News
Strikers ordered back to work
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered on Tuesday that workers striking at Cambo Handsome 1 return to work within 48 hours and banned them from striking in front of the garment factory, in the capital’s Dankgor district. Seang Sambath, president of the Federation of Friendship Unions, ...
Recent floods underscore need for action
A regional meeting on disaster risk reduction and climate change wrapped up yesterday with officials pointing to the recent flooding as a reason to take immediate action to prepare for disasters. “We must not sleep or wait for donors to take action,” Ross Sovann, deputy secretary-general ...
Historic US aid project
A new USAID-funded malaria project in Myanmar will draw on prevention, treatment and containment models developed in Cambodia, and underscores the emergence of closer relations between Washington and Naypyitaw, health officials said yesterday. The US$24 million project will expand the effort to contain drug-resistant malaria, which ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011120153090/National-news/historic-us-aid-project.html
Chinese bank launches branch in Phnom Penh
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) launched its first branch in Cambodia yesterday, bringing the total number of commercial banks in the country to 30. Speaking at the inauguration of the branch in Phnom Penh, Finance Minister Keat Chhon made an appeal to ICBC ...
Another logger shot dead along Thai border
Thailand has repatriated the body of an Oddar Meanchey man fatally shot Tuesday while illegally logging for rosewood in Thailand, border officials said yesterday. Torn Kimsann, 22, was among a group of four men from Samraong City’s O’Smach commune who had ventured about 1km into Thailand ...
Protest over fishing lot bidding continues
Government officials sent conflicting messages yesterday over how they would handle the complaints of about 50 businessmen from Kompong Cham province who continued to protest at the Fisheries Administration over Prime Minister Hun Sen’s decision to cancel their bids to operate fishing lots. Por Try, secretary ...
US Senate calls for delay of Mekong dams
As Mekong River Commission (MRC) countries prepare for a crucial meeting next week to debate Laos’ proposal to build the first Lower Mekong River dam, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has called for a delay of the controversial project. The US Senate’s concern was echoed ...
China firm plans bauxite processing plant in Kratie
China’s Erdos Hongjun planned to build a bauxite processing plant in Kratie province as part of the company’s US$1.5 billion venture in the Kingdom’s northeast, provincial officials said yesterday. The plant would serve Erdos’s mine in neighbouring Mondulkiri, an exploration licence for which was granted by ...
Prices steady in October
Consumer prices in the Kingdom rose about five per cent year-on-year in October, according to the National Institute of Statistics, though they held steady from September. Declining food and fuel prices, along with an appreciating US dollar, were listed as the main reasons for the stabilisation ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011113053042/Business/prices-steady-in-october.html
Mass faintings hit factory again
Female workers were rushed to hospital in a second mass fainting yesterday at Su Tong Fang Ying Kam garment factory in Russey Keo district, unionists said. About 17 female workers became overwhelmed with diesel fumes from their sewing machines and were rushed to Calmette Hospital, where ...
60 businessmen protest annulment of fishing lot licenses
About 60 businessmen from Kompong Cham province protested at the Agriculture Ministry yesterday over Prime Minister Hun Sen’s decision to cancel their bids to operate fishing lots. Mr Hun Sen on Friday annulled the results of an October bidding process for companies interested in operating fishing lots ...
Villagers locked in land dispute threaten arson
Police and military police stopped about 200 villagers from entering rice fields in Battambang province yesterday, saying they had no right to harvest in the 100-hectare area because it belonged to well-known businessman Song Thon, villagers said. Chhut Mao, a 64-year-old village representative of Lvea commune, ...
Protest for union trio continues
Workers and managers at Cambo Handsome 1 garment factory were continuing discussions last night after a fourth day of protest in which union leaders said more than 20 employees were injured in a confrontation with police. The workers are protesting against the suspension of three union ...
Six arrested in Cambodia for trying to log in Thailand
Six Oddar Meanchey villagers were arrested Monday afternoon while attempting to cross into Thailand to illegally log rosewood in the same area where three loggers were shot and killed by Thai authorities last week, officials said yesterday In a separate case, two loggers were reported missing ...
Recruitment agencies plan protective measures for maids
The Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies (ACRA) plans to propose a set of measures to the government that would put the association in charge of improving protection for Cambodian maids working in Malaysia. A human rights worker, however, disapproved of the plan because it only involved ...
Environmental group calls for halt of Laos' Mekong Dam
Environmental Group World Wildlife Fund yesterday called on the four member governments of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to shelve Laos’ proposal to build the first Lower Mekong River hydropower dam when the countries meet next week in Siem Reap province. Las has planned numerous dams ...
Prison chiefs eagerly await labor programs law
Prison directors across the country said yesterday they were eager to launch for-profit manufacturing programs following the expected passage of a controversial prison law that legalizes such schemes. Human rights groups, however, called on the government to strike the provision, saying that it would violate ...
Four protesters charged as lake clashes persist
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged four female Boeng Kak lake residents with insulting police and obstructing public officials during a protest that turned violent on Monday. Earlier in the day, dozens of residents were blocked by riot police from leaving the lake area, ...
Moody's says debt is stable, open to risk
Ratings agency Moody’s kept the outlook on Cambodia’s government debt at stable, though the firm said that the risk of default was still high and had raised concerns over the country’s ability to manage its finances. In a report released on Sunday, Moody’s said that Cambodia’s ...
Rubber industry growth a priority
Cambodia aimed to become one of the region’s main rubber producers over the next few years despite the industry’s low international recognition, officials said during the second Global Rubber Conference, held in Phnom Penh on Friday. To that end, the Kingdom had encouraged companies and investors ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011112852994/Business/rubber-industry-growth-a-priority.html
Maid tales continue to emerge
In what is becoming an all too familiar tale, another mother of a domestic worker who was sent to Malaysia has filed a complaint alleging her daughter is being exploited. Chea Si Yan said yesterday she wanted her daughter and goddaughter to come home because they ...
Villagers salute Chea Dara
A mother whose family face eviction from their home at Boeung Kak lake was farewelled at a funeral on Saturday evening, hours after her body was found in the Mekong River. Chea Dara’s body was identified by family members on Saturday in Samraong Thum commune, Kien ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011112853004/National-news/villagers-salute-chea-dara.html
Six missing after border shooting
Police and military officials were searching for six missing Cambodians yesterday who villagers believe were shot dead by Thai soldiers on Saturday night after entering the Khun Han district of Thailand’s Si Saket province in search of luxury timber. Neth Hing, who lives in Oddar Meanchey’s ...
Hun Sen annuls results of bids for fishing lots
After discovering that government officials had fixed a bidding process for companies interested in operating fishing lots on the Mekong River, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday annulled the results of the bidding and rescheduled it for next year. Speaking at a plenary session at the ...