ដីធ្លី
Villagers Make Heady Claims Against NGO
Families living in Koh Kong province have called on the provincial governor to intervene in what they claim are ongoing land disputes with Forestry Administration authorities and conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance. Thirty-eight families from Mondul Seima and Khemarak Pumin districts have 110 hectares of land between ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051065550/National/villagers-make-heady-claims-against-ngo.html
New Kompong Thom Governor Vows to Give Land to Evictees
The newly appointed Kompong Thom provincial governor on Tuesday promised more than 500 families who were forcefully evicted by a Vietnamese rubber plantation more than three years ago that they would be given replacement land to farm on early next month. Security forces evicted villagers from ...
Ratanakkiri Hydropower Dams Deemed Economically Viable
Two massive hydropower dams planned for the Mekong’s tributaries in Ratanakkiri province have been deemed economically viable by two feasibility studies conducted by a pair of giant Chinese conglomerates, a provincial industry, mines and energy official said yesterday. Despite the feasibility studies having been completed, ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ratanakkiri-hydropower-dams-deemed-economically-viable-23116/
Private property, public greed in Cambodia
Mark Moorstein knew little about Cambodia before he got involved in a lawsuit on behalf of land owners there. But as it’s turning out, the suit could end up affecting most every country in Asia. Moorstein is a land-use lawyer in Northern Virginia who, like many ...
Kampong Thom Governor Vows to Give Land to Evictees
The newly appointed Kompong Thom provincial governor on Tuesday promised more than 500 families who were forcefully evicted by a Vietnamese rubber plantation more than three years ago that they would be given replacement land to farm on early next month. Security forces evicted villagers from ...
Firm Given Rights to All ELC Timber in Ratanakkiri
The Ministry of Agriculture has signed a deal with Try Pheap Import Export to give the firm the right to purchase all timber felled in economic land concessions (ELCs) in Ratanakkiri province, according to a letter sent from the Agriculture Ministry to the Forestry Administration ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/firm-given-rights-to-all-elc-timber-in-ratanakkiri-22788/
Father Suing Rubber Firm for Beating His Three Children
The father of three children attacked with wooden sticks and steel poles by employees of well-connected DM Group in Ratanakkiri province has filed a lawsuit against the firm, and is asking for tens of thousands of dollars in compensation. .. The provincial court has charged the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/father-suing-rubber-firm-for-beating-his-three-children-22805/
Court Upholds Verdict for Minister's Wife's Firm
The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a verdict by Kompong Chhang Provincial Court over a land dispute in Konmpong Tralach district between a 70-year old woman and a company owned by the wife of the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy over a 3,000-square-meter parcel ...
Work Begins on Controversial Cambodian Dam
As work begins on Cambodia’s biggest dam, those advocating against its construction have warned that the region’s rush for hydropower will have a disastrous effect on millions of people who rely on the Mekong River to survive. Last month, workers began preparing an area in northeastern ...
http://www.voanews.com/content/work-begins-on-controversial-hydropower-dam/1656035.html
S. Korea's Booyoung to build new town in Cambodia
Booyoung Co., a mid-sized South Korean conglomerate, said Tuesday that it broke ground for one of the largest housing projects in Cambodia, a project Cambodia hopes to spur foreign investments. Booyoung said it will build 40 apartments and seven residential and commercial complexes on 2.7 square ...
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2013/05/07/45/0501000000AEN20130507006500320F.HTML
Old Soldiers Won't Fade Away
“I don’t know how to protect the territorial integrity [of the nearby Cambodian-Thai border] – even my three hectares of land I cannot protect,” said Bun Chanthorn, 54, one of hundreds of retired and active soldiers who since 2010 have been battling the local authorities ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050765451/National/old-soldiers-won-t-fade-away.html
Boy Beaten by Plantation Staff Sent to Vietnam for Treatment
A 14-year-old boy severely beaten by employees of a well-connected rubber plantation company in Ratanakkiri province on Saturday was sent to Vietnam for treatment for a life-threatening blood clot in his brain on Monday, according to his father, while a soldier detained in connection to ...
