%80%99t-swap-land-apartments
Sentinel page drops photos
Less than two weeks after a major rights group lambasted the US’s training of Cambodia’s “abusive armed forces”, allegedly incriminating photographs have been removed from the official Facebook page of the joint training exercise. On May 20, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement hitting out ...
Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sentinel-page-drops-photos
Battambang farmers desperate for local river water
With barely a drop of rain falling on their parched fields, Battambang farmers are pleading with a construction company to stop blockading the local river so their recently planted crops don’t dry out. The Asian Development Bank-funded bridge connecting Battambang and Banteay Meanchey has blocked the ...
Laignee Barron and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/battambang-farmers-desperate-local-river-water
Sanctuary from the storm
Hidden at the end of a pathway that breaks off from Mao Tse Tung Boulevard in Phnom Penh is a temple of a different kind, where seances are sacrosant and French writer Victor Hugo – author of Les Miserables – is considered a saint. Worshippers there practise Caodaism, ...
Amelia Woodside and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sanctuary-storm
Medical trips await 9 of 23
Nine of the group of 23 workers and labour activists who were released from custody and given suspended sentences on Friday over January’s garment employee protests will receive medical care in Thailand, rights group Licadho said yesterday. A number of the men were beaten by security ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/medical-trips-await-9-23
Questions over spending plan
The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a new five-year National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) – the guiding policy document used by the government – requiring an estimated $26.58 billion in spending and investment, or more than $5.3 billion a year, until 2018. The plan ...
May Kunmakara and Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/questions-over-spending-plan