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In Need of Power, Phnom Penh Blacks Out
Rolling blackouts that plagued Phnom Penh this week were the result of the city’s power supply being unable to meet demand as the country moves into the hot season, officials at state-owned Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) said on Friday. Power Outages rolled over the city this ...
Thai Firm Moves in to Build Koh Kong Power Plant
A Thai Company is conducting a feasibility study to build a coal-fired power plant in Koh Kong province and has already invested in a local firm with permission to develop the plant, according to officials and the company. In an announcement to the Thai Stock ...
Authorities Downplay Hostage-Taking in Land Dispute
Two days after Ratanakiri province villagers took hostage a group of local officials who were clearing land for a rubber plantation, authorities downplayed the incident, saying they had no plans to press charges and that “the problem has been settled.” A representative of the rubber company, ...
Villager Patrol Detains Seven Loggers, Confiscates Equipment
Tired of the rampant destruction of their forests by loggers, villagers in Kratie province on Tuesday took matters into their own hands by briefly detaining loggers and confiscating six chainsaws and a tractor, a forestry official and villagers said yesterday. San Sihan, one of the ...
Bulldozing stopped, for now
Ethnic minority Tumpoun villagers yesterday delivered a thumb-printed petition to commune, district and provincial authorities in Ratanakkiri demanding intervention in a Lumphat district land dispute after villagers held five rubber plantation company employees hostage on Tuesday. Five employees of Jing Zhong Ri Cambodia Co Ltd were ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022454706/National-news/bulldozing-stopped-for-now.html
Gov't, NGOs Discuss Child Labor in Fisheries
Thousands of children are toiling in the country’s fisheries sector, living in conditions that are often hazardous to their health and depriving them of an education, government officials and UN representatives said yesterday at a workshop in Phnom Penh. Seventy-five percent of the 1.5 million ...
Four Men Arrested for Illegal Clearing of National Forest
Police in Kompong Chhnang Province arrested four men and confiscated two bulldozers Tuesday for illegally clearing more than 10 hectares of national forest in the Toek Phos district, officials said yesterday. District Police Chief Kim Sareth said that police apprehended the four laborers in Chorng ...
Businesses Feel Strain of High Gas Prices
The price of gasoline rose to a 5800 riel ($1.44) per liter Monday, a 14 percent rise since the beginning of the year. Economists and businesses yesterday said the high prices are having a negative impact on the economy, as everything from transportation companies to ...
Villagers take hostages
The clearing of land for a Ratanakkiri rubber plantation had been frozen after more than 300 Tumpoun ethnic minority villagers captured a quartet of company security guards and another staffer, tied them up and held them hostage on Tuesday, company officials said yesterday. Jing Zhong Ri ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022354691/National-news/villagers-take-hostages.html
Puma officials go to Cambodia after factory shooting
German sportwear maker Puma sent officials to investigate working conditions in Cambodia after a local woman working for one of its suppliers was shot during a labour protest on Monday. The woman, who was employed by Kaoway Sports, was shot during a protest by employees of ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/23/puma-cambodia-idUSL5E8DN8S820120223
Kingdom must diversify its economy, ADB says [Interview]
“I think when you have an economy that depends on the agricultural sector, there is a need to ensure that we strengthen the linkages between rural and urban areas. Our work also focuses on promoting education so that we can provide better employment opportunities for ...
Airline ups stake in fuel fight
The dispute that grounded a Tonlesap Airlines plane on Tuesday and stranded more than 200 passengers in Siem Reap and Taipei, Taiwain, continued yesterday, as plane owner Far Eastern Transport upped the sum it claimed Tonlesap owed for fuel. Far Eastern grounded a plane it had ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022354679/Business/airline-ups-stake-in-fuel-fight.html
Worming a Way Into the Agriculture Sector
For 53-year-old farmer Ros Mao, it’s not just the early bird that catches the worm. The Takeo province farmer has raised millions of earthworms for eight years in Tram Trak district, selling the slimy red creatures and using the manure they create to grow his ...
Child labor drains Kingdom
Child labour was draining the Kingdom’s brainpower and adversely affecting 750,000 of its children, officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday. Speaking at a three-day conference on child agricultural labour, Kaing Khim, deputy director-general of fisheries administration at the MAFF, said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022354686/National-news/child-labour-drains-kingdom.html
Duty calls: Strikers told they must go back to work
The Arbitration Council yesterday ordered protesting workers in Kampong Cham province to return to their factory today, as a union official reported that their numbers had swelled to nearly 3,000 outside the provincial hall in their third demonstration this week over an ongoing labour dispute. Free ...
Shootings May Impact Security Council Bid, Minister Says
Monday’s shooting of protesting factory workers by security guards at a Svay Rieng special economic zone could damage Cambodia’s international reputation and potentially impact the country’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Interior Minister Sar Kheng said yesterday. Speaking at the opening ...
CSX takes another step toward listing companies
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia has approved in principle the listing of Phnom Penh Water Supply on the Cambodian Securities Exchange, according to the SECC’s website. The announcement fell a step short from listing approval for PPWS, with the SECC requiring additional paperwork, including ...
Hard investment: Chinese firm eyes Kingdom investment
A Chinese company is aiming to invest in cement production in Cambodia, according to officials at the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy (MIME). The China Triumph International Engineering Company (CTIEC) would become one of Cambodia’s biggest cement producers and would invest in the Kingdom, said ...
Chea Mony Resigns from Union Confederation Role
Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Mony said yesterday that he has split from longtime colleague Rong Chhun by stepping down from his position in the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU). Mr. Mony said he had resigned on Friday from his position as Secretary-General of the ...
Rubber investments in Kingdom jump 255%
Investment in Cambodian rubber plantations increased by 255 per cent in 2011 on rising global demand for the commodity. There were 20 new projects worth US$675 million in the Kingdom last year, according to data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia. There were nine ...
Shootings May Impact Security Council Bid, Minister Says
Monday’s shooting of protesting factory workers by security guards at a Svay Rieng special economic zone could damage Cambodia’s international reputation and potentially impact the country’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Interior Minister Sar Kheng said yesterday Speaking at the opening ...
Cambodia, China willing to further enhance cooperation in all fields: officials
Cambodia and China are willing to further promote bilateral cooperation in all fields in the framework of ASEAN-China relations, officials said Monday. The commitment was made during the official visit of Ma Mingqiang, secretary general of ASEAN-China Center, to Cambodia. In a meeting with Cambodia’s Minister ...
Oz Minerals Sells M'Kiri Gold Assets
After more than three years of disappointment in its search for large gold deposits in Mondolkiri province, Australian mining firm OZ Minerals has decided to sell its Cambodian assets to another Australian company In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, OZ Minerals said that it ...
Angkor Village strikers sued
The foreign owner of a luxury Siem Reap hotel has sued four workers he sacked last year, alleging they damaged his property during protests in which they accused him of firing them for unionising. In total, 67 workers were sacked last year by Ankor Village Hotel ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022054601/National-news/angkor-village-strikers-sued.html