Government
National government
Interior Ministry retirees get ‘political positions’
Senior officials at the Ministry of Interior who have recently retired will be reappointed to “political positions”, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng said yesterday. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/interior-ministry-retirees-get-political-positions
World Cup labour on agenda
Amid reports of hundreds of workplace deaths at World Cup construction sites, Qatar invited Cambodia on Saturday to discuss implementing a long-signed agreement to send labourers there ahead of the tournament in 2022. The issue was discussed during a meeting between Foreign Ministry Secretary of State ...
Taing Vida and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/world-cup-labour-agenda
Claims by Global Witness rejected
Minister of Agriculture Ouk Rabun yesterday dismissed allegations of large-scale illegal timber smuggling by the Try Pheap Group published in a report by UK-based corruption monitor Global Witness last week. Global Witness’s report, The Cost of Luxury, identified Pheap, a prominent tycoon and former adviser to ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/claims-global-witness-rejected
Thai airforce chief visits Cambodia to strengthen ties
Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Treetod Sonjance, paid a two-day visit to Cambodia on Monday in a bid to promote ties and cooperation between the two neighbours. ...
Global Post News Staff
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/150209/thai-airforce-chief-visits-cambodia-strengthen-ties
Defense Ministry official asks for military-plate tax exemption
A Defense Ministry official has requested that vehicles bearing Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) license plates be exempt from paying the country’s road tax, noting that a recent increase in inspections by tax officials could hurt “military officers’ feelings.” ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/defense-ministry-official-asks-for-military-plate-tax-exemption-77590/
Interior Ministry reminds civil servants of ban on two jobs
Department heads within the Interior Ministry must immediately begin enforcing a Royal Decree issued in October that prohibits civil servants from holding two government jobs at the same time, according to a letter issued by ministry Secretary of State Sak Setha last week. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/interior-ministry-reminds-civil-servants-of-ban-on-two-jobs-77588/
Electoral reform talks stuck on issue of Assembly seats
The CPP and CNRP again returned to the issue of the number of National Assembly seats in their twice-weekly reform talks on Friday, but appeared to be further apart than ever, with the ruling party demanding that parliament continue to have 123 seats “forever.” ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/electoral-reform-talks-stuck-on-issue-of-assembly-seats-77550/
State secrets law won’t stifle press, official says
A state secrets law being drafted by the Interior Ministry will not be used to target reporting on sensitive issues such as corruption, a senior military police official said yesterday. The National Police announced that the law was being drafted late last month following a ...
Vong Sokheng and Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/state-secrets-law-wont-stifle-press-official-says
Communities urge gov’t to rescind ELCs
Representatives of communities across the country who have had their lives upturned by development projects yesterday called on the government to rescind the economic land concessions at the centre of their disputes. ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/communities-urge-govt-rescind-elcs
CPP blasted for promotions of military, police
At least 80 of the 306 new members of the CPP’s expanded central committee are members of the country’s military or security forces, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday in a statement, which says the promotions are meant to secure the loyalty of security forces. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-blasted-for-promotions-of-military-police-77421/
Communities urge gov't to rescind ELCs
Representatives of communities across the country who have had their lives upturned by development projects yesterday called on the government to rescind the economic land concessions at the centre of their disputes. ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/communities-urge-govt-rescind-elcs
Group behind banned festival tries soft touch
After music festival kaZantip was banned on Monday by Cambodian officials, organisers say they are mounting a campaign to change hearts and minds. Kharchenko said the festival team would be sending “presentations” to all interested Cambodian officials to demonstrate how “we really love Cambodia and ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/group-behind-banned-festival-tries-soft-touch
Without citizenship, Vietnamese remain adrift
Though they live in floating houses moored to the banks of the Tonle Sap river, few of the nearly 2,500 ethnic Vietnamese villagers here can truly call Cambodia home. Thousands built floating homes on the Tonle Sap, a cheaper and more attainable alternative to settling ...
Chris Mueller and Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/without-citizenship-vietnamese-remain-adrift-77344/
Unlicensed lenders called out
Officials have released a public statement warning against a rise in unlicensed lenders they say are dangerously operating outside of Cambodian regulations and threatening financial stability. In a joint declaration from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the National Bank of Cambodia on Monday, authorities ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/unlicensed-lenders-called-out
Montagnard presence denied
Government spokesman and four-star General Khieu Sopheak has threatened to sue an NGO worker over his “false allegations” about Montagnard asylum seekers. Sopheak said authorities had only arrested “illegal Vietnamese immigrants”, and called on Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc and the ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/montagnard-presence-denied
Workers seek passports
The Interior Ministry is rushing to print passports for thousands of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand before a March 31 deadline set by the neighbouring junta. So far, the Interior Ministry has received a list of just 60,000 workers in need of passports, according to the ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-seek-passports
Viet Nam, Cambodia to boost co-operation in religious affairs
Viet Nam’s Committee for Religious Affairs and Cambodia’s Ministry of Cult and Religious Affairs signed a co-operation agreement for the 2015-2020 period in HCM City yesterday. ...
Viet Nam News Staff
http://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/266005/viet-nam-cambodia-to-boost-co-operation-in-religious-affairs.html
Cracks leave tenants in fear
Residents of Phnom Penh’s historic White Building fled from their homes on Sunday night after large cracks suddenly appeared in the structure, which have been widely attributed to nearby construction work, sparking fears for their safety. A group of officials from City Hall and the Ministry ...
Sen David and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cracks-leave-tenants-fear
Teachers union worried textbooks may be sold
A district education official in Preah Vihear may be hoarding state textbooks to sell at the market rather than distributing them to perennially book-strapped schools, according to the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA). ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/teachers-union-worried-textbooks-may-be-sold
Wage wait: Unionists not impressed with promise
Labor leaders sniffed at the government’s stated commitment yesterday to hike the wage in the garment industry to $160 – by 2018. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/wage-wait-unionists-not-impressed-promise
Tourist rushed to Bangkok after falling from Siem Reap temple
A Chinese tourist visiting Angkor Wat was rushed to a Bangkok hospital on Saturday after falling off a staircase at the temple complex in Siem Reap City while taking photos of the iconic monument, officials said Monday. Chau Sun Kerya, spokeswoman for the Apsara Authority—the government ...
New plan to tackle fake drugs
The ministries of health and interior introduced a joint strategy yesterday to curb illegal medical practices and the use of fraudulent health products. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-plan-tackle-fake-drugs
Gov’t says ‘nyet’ to fest
Still eager after recent events to shield Cambodian culture from indecency, government officials yesterday said they had become increasingly wary of the imminent kaZantip music festival in Sihanoukville, with high-ranking tourism officials reporting that the event had already been cancelled. KaZantip, which was scheduled to take ...
Chhay Channyda and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-says-nyet-fest
New minister cleans up Cambodia’s education system
Cambodia’s Grade 12 students took their final test in August 2014. Only 26% of them passed. The new Minister of Education had ordered extra security around the testing places. Students taking the test in 2015 know they will have to study hard in order to ...
Robert Carmichael
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/cambodia-education-system-cleanup/2599977.html