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ODC Presents at BarCamp Battambang!
A four-member delegation from the Open Development Cambodia team attended the two-day international technology conference BarCamp, held in Battambang. Through its theme “Empowering Youth through Technology”, BarCamp brings together information-technology enthusiasts, innovators, bloggers, students, community organizers, and data journalists such as ourselves to share our passions on a wide range of topics and projects During one of the Saturday evening sessions, the ODC team presented in both Khmer and English to a packed room of 44 BarCampers, of whom 4 were expatriates while 40 were Cambodian students. The majority of the students were from Phnom Penh and Battambang, along with a significant presence from Kampong Cham. Our presentation emphasized ODC’s mission of compiling and sharing all data relating to Cambodia’s continuing economic development for free. The audience explored all of the various features of our website, with a particular emphasis on the versatility of the Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping program. During the Q&A session, audience members wished to know more about ...
Villagers Camp Out to Protest ‘Land Grab’
More than 100 people from two communes in Kratie province’s Sambor district gathered yesterday for a three-day protest in front of the provincial office of Think Biotech, a Korean-owned timber company villagers say is encroaching on their land. As of yesterday evening, 10 armed policemen ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052765854/National/villagers-camp-out-to-protest-land-grab.html
Blackouts to end soon: EdC
Blackouts in Phnom Penh will no longer be a problem after an energy source near Sihanoukville starts providing an extra 50 megawatts of coal-fired power to the city next month, the director-general of Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) said. Keo Rottanak said by mid-June at the latest ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052765845/Business/blackouts-to-end-soon-edc.html
NEC Says Statement on Bloggers Not an Attack on Free Speech
Despite fears that a warning to users of social media and Internet blogs will dampen free speech, the head of National Election Committee (NEC) has insisted the intention was not to limit expression ahead of July’s national election. The NEC last week issued a statement requesting ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nec-says-statement-on-bloggers-not-attack-on-free-speech-26791/
Banong Families Receive Communal Land Titles
More than 70 ethnic minority Banong families from two separate villages in Moldolkirri province’s Keo Seima district received communal titles to a combined 1,031 hectares of ancestral land from the Land Management Minister Im Chhun Lim on Saturday. Communal land titles were established under the 2001 ...
Cambodian greens see red in upcoming dams
For Meach Mean, a veteran campaigner against hydropower dams in Cambodia’s northeast, this year has brought a double dose of bad news. First, he says, two Chinese hydropower companies have begun feasibility studies into a pair of dams planned for tributaries of the Mekong River ...
http://www.gulf-times.com/environment/231/details/353963/cambodian-greens-see-red-in-upcoming-dams
Cambodia: A rising star with a falling reputation?
Cambodia’s reputation as a standard-bearer for apparel workers’ rights is wearing thin – and yet the country is a rising star when it comes to attracting foreign investment and increasing exports. There are many reasons to deter brands and retailers from sourcing clothing in Cambodia. The Kingdom ...
http://www.just-style.com/analysis/a-rising-star-with-a-falling-reputation_id117944.aspx
Wildlife group busts illegal loggers in Cambodia
An illegal logger in Cambodia has dropped an address book during a bust, leaving behind details of corrupt government officials and spying rangers. The man fled after being intercepted by police over an illegal haul of rare rosewood in Koh Kong province earlier this month. . “We ...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-23/an-wildlife-group-busts-illegal-loggers-in-cambodia/4709882
NGOs Assessing Development Goals for Coming Years
As Cambodia assesses its development goals, a study has found that many Cambodians want to see an improved judicial system, better education, improved agriculture and more human rights. A broad consortium of local and international development agencies spent the early part of the year conducting conferences ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/ngo-assessing-development-goals-for-coming-years/1667239.html
Rice Boss in Pre-trial Detention ‘13 Months’
The general director of a local rice wholesaler accused of defrauding business associates in a deal has lashed out at the judiciary – claiming delays in legal processing have left him imprisoned for 13 months without trial. Sovann Veasna is accused of cheating three businessmen ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052465829/National/rice-boss-in-pre-trial-detention-13-months.html
Regional pharma producers eye Kingdom
International pharmaceutical companies are increasingly looking to sell their products to Cambodia, although the market is full of obstacles, according to experts. After several big international players announced sales expansion plans, two companies from Indonesia, a major manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia, are planning to follow. Kalbe ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052465819/Business/regional-pharma-producers-eye-kingdom.html
Electricity co-operation crucial
Co-operation on the exchange of electricity will be very important in making the 10-country ASEAN bloc move forward to a single market by 2015, experts said, but a shortage of power supply in each country remains a challenge. Speaking to reporters yesterday after the opening of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052465820/Business/electricity-co-operation-crucial.html
Subedi Urges Passage of Laws on Judiciary
U.N. human rights envoy Surya Subedi met with a senior official at the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday and reiterated a call for new legislation to be passed on governing Cambodia’s judiciary. “He did not ask us much on anything new, but he did ask for ...
