The Phnom Penh Post
Kratie cops caught ignoring timber hauls
Police in Kratie province were caught on video letting potentially illegal timber transporters pass through their checkpoints on Monday night, with provincial police yesterday suggesting they were powerless to crack down on such shipments as many transporters possessed axes and machetes and were addicted to ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kratie-cops-caught-ignoring-timber-hauls
Hun Sen gives nod to creation of ecotourism task force
Prime Minister Hun Sen approved the establishment of a new interministerial task force yesterday that will work to develop and manage community-based ecotourism locations in a bid to find sustainable ways to draw tourists to destinations across the Kingdom. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/hun-sen-gives-nod-creation-ecotourism-task-force
US has new plan for UXO removal in Cambodia after cutting CMAC funding
One day after it was revealed that the United States would discontinue funding for the Cambodian government’s explosives removal body, the US Embassy said it would fund a separate “world-class removal program” in the eastern part of the country, following a competitive bidding process. ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/us-has-new-plan-uxo-removal-cambodia-after-cutting-cmac-funding
Former local CNRP officials who defected to CPP met with distrust
Kry Lay lined up in early June to vote for the party he wanted to run Kampong Cham province’s Srak commune in the eastern part of the country. A former Sam Rainsy Party commune, the locale’s electorate delivered what Lay, a local farmer, wanted – ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/former-local-cnrp-officials-who-defected-cpp-met-distrust
Small-scale farmers will suffer under draft agricultural law: advocates
Farmers and agricultural NGOs slammed the seventh and final draft of a controversial agricultural law at a workshop in Phnom Penh yesterday, claiming that the law would benefit large corporations at the expense of small farmers if passed. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/small-scale-farmers-will-suffer-under-draft-agricultural-law-advocates
Government plans new cassava policy
Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak has announced that the government will be spearheading a new National Cassava Policy which aims to address challenges in the industry and work towards ensuring a sustainable and resilient crop, strong value chains and greater regional market presence. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/government-plans-new-cassava-policy
US cuts funding to CMAC amid government’s war of words with superpower
The United States has cut funding next year for the Cambodian Mine Action Centre following months of criticism from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government of America’s war legacy in the Kingdom. ...
Ananth Baliga and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/us-cuts-funding-cmac-amid-governments-war-words-superpower
CNRP members ‘seek asylum’
Members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party have started applying for asylum in other countries amid a tightening crackdown on the party at home, according to a senior party official who is himself seeking asylum. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-members-seek-asylum
Hun Sen offers ultimatum for CNRP officials: defect or risk a five-year ban
Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened yesterday to impose a five-year ban on more than 100 unnamed senior CNRP officials, seemingly under a controversial provision of the Law on Political Parties, while insisting that the main opposition party will indeed be dissolved this month by the ...
Niem Chheng, Ben Sokhean and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-offers-ultimatum-cnrp-officials-defect-or-risk-five-year-ban
Few NGOs compliant with law
Thousands of organisations have failed to meet the deadline for filing their financial reports under the controversial Law on Associations and NGOs (Lango), according to a ministry official. ...
Kong Meta and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/few-ngos-compliant-law
EU expresses concerns over rights
A European delegation on a two-day visit to the Kingdom yesterday expressed concerns about recent political developments in Cambodia, saying that the deteriorating political and human rights situation could have consequences for development assistance and trade. ...
Mech Dara and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/eu-expresses-concerns-over-rights
Rainsy claims Monyvann working with ruling party to stage ‘coup’ in CNRP
With the opposition under pressure from the government and teetering on the brink of dissolution, former CNRP President Sam Rainsy has claimed party lawmaker Mao Monyvann is attempting a leadership change in light of current party leader Kem Sokha’s detention – an allegation that was ...
Niem Chheng and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainsy-claims-monyvann-working-ruling-party-stage-coup-cnrp
Court upholds Sokha detention for ‘treason’
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the legality of CNRP President Kem Sokha’s detention on widely condemned charges of “treason”, despite a team of defence lawyers laying out their arguments against his imprisonment for the first time before a court. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/court-upholds-sokha-detention-treason
Student group suspended for ‘violating law on NGOs’
A student group was suspended by the Ministry of Interior yesterday for a series of violations of the Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations (Lango), including the highly controversial Article 24, which requires organisations to remain “politically neutral”. ...
Soth Koemsoeun and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/student-group-suspended-violating-law-ngos
Study finds worm more harmful than thought
Researchers have found that a little-studied variety of threadworm – strongyloides stercoralis – previously thought to be relatively benign is associated with “significant morbidity” in rural Cambodia. Peter Odermatt, a professor at Basel University in Switzerland who headed the team, said the researchers had been ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/study-finds-worm-more-harmful-thought
Rehab programme to be tested in Cambodia
A community-based treatment programme for drug users – which has reduced costs, rates of relapse and drug-user related crimes in trials in China – is set to be piloted in two Phnom Penh communes from December, stakeholders said yesterday. Community-based treatment has long been advocated ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rehab-programme-be-tested-cambodia
Stork nest discoveries celebrated
Government officials and environmental groups yesterday celebrated the discovery of 121 lesser adjutant stork nests in Preah Vihear province, chalking the success up to a joint programme to hire locals to guard the nests. Environment Ministry rangers and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) workers started counting ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/stork-nest-discoveries-celebrated
Concerns over Cambodia’s HIV funding
A group of anonymous civil society organisations, people living with HIV and others has raised “grave” concerns regarding funding from the Global Fund, the largest donor to the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in the Kingdom – as well as Cambodia’s allocation process to ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/concerns-over-cambodias-hiv-funding
Government plans to borrow $1.4B for 2018 national budget
The government plans to borrow an additional 1 billion through Special Drawing Rights (SDR), or $1.4 billion, to meet its planned budget for next year, bringing the total national debt to $7.6 billion by the end of 2018 compared to the current level of $6.2 ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/government-plans-borrow-14b-2018-national-budget
Tea Banh shrugs off threat of international sanctions
Defence Minister Tea Banh expressed indifference to the threat of international sanctions being levied on government officials and the Cambodian economy on Saturday, while ordering his military to be ready to destroy any attempts at an alleged “colour revolution” or popular demonstration over the arrest ...
Mech Dara and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tea-banh-shrugs-threat-international-sanctions
Government proposes $6B budget for 2018
The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a national budget for next year that calls for more than $6 billion in spending, the largest increase ever proposed for the Kingdom, with big boosts for education, defence and the arts. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-proposes-6b-budget-2018
CDC to post project decisions on Facebook
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the government body in charge of approving large-scale investments, has taken to Facebook to officially announce its decisions on investment projects, a move that a government official claimed yesterday will provide more transparent access for investors and ...
Hor Kimsay and Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cdc-post-project-decisions-facebook
Forest clearing ‘rampant’ in Prey Lang
Illegal logging within the Prey Lang protected forest decreased significantly year-on-year over a six-month period ending in February, collected data show, though forest-clearing in the area remains rampant. ...
Phak Seangly and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forest-clearing-rampant-prey-lang
Nest plan must expand to protect rare river bird, say environmental groups
A river bird that was once a common sight along the Mekong River is now down to a population of just 50 to 60 individuals due to human interference and dam construction, conservationists and Environment Ministry officials said yesterday. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/nest-plan-must-expand-protect-rare-river-bird-say-environmental-groups