Government
National government
Gov’t sweetens deal for Sesan Dam families
As work moves ahead on the controversial Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province, the Ministry of Mines and Energy met Tuesday with representatives of more than 250 families still refusing to make way for the dam’s reservoir. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-sweetens-deal-for-sesan-dam-families-86997/
Rescued fishermen return from Indonesia
Eight more rescued Cambodian fishermen were repatriated Tuesday from Indonesia’s Ambon Island, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, following the return of 230 others two weeks ago. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rescued-fishermen-return-from-indonesia-86995/
Police take delivery of new Riot control trucks
The National Police has purchased a pair of armored riot suppression trucks from South Korea that will be used against protesters and in cases of “terrorism,” officials said Monday. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-take-delivery-of-new-riot-control-trucks-86886/
After criticism, Ministry restores company database
Just days after a human rights group criticized the Commerce Ministry for stripping its newly revamped website of detailed information on businesses operating in Cambodia, the ministry restored its searchable database. ...
Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-criticism-ministry-restores
Posts ministry launches low-cost van service
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on Monday launched a low-cost van service that will shepherd passengers and goods across the country in what he said he hoped would be a profitable venture for the government. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/posts-ministry-launches-low-cost-van-service-86882/
Assembly passes part of 2013 budget despite opposition
Sixty-seven CPP lawmakers on Monday approved the government’s revenues and expenditures from 2013 despite the protest of 43 opposition CNRP lawmakers, who said reported revenues were inordinately low and called on the government to carry out a transparent audit. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/assembly-passes-2013-budget-despite-opposition-of-cnrp-86896/
HRW: gov’t failing refugee convention obligations for Montagnards
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report on the continuous persecution of Montagnards in Vietnam, condemning the Cambodian government for denying asylum to those fleeing into the Kingdom. ...
Donald Lee
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12626/hrw--gov---t-failing-refugee-convention-obligations-for-montagnards/
Racism on display in immigration raid
Police from the Interior Ministry’s general department of immigration on Thursday detained more than 100 Vietnamese men working at a metal scrapyard in Phnom Penh to assess the legitimacy of their employment in Cambodia. ...
Mech Dara and Matt Blomberg
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/racism-on-display-in-scrapyard-immigration-raid-86591/
Cambodia sends 11,529 laborers abroad in first half of 2015
Cambodia had dispatched some 11, 529 workers to five countries in the first six months of 2015, according to a report from the Ministry of Labor on Thursday. ...
Khmer Times News Staff
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12574/cambodia-sends-11-529-laborers-abroad-in-first-half-of-2015/
Hun Sen, Sam Rainsy reaffirm good cooperation
Prime minister Hun Sen, president of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and his political rival re-affirmed their commitment to continue implementing the culture of dialogue. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/hun-sen-sam-rainsy-reaffirm-good-cooperation-8714
Hor Namhong, Vetnamese official meet over border issue
Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung on Tuesday met with Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong to inform him that local Vietnamese authorities had been ordered to compile reports on the use of land on disputed stretches of the border following recent diplomatic notes from ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hor-namhong-vietnamese-official-meet-over-border-issue-86490/
For families, World Bank project falls short
Hang Sal has 2 hectares of fertile land he cannot farm. ...
Zsombor Peter and Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/for-families-world-bank-project-falls-short-86476/
Advisers to Say Chhum include disgraced malaria center chief
Thirty-eight people, including a former Health Ministry official under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit for accepting more than $350,000 in bribes, were this week appointed as advisers to new Senate President Say Chhum, according to a royal decree obtained Wednesday. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/advisers-to-say-chhum-include-disgraced-malaria-center-chief-86478/
New Commerce Ministry website lacks facts
As the only finalist in its category at Thursday’s Cambodia Information and Communications Technology awards, the Commerce Ministry looks likely to take home first prize for its newly overhauled website. ...
Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-commerce-ministry-website-lacks-facts-86466/
Vietnamese swept up for deportation
Nearly 100 Vietnamese laborers were detained for deportation Tuesday after they were found to be working in the country illegally during a sweep of construction sites on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich island as part of the Interior Ministry’s seemingly arbitrary enforcement of the immigration law. ...
Mech Dara and Matt Blomberg
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/vietnamese-swept-up-for-deportation-on-koh-pich-86315/
Cambodia struggling to curb child labor
On the southern outskirts of Cambodia’s capital, a ramshackle factory turns out tens of thousands of bricks each month. Pale rows of freshly fired bricks wait for buyers under the corrugated iron roof, while a 50-meter-long oven leaks a dull heat as it bakes a ...
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voanews.com/content/cambodia-struggling-to-curb-child-labor/2833593.html
Beehive party lacks sting
The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party is reacting with a shrug to the move by former supporter Mom Sonando to start his own political party. ...
Tin Sokhavuth and Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12555/beehive-party-lacks-sting/
Thai business seeks openings in Cambodia
In anticipation of increasingly adverse export conditions, entrepreneurs from six northeastern provinces of Thailand are trying to strengthen ties with their counterparts here. ...
Naomi-Collett Ritz
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12544/thai-business-seeks-openings-in-cambodia/
Cambodia-China trade to top $5 billion by 2017
Bilateral trade between China and Cambodia will be worth more than $5 billion by 2017, up from $3.75 billion last year, according to estimates made public by the Ministry of Commerce on Monday. ...
Tsz-kwan Ho and Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/cambodia-china-trade-to-top-5-billion-by-2017-86222/
CNRP will vote against draft NGO law, Sam Rainsy says
Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy told representatives of NGOs today that lawmakers from his party will vote against the controversial draft law on associations and NGOs if it is not amended. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12517/cnrp-will-vote-against-draft-ngo-law--sam-rainsy-says/
Hijacked tanker did not enter Cambodian waters, officials say
A Malaysian-flagged oil tanker that was hijacked by pirates last week was spotted in Cambodian waters by the Australian air force Thursday, according to Malaysian state media. Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, however, said the vessel never passed through the country’s territorial sea. ...
Over 3,000 illegal doctors in country: Ministry
A Health Ministry official said Thursday that an investigation in the wake of a devastating HIV outbreak in Battambang province’s Roka commune late last year had revealed more than 3,000 unlicensed doctors operating across the country. ...
Khy Sovuthy and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/over-3000-illegal-doctors-in-country-ministry-85893/
Gov’t, European union agree to first phase of deal for evictees
The European Union says the Cambodian government has agreed to the first part of a comprehensive plan they have been wrangling over for more than a year to properly compensate thousands of families that have lost land to sugarcane plantations. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-european-union-agree-to-first-phase-of-deal-for-evictees-85901/
Draft law sets legal drinking age at 21, highest in region
The Health Ministry has drafted Cambodia’s first-ever law to control the sale and consumption of alcohol, which imposes a minimum legal drinking age of 21 and would fine retailers who sell liquor to anyone underage. ...
Khy Sovuthy and Simon Henderson
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/draft-law-sets-legal-drinking-age-at-21-highest-in-region-85785/