ខេមបូឌា ដេលី
Unesco Director Condemns Cambodian Journalist's Killing
The director-general of Unesco on Thursday spoke out against the murder of journalist Hang Serei Odom in Ratanakkiri province, and called for the authorities to provide justice for the victim and his family. “I am deeply concerned by the killing of Hang Serei Odom,” Irina Bokova ...
Telecommunications Regulatory Body Launched
With a proposed telecommunications law yet to be approved, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications yesterday launched the Telcom Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) to handle disputes between mobile phone companies and Internet providers, although officials admitted that the body will have limited powers. .. But unless ...
Thousands Evacuated, but Floodwaters Abating
More than 400 families in Banteay Meanchey province have now been evacuated from their homes due to heavy flooding in towns and villages along the Thai border, provincial officials said yesterday. About 100 families were evacuated from Poipet City – the worst-hit area – yesterday alone, ...
Board Passes Nearly $850M in Investments
The Cambodian Investment Board approved nearly $850 million worth of investment projects between the start of the year and the end of July, data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) shows. According to the data, 90 projects worth $845.26 million were approved during the first ...
Hun Sen Says Shootings, Traffic Accidents Threaten Tourism
Gun violence and fatal traffic accidents are hurting the government’s efforts to boost tourism, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday, urging local authorities to take action-even against the powerful. Mr. Hun Sen also said the government has earmarked sites for two new international airports to cater to ...
Thousands of Families Evacuated Due to Floods
More than 3,100 families have now been evacuated from their homes as flooding spreads in Banteay Meanchey province, the deputy head of the National Committee for Disaster Managment (NCDM) said yesterday. About 3,000 of those families have been evacuated from Poipet City alone, and another 148 ...
Vietnamese Arrested With Illegal Wood Off Coast
Four Vietnamese nationals were arrested off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province Tuesday for allegedly smuggling illegally cut wood from the neighboring province of Koh Kong, officials said yesterday. Sak Sovann, crime unit chief for the Interior Ministry’s maritime border police department, said the four men ...
Anti-Eviction Activists Ask EU, World Bank for Help
Residents of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak and Borei Keila communities delivered petitions to the offices of the European Union and World Bank yesterday in their ongoing attempts to enlist Cambodia’s aid donors in their efforts to have jailed anti-eviction activists released from Prey Sar prison. ...
Prey Long Forest Patrol Ends With Huge Illegal Wood Haul
The Prey Long People’s Network yesterday said it found 121 cubic meters of cut wood and seven chainsaws belonging to illegal loggers after a coordinated patrol across four provinces that was prematurely aborted due to heavy rains. In a statement, the community group said it discovered ...
Floods Force Evacuations in Northeast
Hundreds of families in Banteay Meanchey province were evacuated from their homes yesterday due to severe flooding, with authorities warning that more than 1,000 additional families may have to be rescued if torrential rains continue as expected over the course of next week. The rains that ...
Chinese Delegates Visit Environment Minister, Officials
A Chinese parliamentary delegation arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday to hold talks with various Cambodian officials including the environment minister, Chinese state media reported. The delegation from the National People’s Congress is headed by Huang Xianzhong, vice chairman of the Environment Protection and Resource Conservation Committee and a ...
Luxury Hotel Resort Threatens Bokor Mountain's Biodiversity
An ongoing project to build hotels, luxury villas and a casino on Kampot province’s Bokor Mountain is a threat to the area’s unique animal and plant species, according to two new studies. Local conglomerate Sokimex Group has been granted property development rights on the entire mountain, ...
Court to Summon Witnesses in Journalist's Killing
The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court will soon summon a number of people for questioning in its investigation into the brutal murder of journalist Hang Serei Odom earlier this month, a court official said yesterday. Former military police Captain An Bunheng and his wife, Sim Vy, were ...
Don't Envy the Chinese, Gov't Tells Europe
The commerce minister yesterday urged European businesspeople in Phnom Penh to invest more in Cambodia and not to envy the Chinese firms now dominating the foreign investment scene. Speaking at the gathering of the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, Minister of Trade and Commerce Cham ...
WHO Urges Higher Taxes On Tobacco
The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday urged Cambodia to increase taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products-currently the lowest in the world-in order to raise revenue and deter smokers. Ayda Yurekli, coordinator of the WHO’s tobacco control economics unit, said during a workshop in Phnom Penh ...
Prey Long Forest Patrols Cut Short by Torrential Rain
Community groups have aborted their coordinated patrol of Prey Long forest in search of illegal logging because of heavy rain, a community member said yesterday. The Prey Long People’s Network had planned to continue its patrol-which began Friday and had already found at least 65 cubic ...
Flash Floods, Heavy Rains Expected in 14 Provinces This Week
The government warned residents of 14 provinces yesterday to take precautions against possible flash floods caused by heavy rain, while the homes of almost 1,000 families have already been flooded in Banteay Meanchey province. The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a statement yesterday calling ...
Villagers Say Preservation of Pond Is Worth Fighting For
The future of a pond that sparked controversy last Monday, when about 400 people stopped authorities from filling it with sand in preparation for the construction of a military police base, remains in question, locals said yesterday. The residents of 10 villages protested last week in ...
Patrols in Prey Long Forest Find Signs of Illegal Logging
Community patrols of Prey Long forest by local villagers over the last few days have uncovered at least 65 cubic meters of illicitly cut timber and three chainsaws believed to belong to the illegal loggers. Soem Sean, a member of the Prey Long People’s Network, dedicated ...
Forestry Official, Reporter Arrested and Released
A forestry officer and a reporter from a little-known newspaper were arrested Friday on allegations of attempted extortion and assaulting a man they caught illegally transporting luxury timber, but were released on Saturday, military police officials said yesterday. Seng Chandaron, the chief of Sandan commune Forestry ...
Anniversary Marked With Fiery Demonstration
Resident of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood burned straw effigies symbolizing corrupt government officials yesterday to make the one-year anniversary of demolition of eight homes at the contest site. Roughly 100 protesters gathered at the site of the demolitions and set fire to eight scarecrow-like effigies ...
Anniversary Marked With Fiery Demonstration
Residents of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood burned straw effigies symbolizing corrupt government officials yesterday to mark the one-year anniversary of the demolition of eight homes at the contested site. Roughly 100 protesters gathered at the site of the demolitions and set fire to eight scarecrow-like effigies- one ...
Officer, Wife Charged with Journalist's Murder
The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday charged a military police captain and his wife with the murder of journalist Hang Serei Odom, officials said. Hang Serei Odom, who worked for the Virakchun Khmer Daily newspaper, was found dead in the trunk of his car on Tuesday. He ...
Spirit of the Forest
Once a majority ethnic minority province where Tampoun, Jarai and Kreung speakers outnumbered the Khmer, Ratanakkiri is now one of the country’s fastest growing provinces where inhabitants of lowland provinces, particularly Kompong Cham, Svay Rieng and Prey Veng, are flocking in search of a better ...