Families Say Land Was Taken
Nearly 90 representatives of 137 families in Battambang province, some of whom include former Khmer Rouge cadres, protested for a second day in Phnom Penh yesterday, claiming authorities had seized land they had held since the late 1990s. Ul Yan who was among protesters at Butom ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052465825/National/families-say-land-was-taken.html
Judge Denies Coercion Claim in Land Dispute Assault Case
A father whose three children were badly beaten by employees of a rubber plantation has accused a Ratanakkiri Provincial Court judge of threatening to send two sons, aged 14 and 21, to jail unless they accept $1,000 in compensation and drop the assault complaint. Ry Saron ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/judge-denies-coercion-claim-in-assault-case-26546/
Massive Power Outage Triggered by Falling Tree
A massive power outage that left large areas of Phnom Penh without electricity and water and plunged southern Vietnam into darkness on Wednesday was caused by a crane operator knocking a tree onto a high voltage power line, Vietnam’s state-owned energy provider said yesterday. “A ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/massive-power-outage-triggered-by-falling-tree-26557/
ASEAN power chiefs to follow up power grid plan
Leaders of ASEAN power utilities and authorities gathered on Thursday to follow up the progress of the ambitious ASEAN power grid action plan, which was set to inter-connect power lines in the 10 ASEAN member states by 2020. Speaking to reporters after the opening ...
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2013-05/23/content_16525904.htm
ILO to name unsafe Cambodia garment factories
The ILO is preparing to name Cambodian garment factories failing to comply with local safety requirements. The International Labour Organisation says Cambodian garment factories refusing to comply with safety requirements have one last chance before they are named and shamed. Jill Tucker, chief technical advisor for ...
Eviction Protestors Block Phnom Penh International Airport
About 20 people protesting their pending eviction from their homes near Phnom Penh International Airport blocked people from leaving or entering the airport for about half an hour yesterday, before a large force of police broke up their protest. In July, authorities told 182 families ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/eviction-protesters-block-phnom-penh-international-airport-26147/
Hun Sen Tells Landowners in Kep to Obey Tax Law
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday told landowners in the coastal province of Kep to pay their taxes on unused land and increase the amount of investment in the area to attract more visitors. According to the law, unused land is subject to a 2 percent ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/hun-sen-tells-landowners-in-kep-to-obey-tax-law-26172/
Rain Provides Small Respite for Families in Koh Kong Drought
Several days of rain have finally brought relief to hundreds of families in Koh Kong province’s Khemara Phoumint City who had been without water for two weeks because the reservoir that provides their supply dried up during hot season. LYP Group, a company owned by ...
Vietnam Power Failure Hits Phnom Penh
A massive power outage Wednesday in Southern Vietnam brought rolling blackouts that lasted for hours to Ho Chi Minh City, the entire southeastern region of Vietnam and large sections of Phnom Penh. Vietnam’s state-owned Southern Power Corporation said Wednesday that the problem occurred around 2 p.m. ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/vietnam-power-failure-hits-phnom-penh-26121/
World’s Second Tallest Building for Phnom Penh?
A 555-metre tower planned for Diamond Island is to go ahead, and expert engineers from China and Vietnam are studying the river bank and calculating the strength of the foundations needed to support the building. The building plan will not be changed and now the company ...
CNRP Lawmaker Visits Controversial Plantation
Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said yesterday that he would ask the government to cancel the land concession of a Vietnamese rubber firm in Ratanakkiri province he accused of logging and exporting wood illegally. Mr. Chay, a candidate in July’s national election for the Cambodia National Rescue ...
