Letter reveals minister's ire with NGOs
Prime Minister Hun Sen received a proposal from Finance Minister Keat Chhon in June seeking to bar “foreign NGOs” from advocacy work in Cambodia, as well as preventing foreigners from working with local advocacy groups because of activism around the rehabilitation of the nation’s railway, ...
Thaksin gives government some friendly economic advice
Hours after arriving for his latest visit to the country, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Saturday urged Cambodia to increase state spending in infrastructure and education and to modernize the country’s financial system, according to media reports. Local reporters were quickly ushered out of ...
Rail project in ADB sights
The Asian Development Bank said yesterday problems with a railway rehabilitation project – funded by the bank and AusAID – identified by a local NGO that was suspended by the government last month “may require further investigation or analysis”. In July, STT released a report ...
Land rights acrimony in AusAID Asian project
A TAXPAYER-FUNDED development project is mired in controversy after the Cambodian government launched a crackdown against land rights organisations critical of the compulsory resettlement of families. The Cambodian government has cautioned a small group of foreign organisations against stirring up unrest among those being forced off ...
NGO Forum Breaks Silence on 'Warning'
NGO Forum confirmed yesterday it had received a “warning letter” from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over its advocacy on behalf of communities affected by a railway rehabilitation project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AusAID. The warning to the umbrella group of 88 ...
Lakeside Deal Skips Village 1
Hundreds of families at Boeung Kak lake would receive land titles next week, Phnom Penh governor Kep Chuktema announced yesterday, but one village has been excluded from the deal that all but ends Phnom Penh’s highest-profile land dispute. At a meeting with about 500 villagers ...
Foreign Ministry Tells NGOs to 'Readjust' Their Actions
The Foreign Affairs Ministry met with to non-governmental groups yesterday and accused them of inciting families to oppose the rehabilitation of the Cambodian rail system, ordering the NGOs to “readjust” their workForeign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said his ministry invited Bridges Across Borders Cambodia and ...
Price tag set for railway link to Vietnam border
The rail link to Vietnam from Cambodia has been estimated at $686 million dollars. The link would finally connect Singapore to Kunming, China. The $686 million does not include compensation for those who link along the proposed railway locations and no funding has been confirmed ...
Bank Says No Railway Evictee to Be Left Behind
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said that the rehabilitation of Cambodia’s railways will not be at the expense of those who live along the lines and has pledged to address the issue. Resettlement has been a problem for the rehabilitation but a new plan ...
‘Downgrade’ of railway homes
Compensation for Phnom Penh villagers set to be displaced by railway reconstruction may be insufficient due to a “systematic downgrade” of the value of their homes by the government, a report released yesterday said. The report, issued by the NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, said the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011070550186/National-news/downgrade-of-railway-homes.html
Bank Says No Railway Evictee To Be Left Behind
The Asian Development Bank announced yesterday that the organizations behind the rehabilitation of Cambodia’s railways, including the government and the Australian development agency, have jointly pledged to address the complaints of people facing eviction from dwellings across the rail lines. The Australian government provided ...