VOD
Communes meet as private projects begin building on state lakes, forests
Four commune administrations in Takeo province — including two containing controversial developments in Phnom Tamao forest — gathered Wednesday morning over local residents living on state land, an official said. ...
Keat Soriththeavy
https://vodenglish.news/communes-meet-as-private-projects-begin-building-on-state-lakes-forests/
Mondulkiri road blocked by private development, residents say
Mondulkiri villagers say a local road has been blocked by a private landowner, but they are not sure who is behind the development and a commune chief says he is unaware of the dispute. ...
Phin Rathana
https://vodenglish.news/mondulkiri-road-blocked-by-private-development-residents-say/
General’s son latest ruling-party scion made provincial governor
The son of U.S.-blacklisted general Kun Kim has been promoted to Preah Vihear governor — at least the ninth child or in-law of ruling party leaders currently serving as provincial governor across the country. ...
Mech Dara
https://vodenglish.news/generals-son-at-least-ninth-ruling-party-scion-made-provincial-governor/
80 families at lake development protest delayed land titles
Representatives of about 80 families living around southern Phnom Penh’s major lake development say they fear eviction as sandfilling is nearing their houses and they have yet to receive the land titles promised to them by authorities. ...
Khut Sokun
https://vodenglish.news/80-families-at-lake-development-protest-delayed-land-titles/
City Hall starts rebuilding road after Chroy Changva riverbank collapse
Phnom Penh officials said they will begin reconstructing a road that collapsed into the Tonle Sap River in Chroy Changva district earlier this year, another instance of the riverbank collapsing due to erosion. ...
Roun Ry
https://vodenglish.news/city-hall-starts-rebuilding-road-after-chroy-changva-riverbank-collapse/
Hundreds of families want land concession to offset evictions
More than 300 village residents from Koh Kong province protested at a district hall on Monday, asking for a social land concession to resolve their longstanding land conflict with a sugarcane plantation. ...
Khut Sokun
https://vodenglish.news/hundreds-of-families-want-land-concession-to-offset-evictions/
Anti-Corruption Unit closes probe into ex-governor’s flooded forest grab
The Anti-Corruption Unit closed its investigation into a Kampong Chhnang ex-governor whose vast tracts of protected flooded-forest land were confiscated amid a crackdown on illegal encroachment. ...
Mech Dara
https://vodenglish.news/anti-corruption-unit-closes-flooded-forest-case-against-ex-governor/
State hands land to lawmaker, senator’s family
A ruling-party parliamentarian, a CPP senator’s family member and a business associate of the prime minister’s daughter are among the latest recipients of state-land transfers that have been distributing lakes, forests and wildlife sanctuaries to the country’s elite. ...
Mech Dara
https://vodenglish.news/state-hands-land-to-lawmaker-senators-family/
Koh Kong land protester sentenced to jail, but not detained
A Koh Kong resident in dispute with a sugar plantation was sentenced to a year in prison on Wednesday for malicious denunciation, but remains free for now with no arrest warrant issued by the court. ...
Khut Sokun
https://vodenglish.news/koh-kong-land-protester-sentenced-to-jail-but-not-detained/
Preah Vihear forestry patrol finds hundreds of felled trees
Cambodian authorities’ ban on community forest patrols didn’t stop an environmental group from returning to Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary over the weekend, where they found hundreds of felled resin trees that they say are vital for the local community. ...
Keat Soriththeavy
https://vodenglish.news/preah-vihear-forestry-patrol-finds-hundreds-of-felled-trees/
1,000 unfinished constructions show aftermath of a ‘boom’
Aing Bunath acknowledges that local residents were getting a little greedy during Sihanoukville’s online gambling boom in recent years. ...
Mech Dara
https://vodenglish.news/1000-unfinished-constructions-show-aftermath-of-a-boom/
Coastal communities wary as major development appears to progress
Fishing communities in Kampot and Kep provinces are under threat as a coastal tourism project linked to the wife of a government minister is reportedly moving forward, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said. ...
