News
Chinese firm takes over bus service, no bid needed
The Chinese-owned Global (Cambodia) Trade Development company takes over today as Phnom Penh’s new municipal bus operator, although City Hall said Tuesday that the company did not have to go through a bidding process to get the contract. The creation of a permanent public bus system ...
Simon Henderson and Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/chinese-firm-takes-over-bus-service-no-bid-needed-53513/
Buses Attract 20,000 Passengers in Two Weeks
About 20,000 passengers have traveled on Phnom Penh’s limited city bus service since a month-long public transport experiment began two weeks ago, which bodes well for a citywide expansion of the service once the trial ends on March 4, City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said ...
Sek Odom and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/buses-attract-20000-passengers-in-two-weeks-52465/
Water authority eyes new station for 2017
The Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) announced the construction of a fifth water treatment station yesterday, saying that without an additional plant, the capital could face a severe clean-water shortage as soon as 2017. Speaking at a press conference organised by the Japanese International Cooperation ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/water-authority-eyes-new-station-2017
Test Drive Begins for New City Bus Service
Ten buses set off Wednesday morning along Monivong Boulevard in Phnom Penh on a month-long test-run to determine if the public is ready to jettison their motorbikes and luxury cars and hop on board mass transport. This is the second attempt by the Japanese International Cooperation ...
Hul Reaksmey and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/test-drive-begins-for-new-city-bus-service-51538/
Survey seeks info on Cambodian business health
Starting later this month, 10,000 small and medium-sized businesses will be queried as part of a Japanese government-backed economic census intended to take a snapshot of activity across the private sector. Beginning on February 23 and running through to March 31, Cambodia’s National Institute of Statistics ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/survey-seeks-info-cambodian-business-health
Long-Awaited Phnom Penh Bus Service Begins One-Month Trial
A fleet of 10 municipal buses was set to roll out early this morning, commencing a one-month public bus service trial along a single route on Monivong Boulevard. If successful, the bus route will mark the first step in establishing a long-overdue public transit system to ...
Simon Henderson and Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/long-awaited-phnom-penh-bus-service-begins-one-month-trial-51446/
Public Warned of Traffic Delays Due to Drainage
Phnom Penh Municipality has warned the public to expect prolonged traffic disturbances around O’Russei market in Prampi Makara district after construction began in the area Monday as part of the ongoing Japan-funded drainage project, a statement from City Hall said. The public has been asked for ...
Khuon Narim and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/public-warned-of-traffic-delays-due-to-drainage-50912/
National health survey ready
International donors along with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Planning kick-started the Kingdom’s fourth Demographic and Health Survey in the capital yesterday. ...
Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/national-health-survey-ready
Capital to launch trial bus route
Phnom Penh commuters fed up with navigating the city’s increasingly busy streets will have a chance to test a new public bus service beginning in February. Phnom Penh Municipality spokesman Long Dimanche yesterday confirmed a one-month trial of a bus service along a 7.5-kilometre route running ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/capital-launch-trial-bus-route
‘Millions’ to be made off energy efficiency
Against the backdrop of high electricity costs and energy imports, Cambodian businesses could save millions of dollars annually by implementing energy-efficient business practices, insiders said yesterday. “It is clear that energy efficiency has multiple benefits, not only to the tourism sector but also other economic sectors ...
Anne Renzenbrink
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/%E2%80%98millions%E2%80%99-be-made-energy-efficiency
Botum Park dug up to extend city sewer
In the latest instalment of a project designed to revamp Phnom Penh’s drainage system, officials have begun work expanding a sediment chamber near the Royal Palace to Wat Botum. Phase three of the ongoing $350 million drainage system project spearheaded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/botum-park-dug-extend-city-sewer
Japan provides emergency aid to Cambodia’s flood victims
in response to the flood disaster in Cambodia, the Government of Japan on Monday decided to provide emergency relief goods such as generator, water purifiers etc worth 32 million yen (approximately 320,000 US dollars) to the Kingdom of Cambodia through the Japan International Cooperation Agency ...