Flooded Forest Gets Protection
A Northeastern section of the Mekong River that is home to a number of endangered species has been designated a conservation site by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. A prakas issued by Minister Chan Sarun on April 23 officially declared a 56-kilometre section of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050765443/National/flooded-forest-gets-protection.html
Phnom Penh Governor Leaves Behind Mixed Legacy
During his speech last week at the swearing-in ceremony of Phnom Penh’s new governor, Pa Socheatvong, Interior Minister Sar Kheng noted that managing Cambodia’s capital is by no means an easy task. While critics of [former Phnom Penh governor] Mr. [Kep] Chuktema note his failure ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/phnom-penh-governor-leaves-behind-mixed-legacy-22697/
Kids beaten over ELC
Five men working for Ratanakkiri rubber concessionaire DM Group, including a soldier, have been arrested for allegedly beating a villager and his children – one of whom, doctors say, may not survive – in a scuffle over their family’s land, the father said yesterday. Police confirmed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050665430/National/kids-beaten-over-elc.html
Police seize illegal rosewood; suspect escapes
Nearly a tonne of rosewood was uncovered in a raid yesterday in Kampong Speu in which the suspect successfully fled after injuring an officer, police officials said. “According to the quality assessment, I can say a rough value of that rosewood is $300,000,” he [Keo ...
Village patrols seize land-clearing tools
Jarai villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district escalated the defense of their protected land this weekend, confiscating the keys and batteries of bulldozers owned by the Vietnamese company they claim has been illegally clearing the area, community leaders said yesterday. The move comes after a number of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050665426/National/village-patrols-seize-land-clearing-tools.html
New Governor Promises to Solve Land Disputes
Phnom Penh’s new governor used his swearing in ceremony to Friday to boldly vow to solve some of the municipality’s longest-running and most high-emotive land disputes. Pa Socheatvong officially took over on Friday from outgoing governor Kep Chuktema, who served as the city’s chief for 10 ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-governor-promises-to-solve-land-disputes-21897/
Pushing the ELC envelope
Three companies accused of illegal logging in Ratanakkiri province are in possession of a combined 30,000 hectares of economic land concessions (ELCs) that are likely illegal because they are owned by the same parent firm. Hoang Anh Andong Meas, Hoang Anh Lumphat and Hoang Anh Ouyadav ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050365405/National/pushing-the-elc-envelope.html
NGO, Boeung Kak activists offer solution
The Boeung Kak community and a land rights NGO yesterday released a proposed demarcation plan they say could solve the long-standing land dispute. In a map presented yesterday, villagers said they had agreed on a land division that would make room for 70 families locked out ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050365397/National/ngo-b-kak-activists-offer-solution.html
Mekong forest facing sharp decline: WWF
BANGKOK: Demand for farmland may strip the Greater Mekong region of a third of its remaining forest cover over the next two decades without swift government action, a leading conservation group warned Thursday. Forests are being cleared for commodities such as rubber and rice while illegal logging is decimating ...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/mekong-forest-facing-sharp-decline-wwf/661574.html
Land Concession Evictees Petition Hun Sen for Help
Representatives of 157 families evicted in 2010 from a social land concession in Preah Vihear province belonging to businessman Pen Lim, a one-time adviser to Senate President Chea Sim, were in Phnom Penh yesterday to petition Hun Sen. The families say they were forced off the ...
High Risk Seen in Kingdom’s Business Environment: Report
Corruption, a weak judicial system and the potential for complicity with human and labour rights abuses are key risks for firms looking to invest in Cambodia, a new report [by Maplecroft, a UK-based global risk and strategic consulting firm] analysing investment risk in the Kingdom ...
Illegal Logging Threatens UN’s Carbon Trading Project
The military’s ongoing clearing of community forests in Oddar Meanchey province risks derailing Cambodia’s first forest-based carbon trading scheme backed by the U.N., according to the latest assessment of the project. Community forest groups, who stand to earn millions from the project, said on Wednesday that ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-logging-threatens-uns-carbon-trading-project-21395/