ហេដ្ឋារចនាសម្ព័ន្ធ
Blackout protest nixed by authorities
Kampong Thom provincial authorities blocked Sam Rainsy Party officials’ plans to hold a non-violent demonstration today to call attention to frequent power outages, according to an official letter from deputy governor Sorm Sophath obtained by the Post. ...
Opposition Protest of Power Outages Delayed by Officials
Kompong Thom provincial authorities have denied a request by the SRP to hold a peaceful demonstration to draw attention to severe power outages that have plagued the province for almost two months. Men Sothavarin, SRP senator for Kompong Thom province, said that his party had received ...
Laos Says Xayaburi Not Environmental Threat
The Laos government has said that all the necessary environmental assessments for the Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River have been completed and that no damage will be inflicted on the fisheries in countries further downstream when built, an official at the Cambodia National Mekong Committee said yesterday. Watt Botkosal, ...
Cambodia 'must admit to logging'
At a meeting with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had admitted Cambodians were conducting illegal logging and that Thai authorities were right to attempt to defend their territory. On Saturday, 20 natural resource protection officials from Si Sa Ket province which borders ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/292142/cambodia-must-admit-to-logging
Study to determine cost to finish railway
With funds almost exhausted on the $140 million rehabilitation of Cambodia’s railway network, the government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have decided to conduct a study to determine how much more money is needed to complete the project, a government consultant said yesterday. Paul Power, ...
Sihanoukville port construction in final phase
The government will spend a total of $85 million, funded by a Japanese government loan, for the third and final phase of the expansion of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, which will more than double the port’s import-export capacity by 2012, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday. “It ...
Water minister urges Laos to halt Xayaburi
Cambodia has urged Laos to halt construction of the controversial Xayaburi hydro dam project in the country’s north, a letter obtained by the Post yesterday reveals. “Preliminary construction on Xayaburi dam has continued despite the lack of regional agreement,” Minister of Water Resources and Cambodia National Mekong Committeechairman Lim ...
Toll Royal derails regional projects
The unclear future of Cambodia’s national railway, following Toll Royal Railways’ suspension of operations on March 31, has cast doubt not only on the oft-delayed redevelopment project but also on a larger build-out expected to connect much of Asia. Toll Royal, a joint venture by Australian ...
Xayaburi opposition escalates in Thailand
Criticism of the controversial Xayaburi hydro dam project in northern Laos is mounting in Thailand – the country set to enjoy most of the electricity if the project is completed. Representatives from 130 Thai civil-society organisations yesterday published a statement backing a report that outlines an ...
Thai protesters rally against Xayaburi dam construction
Protests over construction of the controversial Xayaburi hydro dam project in northern Laos could spread from Thailand to Cambodia as communities along the Mekong River begin to feel its negative effects, an International Rivers programme director said yesterday. About 70 Thai villagers who rely on the ...
MP urges government to scrap Koh Kong dam project
A dam project set to flood thousands of hectares of protected forest and displace about 1,500 indigenous minority villagers in one of Koh Kong province’s most precious ecosystems should be scrapped, opposition Sam Rainsy Party MP Son Chhay said yesterday. The 109-megawatt dam project in the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012042055676/National-news/dont-dam-minority-mp-says.html
Controversial dam takes step forward with impact study
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the controversial Stung Chheay Araeng hydropower dam in Koh Kong province has been completed, representing a major step forward towards construction, officials said yesterday. Koh Kong deputy governor Sun Dara said he had yet to see a hard copy of ...
Thai firm says Xayaburi project has begun
The controversial Xayaburi hydro-electric dam project in northern Laos may have already begun, despite countries, including Cambodia, requesting further studies to assess possible negative effects on Lower Mekong communities.Thai development firm Ch.Karnchang said it was due to begin building the dam on March 15 after finalising a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012041955661/National-news/worrying-dam-claims.html
City’s Transportation Workers Protest High Gasoline Prices
About 100 tuk-tuk drivers, motorcycle taxi drivers, vendors and other informal transportation workers protested against the high price of gasoline yesterday at the National Assembly, claiming the high petrol prices are cutting into their small profits. Vorn Pao, president of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy ...
Evictees’ plea: New petition chugging along to ADB
Families evicted from their homes by the rehabilitation of Phnom Penh’s stretch of the national railway said they had filed their second petition in two weeks to the Asia Development Bank yesterday, seeking help to improve living conditions at their resettlement site. ...
Donors Face Mounting Pressure Over Rail Project
A group of NGOs on Friday called on Australia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to suspend work and funding for a government-led project to rehabilitate the country’s railway system should authorities in Poipet City follow through on an eviction notice delivered to 22 families ...
China quick to act on trade promise
An across-the-board trade and investment deal signed with China’s Yunnan province on Friday was a jump-start to Chinese President Hu Jintao’s pledge a week earlier to double bilateral trade with the Kingdom to US$5 billion by 2017. The package signing, which brought a delegation of 45 ...
Storm levels Kampong Thom homes
Nine villagers were injured and about 270 homes damaged when a storm ravaged Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district on Friday, police said yesterday. Sandan district governor Sim Vanna told the Post that gale-force winds and heavy rain had swept across the region, leaving a trail of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012040955509/National-news/storm-levels-k-thom-homes.html
Violence Breaks Out at Railway Relocation Site
Three villagers who were evicted last year to make way for the rehabilitation of Cambodia’s railway—part of a $142 million project paid for by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AusAid—were hospitalized early Friday morning after they were attacked with rocks and sticks at a ...
Sihanoukville port revenues up 22% on economic growth
Revenues earned by the Sihanouk Autonomous Port for the first quarter of this year jumped 22 per cent year-on-year to US$8.3 million, according to figures released yesterday by SAP. Exports of the Kingdom’s rice, garments and timber, coupled with imports of textiles, electronics and construction materials, ...
Eviction Notices Arrive Too Late, Villagers Say
Poipet City authorities have issued eviction notices to those living alongside a section of railway that is earmarked for renovation, telling the families to move within 10 days or risk loss of property. The villagers said yesterday they received the eviction announcement only one day before ...
Forum Calls on Governments to Halt Laos, Stung Treng Dams
Participants at the Asean Peoples’ Forum have called on regional leaders to halt plans to construct two controversial hydropower dams in Laos and Cambodia because of the large number of people who will be affected and the lack of public consultation. The forum in Phnom Penh, ...
NGOs Send Letters to Prime Ministers to Halt Dam Project
Two environmental organizations sent letters to Prime Minister Hun Sen and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday appealing for them to halt the planned construction of the Lower Sesan 2 Dam in Stung Treng province. The Sesan 2, a Vietnamese-funded hydropower project, will cause ...
Families Evicted by Railway Project File Complaint With Bank
More than 150 residents evicted from Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district to make way for a railway rehabilitation project filed a complaint yesterday with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) office in Phnom Penh, one of two principal financiers for the project, saying their relocation site ...