News
New home not where the heart is for Xayaburi locals
For the past several days, Boonma and seven other Houay Souy villagers have travelled back to their homes near the Xayaburi Dam building site on the Lao side of the Mekong River. Since the beginning of the year they have been relocated to a new ...
Unions Set to Discuss Agreement on Strikes
After months of standstill, unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) are expected to convene at the end of the month to discuss an expired memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at reducing the amount of strike actions in the country, union leaders said ...
Cambodian soldiers accused of land rights abuse in Prey Trolach forest
Cambodian soldiers and police have been clearing undergrowth with pesticides and using bulldozers to bring down trees in an area of community forest, according to local groups. The alleged land seizure at the 1,335 hectare (3,300 acre) Prey Trolach commune forest, a four-hour drive from the ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/03/cambodian-soldiers-land-rights-prey-trolach
Koh Kong king bowed out of 'blood sugar' firm
A sugar company originally part-owned by ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat that has long fought villagers over a land dispute in Koh Kong province is now under the complete control of two foreign-owned companies, statements released by the firms last week reveal. The Mitr Pohl ...
Rep wrongfully fired from airport: union
The Cambodian Tourism and Service Worker’s Federation (CTSWF) is asking Minister of Labour Vong Sauth to intervene in the case of one union worker fired from a Phnom Penh International Airport company with no reason offered. Nin Kosal, who worked as union secretary for the Cambodia ...
Insurance Premiums Up 40% in First 6 Months
Revenues generated by insurance firms increased 40 percent ro $18.9 million between january and June compared to the same period last year, according to data released yesterday by the General Insurance Association of Cambodia (GIAC). Fire insurance continued to reign as the sector’s top earner, accounting ...
Job security low as unemployment drops
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) released the latest data from its EU-funded project Monitoring and Assessing Progress of Decent Work this week, showing that despite an improving environment, including low rates of official unemployment , 75 per cent of workers are in vulnerable jobs. This includes the self-employed or ‘own ...
Bounced cheques causing concern
Military police in Siem Reap province arrested a 33-year-old woman this week on accusations of fraudulent activity involving writing a cheque at a local bank. Cheque account usage, an infrequently used service only a few years ago, is gaining traction in the Kingdom. Bank officials said fraudulent cheques ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012080357788/Business/bounced-cheques-causing-concern.html
Insurance, banks join forces
Cambodia Life Insurance Company Plc plans to bundle services with banks to offer guarantees on mortgages, company representatives said. The service is hoped to make mortgages more accessible in a country where housing loans are still considered risky business. Collateral is usually required to take loans ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012080357789/Business/insurance-banks-join-forces.html
Unions skirmish using factory as 'battleground'
The setting is familiar – a garment factory in Kandal province that supplies Levi’s and Gap – and so is the number of people involved, but a strike that has raged at Yung Wah Industrial II factory since Monday has a twist: it’s worker versus worker and union versus ...
Despair in Pursat as students begin to exit
Nineteen families from Pursat province’s Prangil commune, plagued by a long-running land dispute with developer Pheapimex, are in despair now that student volunteer surveyors cannot help them reclaim land they say is rightfully theirs. Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday revealed he had revised his ...
The week at the CSX August 2-8
The price of Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority stock from the period of August 2 to 8 remained very stable at KHR6,500 for most of the week after a slight increase from KHR6,400 (US$1.57) to KHR6,500 (US$1.6) on August 3. Trading volumes overall were lower ...
Rights Groups Call on Thai, Lao Leaders to Halt Dam
A group of Cambodian NGOs sent a letter to the prime ministers of Thailand and Laos on Friday calling on them to stop the construction of a controversial dam on the Mekong River and respect the 1995 Mekong Agreement. “We would like to urgently call ...
Philippines and Cambodia in South China Sea row
The Philippines has summoned Cambodia’s ambassador over comments linked to Manila’s territorial row with Beijing. Hos Sereythonh was asked to explain remarks accusing the Philippines and Vietnam of playing “dirty politics” over the issue of Asean and the South China Sea. [H]e did not turn up on ...
Vendors Protest Market Rebuilding at Appeal Court
About 200 vendors from Phnom Penh’s Tomnup Market gathered in front of the Appeal Court yesterday morning to protest an earlier ruling by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court that paved the way for the market’s reconstruction. In 2011, the market’s owner, New Rich Cambodia ...
Cambodia Falls Short of Region's Energy Goals
Speaking to an audience of more than 150 private- and public-sector energy officials at the Second East Asia Summit Energy Efficiency Conference, officials agreed that not enough was being done to convince manufacturers and other large consumers of energy to switch to new energy efficient ...
Philip Heijmans, P. 21
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/
Border Management Technology Advances in Cambodia and Vietnam
Using techincal solutions developed by INTERPOL, Cambodia and Vietnam can now instantly conduct real time searches of INTERPOL’s global databases. The joint European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) “Enhanced exchange of information between INTERPOL National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in the ...
Villagers Fight Evictions Near Int'l Airport
More than 250 families ordered to leave their homes next to Phnom Penh International Airport to make way for expansion plans yesterday with City Hall to fight the eviction. The 256 families living in three villages in Pur Senchey district’s Choam Chao commune are demanding compensation ...
Cambodia: Is Adidas exploiting workers?
Am Phalla sits outside the factory gates of apparel maker Shen Zhou (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., sharing a lunch of rice, vegetables and fried fish with coworkers. She has been sewing clothes at Shen Zhou for a little less than a year, but is unaware that the ...
Sonando's Lawyer Rejects Claims for Detention
In a 10-page filing, the lawyer for independent radio station owner Mam Sonando yesterday urged the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to release his 71-year-old client on bail, arguing that he is no flight risk and the legal arguments for keeping him are flimsy. But while ...
Small and medium enterprises prepare for ASEAN
Cambodia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are busily preparing for the ASEAN Economic Community’s free flow of goods in 2015 and are probably not that different from the other 10 ASEAN member states’ own SMEs. Te Taing Por, president of the Federation of Associations for ...
Beeline Appoints Second Boss in Three Months
Mobile operator Beeline announced Friday the appointment of the company’s second new general-director in less than three months. Said Abbadi, who formerly worked as CEO of Newroz Telecom in Kurdistan, started as Beeline Cambodia’s new boss on July 17, the company said in a statement. The ...
Police Detain Man Seeking Justice for Sonando
A 75-year-old man living near the former site of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak lake was detained by police on Thursday after he was found collecting thumbprints from villagers for a petition calling for the release of jailed independent radio station owner Mam Sonando, villagers said ...
Police Clamp Down on Land Rights Meeting
Local authorities, including a heavily armed police officer, broke up a training session on land rights in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district on Friday, claiming the two groups had no legal right to hold such a meeting. The move marks the second time in less than a ...