Phin Rathana and Khut Sokun
https://vodenglish.news/coastal-communities-wary-as-major-development-appears-to-progress/
Soldiers Assault Villagers in Disputed Kampong Speu Forest, Says Rights Group
On Tuesday, members of the elite Brigade 70 military unit fired warning shots and physically assaulted villagers as the soldiers attempted to clear a section of disputed forest in the Aoral district of Kampong Speu, according to local witnesses and a rights organization. ...
Mech Dara and Andrew Haffner
https://vodenglish.news/soldiers-assault-villagers-in-disputed-kampong-speu-forest-says-rights-group/
Government puts controversial internet gateway on hold
The Telecom Ministry confirmed this afternoon the controversial National Internet Gateway, expected to come online Wednesday, has been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and potential disruptions to online traffic. ...
Seng Thai
https://vodenglish.news/government-puts-controversial-internet-gateway-on-hold/
Unions looking for place within SEZ boundaries
Since just before the pandemic started, Chhoum Phen has changed his job more than five times within Hi-Tech Apparel, the garment factory he has worked at for more than five years. ...
Danielle Keeton-Olsen and Yon Sineat
https://vodenglish.news/unions-looking-for-place-within-sez-boundaries/
Botum Sakor residents defiant as authorities threaten to clear shelters
Koh Kong authorities have threatened to tear down shelters built by residents of Botum Sakor district on land the locals say was taken from them by sugarcane plantations run by CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat. ...
Khut Sokun
https://vodenglish.news/botum-sakor-residents-defiant-as-authorities-threaten-to-clear-shelters/
Victims press for compensation, imprisonment over million-dollar rural scam
Almost $1 million in compensation remains to be paid out and a perpetrator has yet to see jail time over a Kampong Cham scam that ensnared 180 families, the Supreme Court heard on Monday. ...
Mech Dara
https://vodenglish.news/victims-press-for-compensation-imprisonment-over-million-dollar-rural-scam/
Hotels, Casinos That Detain, Traffic, Exploit Workers Will Be Prosecuted: Preah Sihanouk
Preah Sihanouk authorities have issued a statement that hotels and casinos that detain, traffic or sexually exploit workers can have their business licenses revoked and cases sent to court. ...
Migrant Workers in Thailand Returning to Jobs as Outbreak Eases
Some Cambodian workers in Thailand say they have been able to resume work after a series of tough months amid a surge of Covid-19, though challenges remain even as the outbreak is subsiding. ...
Tran Techseng
https://vodenglish.news/migrant-workers-in-thailand-returning-to-jobs-as-outbreak-eases/
Kandal residents briefly detained for taking photos of new airport development
A mother and son contesting the development of Phnom Penh’s new international airport in Kandal province were detained on Wednesday for taking photos of their rice field being cleared by the developer, but were released after agreeing to stop protesting. ...
Only 377 NagaWorld Workers Still Holding Out Against Layoffs: Union
In a move a labor group said was unprecedented, NagaWorld is calling on governmental labor inspectors to authorize the dismissal of a group of union leaders as part of the casino’s mass layoffs, overriding the legal protections unionists enjoy unless they have committed serious offenses, ...
Tran Techseng
https://vodenglish.news/only-377-nagaworld-workers-still-holding-out-against-layoffs-union/
Vegetables left to spoil on Kandal farms as farmers can’t find buyers
Farmers in Kandal province say they each have thousands of dollars worth of vegetables spoiling in their fields because they can’t find buyers. In Sa’ang district, an area known for vegetable growing, salad greens farmer Tai Song, 35, said growers all around were unable to find ...
Khut Sokun
https://vodenglish.news/vegetables-left-to-spoil-on-kandal-farms-as-farmers-cant-find-buyers/
NGO Forum: Government has stopped sharing environmental impact reports
The Environmental Ministry has this year stopped sharing environmental and social impact assessments for new development projects with NGO Forum, the civil society network said. ...
Tran Techseng
https://vodenglish.news/ngo-forum-government-has-stopped-sharing-environmental-impact-reports/
Hungarian official tests positive for Covid-19 day after meeting Hun Sen
Top Cambodian officials are going into quarantine after Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who visited the country on Tuesday and signed three agreements in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen, tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Thailand on Wednesday. ...
Khan Leakhena
https://vodenglish.news/hungarian-official-tests-positive-for-covid-19-day-after-meeting-hun-sen/