The Southeast Asia Weekly News Staff
http://www.thesoutheastasiaweekly.com/?p=7988
Fertilizer Scam Referred to Anti-Corruption Unit
The case of a Battambang provincial government official accused of embezzling some $200,000 in state funds has been referred to the Anti-Corruption Unit in Phnom Penh, provincial officials said Thursday. Battambang Provincial Court deputy prosecutor Long Hokmeng said a two-week investigation into the case brought against ...
Eang Mengleng and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fertilizer-scam-referred-to-anti-corruption-unit-42818/
Further JICA Support Hinges On Fertilizer Scandal
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has said that its future support of agricultural development in Cambodia depends on the outcome of an investigation into a provincial official accused of embezzling funds from JICA-donated fertilizer. The accused, deputy bureau chief of Battambang’s department of agriculture Seng ...
Matt Blomberg and Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/further-jica-support-hinges-on-fertilizer-scandal-42143/
Four More Named in Fertilizer Embezzlement Scandal
An official from Battambang province’s department of agriculture who was charged last Monday with embezzling $200,000 from the illegal sale of fertilizer donated to the poor by Japan has implicated four other officials in the case, including the son of senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap, ...
Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/four-more-named-in-fertilizer-embezzlement-scandal-41913/
New Project Aims to Help Small Businesses in Cambodia
A new project by the government and Japan’s aid agency seeks to assist small companies in Cambodia that are in need of specialist advice in order to develop and keep up with competitors in neighboring Asean countries. The aim of the two-year program, called “Strategic Strengthening ...
Simon Henderson and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/new-project-aims-to-help-small-businesses-in-cambodia-41534/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-project-aims-to-help-small-businesses-in-cambodia
‘Master Plan’ Drawn for Phnom Penh Public Transport System
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) met with Phnom Penh municipal authorities last month to present the first stage of a “master plan” for the construction of a much-needed public transport system for the capital. Masato Koto, chief of mission for JICA’s transportation planning group in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/master-plan-drawn-for-phnom-penh-public-transport-system-32712/
Gov’t revenues rise 11 pct
Government revenues totalled more than $700 million over the first four months of the year, an 11 per cent year-on-year increase, data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) show. In total, the revenue made by the General Department of Taxation (GDT) rose by about ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013062166406/Business/gov-t-revenues-rise-11-pct.html
Construction Begins to Repair Phnom Penh’s Destroyed Street 63
Workers with heavy machinery began repairing Phnom Penh’s busy Street 63 on Thursday in order to get rid of the potholes and cracked concrete that has turned the street into a divot-ridden, water-logged throughway since new pipes were laid six months ago. The Japanese International Cooperation ...
Japanese Funder Blames City Hall
Japan’s aid arm, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is funding a drainage project along Phnom Penh’s Street 63, said yesterday that while it was true sections of the busy road remained in a deplorable condition, responsibility lay with City Hall. “This is [a] ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/japanese-funder-blames-streets-ruin-on-city-hall-29321/
Hun Sen Says Water, Power Shortages to Stay
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that the rapid growth of Phnom Penh’s population coupled with the rampant construction of new property projects means that there would always be a shortage of water and electricity in the capital. Speaking to a crowd of thousands who had ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-water-power-shortages-to-stay-29063/
Worse than Potholes, Street 63 Roadwork Hurts City’s Image
Skyscrapers, supermarkets and high-end clothing stores along Sihanouk Boulevard may reflect the increasingly affluent side of Phnom Penh, but turning down busy Street 63 toward Central Market the scene is more warzone than Asean capital, with air thick with dust and the road peppered with ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/worse-than-potholes-street-63-roadwork-hurts-citys-image-28799/
Japan signs a $90m loan deal to improve highway
After reaching agreement late last month, the contract for a $90 million concession loan from Japan to Cambodia was officially signed in Phnom Penh yesterday to improve 83.5 kilometres of National Road 5. The construction is scheduled to start in June 2015 and will be ...
As Phnom Penh Grows, So Does Its Sewage Problem
Since 1998, Phnom Penh’s population has doubled to more than 2 million. High-rise buildings have popped up in the city’s center and housing developments have been hastily erected. Yet the city’s antiquated, decades-old drainage system has undergone little improvement in that time and experts say the ...