Government

Public Works and Transport Minister Sun Chanthol announced the creation of four new departments within his ministry yesterday during a road renovation ceremony in Preah Sihanouk province. Transport Ministry spokesman Va Sim Sorya confirmed the changes to Khmer Times yesterday and said they were done to ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday again ordered Kandal provincial authorities to stop residents from leasing land to Vietnamese farmers, repeating a similar demand from in August. ...

In response to persistent rumors of rice in Cambodia being adulterated with rice-like plastic pellets, the government announced yesterday that it would boost testing of rice across the country, and threatened to take legal action against any unsubstantiated claims. ...

Ministry spokesman Mao Hak said yesterday that seasonal rains are expected to taper off in mid-November, with cooler winds sweeping into the Kingdom from Siberia and Tibet, promising a “winter” even cooler than last year’s, in which some areas saw temperatures as low as 18 ...

Amid reports of the emergence of the Zika virus in Myanmar and the discovery of the first birth defect believed linked to the virus in Vietnam, two researchers with Phnom Penh’s Pasteur Institute have concluded that Cambodia is at high risk of its own Zika ...

Minister in Charge of Border Affairs Var Kimhong yesterday moved to quash the latest outbreak of rumours that National Assembly President Heng Samrin’s native village of Thlok Trach would be given to Vietnam in a land swap. ...

Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol yesterday ordered his officials to keep a close eye on a new $1.3 million project to widen National Road 4 in Preah Sihanouk province in order to halt criticism of shoddy road quality and corruption in his ...

The Mines and Energy Ministry yesterday shut down six sand depots in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district for allegedly failing to “respect” a ministry directive concerning the proper transportation of sand, but they will be allowed to reopen on Wednesday if they agree to comply. ...

The US and Royal Cambodian Navy joined forces yesterday for the opening ceremony of the seventh annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness Training (CARAT) exercise at Ream Naval Base, a joint maritime training exercise that since 2010 has aimed to increase cooperation and strengthen security at sea ...

Two Chak Angre Leu commune officials traded blows at a voter registration drive in Phnom Penh on Sunday morning and the National Election Committee (NEC) said it will hold a hearing for both men to air their grievances and explain their actions. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has no plans to negotiate with his Cambodia National Rescue Party counterparts, a ruling party spokesman reiterated yesterday, following calls for intra-party talks last week by a senior US diplomat. ...

About 40 Chroy Changvar peninsula residents yesterday held a press conference rejecting City Hall’s two-month ultimatum to part with most of their land or accept below-market rates to make way for a planned satellite city. ...

The Ministry of Environment on Thursday issued its first prakas on safe battery management, laying out specific guidelines on the collection, storage, treatment, delivery and disposal of batteries by households and businesses alike. ...

The number of people registering to vote has dropped sharply in recent days, statistics show, with an election watchdog calling on the National Election Committee to step up its game. ...

A total of 60,000 cubic meters of illegally-felled luxury timber confiscated by the National Anti-Deforestation Committee (NADC) sold at auction yesterday for $15 million, $3 million above the reserve price. Soung Meng Kea, chairman of the subcommittee running the auction and undersecretary of state at the ...

Pen Sovann, Cambodia’s first prime minister after the Vietnamese invasion in January 1979 that swept the Khmer Rouge from power and a serving opposition member of parliament, passed away at his home in Takeo province’s Duan Keo town on Saturday evening aged 80. ...

Ten students will have the opportunity to further their studies for free thanks to Smart Axiata’s SmartEdu Scholarship Program, which not only covers their entire tertiary education tuition, but has also awarded them a monthly stipend amounting to $15,000 for the duration of their degree. ...

Residents of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building were presented with two options yesterday: take a $70,000 payout for their apartment or live in Phnom Penh’s Teuk Thla commune for three years while the structure is renovated. The 50 people representing the 554 families living in the ...

United States Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel yesterday said Cambodia’s political stalemate was a matter of concern, but nonetheless expressed hope the coming elections would be free and fair. ...

At least 17,571 hectares of rice fields were affected by the recent floods – of which about 3,186 hectares were severely damaged, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) yesterday, which urged all provincial agriculture departments to immediately evaluate the affects from ...

As part of ongoing education reforms, a new curriculum set to be implemented in 2018 will address the lack of career counselling in high schools across Cambodia, a Ministry of Education official told attendees of an education forum yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Transport has started checking trucks traveling along National Road 6 to ensure they conform to legal size and modification requirements, it announced this week. According to a post on the ministry’s Facebook page, mobile inspection teams were deployed in Kampong Cham province to ...

The Ministry of Labor said yesterday that it was working with experts and International Labor Organization (ILO) officials to create a draft law laying out the monthly minimum wage for workers in a variety of fields outside the garment and textile industry, which late last ...

Vietnam agreed yesterday to waive all duties on a total of 300,000 tons of rice and 3,000 tons of dried tobacco exported annually from Cambodia to the country, according to a bilateral agreement signed at two back-to-back summits to promote economic cooperation in the Greater ...