Railway Evictees Tussle With High Debt Levels
Adding to a growing body of research into the flaws of Cambodia’s $142 million railway rehabilitation project, a report published yesterday said soaring debt levels are crippling families forcibly relocated by the project. In the report by land rights organization Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), researchers tracked ...
Microsoft's Super Wi-Fi could change game
A technology called “Super Wi-Fi” that uses the frequency spectrum between television channels called “white spaces” could be a game-changing force in how people connect to the internet, especially in places like Cambodia. The technology, which requires specialised equipment costing about US$2,000 for a base station ...
Cambodian rail delays, cost blowouts: leaked report
Australia’s Fairfax media has obtained a leaked official report into a troubled and controversial Cambodian rail project being funded by AusAID and the Asian Development Bank. The report outlines poor construction, botched surveys leading to the evictions of families ...
China may fund Cambodia-Vietnam rail
Cambodia was in discussions with the Chinese government on funding for a 250-kilometre stretch of rail line between Phnom Penh and Vietnam, in what Cambodian officials yesterday called a move away from a “complicated” Asian Development Bank loan. Va Sim Sorya, director general at the Ministry ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012061356758/Business/china-to-fund-cambodia-rail.html
Australian Gov’t Ordered Railway Investigation
The Australian government yesterday said it has been aware of poor working conditions and inappropriate surveying methods used on Cambodia’s railway rehabilitation project since February and had ordered that the project’s partners investigate the matters. “The Australian Government was alerted to possible concerns about workplace health ...
Construction Woes Plague Railway Project
The rehabilitation of Cambodia’s dilapidated railway network has encountered delays due to poor construction work and inappropriate surveying methods when making plans to lay down tracks, according to a draft review of the ongoing $140 million project conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and ...
Rail looks for new funding
It’s a nearly 300-kilometre stretch of rail in disrepair. More than 60 bridges – some crumbling, some dotted with landmines at the base – lie on the line between the towns of Bat Deong, northwest of Phnom Penh, and Sisophan near the Thai border. The ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052356314/Business/rail-looks-for-new-funding.html
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Replacement for Toll’s Kerr has arrived in Phnom Penh
Toll Royal Railways chief executive David Kerr is on track to leave Cambodia by the end of the month, according to his expected replacement. Bobby Luow, a 40-year veteran of the rail industry, mainly in South Africa, told the Post he had been brought in to ...
Railway evictees seek ADB aid
Families forced to move by the rehabilitation of the Phnom Penh stretch of the national railway petitioned the Asian Development Bank yesterday for help with their livelihoods. About 50 people gathered outside the ADB’s office to submit a petition representing more than 160 families relocated to ...
Templeton Cautions Investors Riding Myanmar, Cambodia Growth
Investors should be cautious when pursuing the opportunities for growth present in Myanmar and Cambodia, Southeast Asia’s frontier markets, Templeton Asset Management Ltd. said. In Cambodia, state-owned Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority will have its initial public offering this month, making it the first to ...
Bank Backs Displaced Families’ Compensation
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), one of the two major financiers of the rehabilitation of Cambodia’s railways, yesterday rejected criticism that they were providing insufficient resettlement packages to residents displaced by the project. On Friday, the ADB released a cost study that showed that the compensation ...
China influence over Cambodia to be tested at SE Asia summit
China’s presence in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh is obvious. The city skyline is dotted by Chinese-funded projects. But the full extent of Beijing’s influence here will be tested when President Hu Jintao visits this week ahead of a regional summit. The timing of Hu’s visit ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/29/asean-china-idUSL2E8ER98X20120329?irpc=93
A ‘good neighbour’ policy
Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr chose Cambodia as his first official overseas trip since his March 2 appointment to the top foreign policy job. The Australian Labor Party politician, former journalist and longtime premier of New South Wales sat down on Monday evening with the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012032855289/National-news/a-good-neighbour-policy.html
NGOs Say Railway Compensation Report Devalues Homes
Housing rights groups yesterday criticized resettlement packages paid out by the government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to people displaced by the rehabilitation of Cambodia’s railways, saying the packages do not account for growing inflation. A joint statement issued yesterday by Housing Rights Task Force, ...
Railway project suffers a blow
The contractor in charge of rebuilding Cambodia’s national railway has been cutting corners on the health and safety of its workers, according to a report published yesterday by the Asian Development Bank. TSO-AS & Nawarath, a French-Thai joint venture, was reportedly found to have grossly violated ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012032355214/Business/railway-project-suffers-a-blow.html