The Phnom Penh Post
Cambodia keeps cool after coup in Thailand
As news broke yesterday evening that the Thai political situation had evolved from martial law to a full-blown coup d’etat, Cambodian government officials said they hoped the army’s takeover would be transitional and dismissed any concerns that tensions could rise on the Cambodia-Thailand border. ”We wish ...
Kevin Ponniah and Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-keeps-cool-after-coup-thailand
Temple to be restored
A stone wall from the Angkorian-era Banteay Chhmar temple that was damaged in a rainstorm last month will be repaired in July, an official said yesterday. Yang Tangkouy, a provincial official, said the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is cooperating with UNESCO on the restoration ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/temple-be-restored
Imports of petroleum on the rise last quarter
Cambodia’s petrol bill topped $440 million at the end of the first quarter, up 11 per cent from $397 million during the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. The data show Cambodia imported a total of 453,000 tonnes of petroleum ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/imports-petroleum-rise-last-quarter
Directive aims to stop ELC abuses
Sacred burial grounds and community forests should be granted more protection under a new government proclamation issued this month, but rights groups and land-grab victims are wary that, without proper enforcement, it will amount to little in practice. An interministerial proclamation, or prakas, signed by ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/directive-aims-stop-elc-abuses
Put trips to Bangkok on hold: gov’t
The government asked Cambodians to avoid all nonessential travel to Bangkok following Thailand’s imposition of martial law. “The situation is calm and we will continue monitoring it, but travellers planning to go to Thailand should hold off for now,” Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said after an ...
Cheang Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/put-trips-bangkok-hold-gov%E2%80%99t
Government spending, foreign aid up in 2013
Government spending increased 32 per cent last year, while increases in both domestic revenue and foreign aid helped stabilise Cambodia’s budget deficit, according to budget statements from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). The consolidated financial records, which were released on May 8, show Cambodia’s ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/government-spending-foreign-aid-2013
ADB plan falls short: families
Families forced to leave their homes to make way for a railway rehabilitation project funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Australian government have told the bank that a draft compensation plan it has drawn up to remedy their situation is inadequate. On Monday, Inclusive ...
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/adb-plan-falls-short-families
Chroy Changvar Satellite City groundwork nears completion
The pumping of sand and filling in of lakes and marshy areas prone to flooding, with the eventual aim of creating the Chroy Changvar Satellite City, will be completed in the fourth quarter, according to Overseas Cambodian Investment Company (OCIC) sources associated with the development. Meanwhile, ...
Siv Meng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/chroy-changvar-satellite-city-groundwork-nears-completion
Phnom Penh warehouse demand increases
Demand for warehouse space rose over the first five months of 2014, according to local property experts. The managing director of Town Real Estate Company, Van Chanthorn, said demand for warehouse space increased in some areas compared with the same period last year, adding that his ...
Sum Manet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/phnom-penh-warehouse-demand-increases
Reporter, ‘witnesses’ tell different stories
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said that radio journalist Lay Samean, who was badly beaten by district security guards on May 2 while covering a planned opposition rally, may have provoked the violence by calling the guards “yuon’s dogs”, among other insults. The minister added, however, that ...
Kevin Ponniah and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/reporter-%E2%80%98witnesses%E2%80%99-tell-different-stories
‘Tornado-like storm’ kills two
A mother and child were killed on Tuesday in what Russey Keo district residents described as a tornado-like storm that stripped off roofs, split trees and swept chairs and baby chicks into the skies. According to villagers, the unprecedented weather started with clouds thickening and turning ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98tornado-storm%E2%80%99-kills-two
Chevron offer ends Caltex station strike
Employees of Caltex petrol stations in Phnom Penh are returning to work today after management offered to raise salaries by $20 a month and not withhold pay for time missed during the strike, which started earlier this month. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/chevron-offer-ends-caltex-station-strike
Health progress lauded
Cambodia’s progress in reducing maternal mortality was recognised internationally this week at the 67th World Health Assembly in Switzerland. Efforts to increase the number of skilled birth attendants and an increase in the number of 24-hour emergency centres available to pregnant women were both credited with ...
Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/health-progress-lauded
Judiciary laws moving forward with ‘debate’
The National Assembly yesterday opened debate for the first time on the first of three controversial judicial draft laws, approving in principle the first two chapters of the Law on the Organisation and Functioning of the Courts, in the continued absence of the opposition Cambodia ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/judiciary-laws-moving-forward-%E2%80%98debate%E2%80%99
Customs agreement gets green light at NA
The National Assembly approved changes to the country’s customs law yesterday, in order to comply with Association of Southeast Asian Nations intergration standards. The changes demand border operations increase human resources, reduce paperwork and modernise procedures in order to simplify border exchange and facilitate trade between ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/customs-agreement-gets-green-light-na
Gov’t called on to save forests
Villagers from forest communities in nine provinces called on the government yesterday to take action after alleging that “the rich and powerful” are causing the “serious destruction” of their livelihoods. The villagers, with the support of two NGOs – the Children’s Development Association and Community Peace-Building ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gov%E2%80%99t-called-save-forests
Lightning kills two in B’bang
A Battambang woman and teen were both struck and killed by lightning in two different districts on Monday, police said yesterday. A 28-year-old woman from Rokak Kiri district was taken to the commune hospital after she was killed by a lightning strike, according to Keo Vichet, ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lightning-kills-two-b%E2%80%99bang
Defendants cut off as 23’s trial goes on
When union leader Vorn Pov was finally allowed to give testimony yesterday on the third day of the trial of 23 men arrested during a garment strike in January, he found himself cut off by an attorney ordering him to answer only the exact question ...
May Titthara, Buth Reaksmey Kongkea and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/defendants-cut-23%E2%80%99s-trial-goes
As Oz proposal nears, opposition mounting
Opposition to Australia’s proposal to send refugees to Cambodia is growing, with the Australian Greens’ immigration spokeswoman yesterday saying the party would try to block it in the Senate. Sarah Hanson-Young told The Sydney Morning Herald that Cambodia would be “a fundamentally unacceptable place for Australia to dump ...
Cheang Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/oz-proposal-nears-opposition-mounting
Acleda joins WEF growth club
Cambodia’s largest financial institution, Acleda Bank, has been adopted into the World Economic Forum’s group of Global Growth Companies (GGC), an exclusive club made up of some of the world’s fastest-growing medium-size firms. The WEF yesterday announced that 20 companies from the Asia-Pacific region had been ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/acleda-joins-wef-growth-club
Minister to address beatings
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith has pledged to meet with Daun Penh District Governor Sok Sambath to discuss the targeting of journalists by hired district security guards, said UNESCO country representative Anne Lemaistre, who met with the minister on Friday. The minister is also keen on ...
Kevin Ponniah and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minister-address-beatings
Benefits for teachers? Not yet
The government has a response to teachers’ request for health insurance: We’ll provide it if you buy it. At a meeting in Takeo province this past weekend, the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA) said an upcoming teacher strike would include health insurance on the list of ...
Laignee Barron and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/benefits-teachers-not-yet
Rubber firm destroys homes
The Swift Rubber Company demolished three homes in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Chum district last week without compensation, telling about 120 families to leave immediately or face the destruction of more houses, according to villagers and rights group Adhoc. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rubber-firm-destroys-homes
Exports to Japan see a big jump
Cambodia’s exports to Japan increased sharply by 39 per cent over the first three months of 2014 compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Total exports reached more than $178 million at the end of March, ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/exports-japan-see-big-jump