Government
IFAD to pledge $52M for program
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) yesterday unveiled a $52 million plan to help Cambodia’s government develop policies to assist poor farmers to improve agricultural productivity. ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/ifad-pledge-52m-program
Opposition slams Thai gov’t
More than a dozen opposition party officials have accused Thailand of encouraging extrajudicial killings of Cambodians along the border. In a strongly worded letter sent to Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Monday, the Cambodia National Rescue Party MPs asked for an independent investigation into an ...
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/opposition-slams-thai-govt
CNRP visits vietnamese prayer sites in Kampot
Bokor Mountain, Kampot province – Spurred on by social media rumors that Vietnamese tourists are flocking to this colonial-era retreat for elaborate, hidden ceremonies at the graves of their ancestors, CNRP lawmaker Yem Ponhearith on Thursday led about 50 officials here on a fact-finding trek. ...
Khuon Narim and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cnrp-visits-vietnamese-prayer-sites-in-kampot-77899/
Sar Kheng laments capital crime
Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday cast a negative light on Phnom Penh, labelling the capital a hotbed for criminal activity and likening the levels of street crime to the Ho Chi Minh City of yore, where he said it was once unsafe to walk around ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/sar-kheng-laments-capital-crime
Labor Minister warns officials over foreign work permits
Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Thursday warned officials processing work permits for foreign workers to adhere strictly to all the relevant rules and regulations or risk an unwanted visit from the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). The government has recently started enforcing a longstanding but largely ignored ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/labor-minister-warns-officials-over-foreign-work-permits-77922/
Signing up: Poll monitors try out digital registration
A coalition of election watchdogs and rights groups known as the Electoral Reform Alliance (ERA) have tested a new “modernised voter registration” system that they hope the soon-to-be overhauled National Election Committee will use during forthcoming elections. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/signing-poll-monitors-try-out-digital-registration
Youth leader sees opportunity for ‘change-makers’ in next election
Cambodia desperately needs more youth leadership, if it is to achieve its goals in the coming future, a youth leader says. Ou Ritthy, co-founder of Politikoffee, a politically oriented youth group, told “Hello VOA” on Monday that political parties in particular will have to engage the ...
Hun Sen named acting president of ruling party
Prime Minister Hun Sen has been named acted president of the Cambodian People’s Party, temporarily taking over duties for Chea Sim. ...
Heng Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/hun-sen-named-acting-president-of-ruling-party/2640710.html
Apsara’s numbers ‘laughable’, Chhay says
An opposition lawmaker probing alleged irregularities in Angkor Archaeological Park’s ticket revenues says he’s sceptical about figures released yesterday by the site’s managers showing a boost in sales last month. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/apsaras-numbers-laughable-chhay-says
Assembly official accused of gross misspending
The National Assembly’s banking and finance commission decided on Wednesday to summon Leng Peng Long, parliament’s chief administrative official, for questioning over claims of nepotism and alleged spending irregularities including $25,000 spent on a flagpole, the commission’s deputy chairman said. ...
Alex Willemyns and Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/assembly-official-accused-of-gross-misspending-77824/
Prisoners deny trafficking drugs in Prey Sar
Two of three men charged with using and trafficking methamphetamine inside the maximum-security Prey Sar prison denied the trafficking allegation during their trial at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday. ...
Hay Pisey and Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/prisoners-deny-trafficking-drugs-in-prey-sar-77845/
Thai soldiers shoot dead three loggers, officials say
Thai soldiers shot and killed three Cambodian loggers and seriously injured a fourth last week after the group illegally crossed into Thailand from Preah Vihear province in search of valuable timber, officials said Wednesday. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thai-soldiers-shoot-dead-three-loggers-officials-say-77826/
Labor minister says Unions have no reason to complain
Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Wednesday denied recent claims from a group of disgruntled unions that the government was making it nearly impossible to register branches at garment factories, and announced a new push to bring noncompliant factories in line with Cambodia’s labor laws. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/labor-minister-says-unions-have-no-reason-to-complain-77843/
Nine Montagnard asylum seekers join 23 others in Ratanakkiri
Nine more Montagnard asylum seekers crossed into Ratanakkiri on Tuesday, bringing the total number hiding in the province’s O’Yadaw district to 32, a police official said Wednesday. ...
Aun Pheap and Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nine-montagnard-asylum-seekers-join-23-others-in-ratanakkiri-77831/
NGO Global Witness hits back at ministry
The government’s apparent unwillingness to take seriously evidence of continued large-scale illegal logging orchestrated by the Try Pheap Group is “disappointing”, Global Witness said yesterday. A report released last week by the UK-based group titled The Cost of Luxury detailed evidence, collected during an eight-month covert ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/ngo-global-witness-hits-back-ministry
Credit up 30 per cent in 2014
Both deposits and loans in Cambodia’s banking sector increased about 30 per cent last year, a rise that industry insiders say is a productivity boost for the Kingdom’s economy. By the end of December, deposits at all Cambodian banks reached $10 billion, a 32 per cent ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/credit-30-cent-2014
Council of ministers calls for review of contract with Cintri
The government’s faith in Phnom Penh’s embattled trash-collection company appears to have finally been lost after the Council of Ministers announced in a letter on Tuesday that a shake-up was on the way as it considers rescinding Cintri’s exclusive right to manage the city’s garbage ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=news
Fertilizer stored at Chinese man’s home seized
Local authorities investigating a house in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok district confiscated more than 260 containers of fertilizer and insecticide Wednesday morning after neighbors of a Chinese man complained of a noxious smell emanating from his house, which they feared might have been a dangerous ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fertilizer-stored-at-chinese-mans-home-seized-77849/
Four Vietnamese charged over taking logs from Mondolkiri
Four Vietnamese nationals were charged on Tuesday with illegally collecting first-grade logs from the forest after they were arrested while transporting the wood from Mondolkiri province’s border-hugging Koh Nhek district to Vietnam. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/four-vietnamese-charged-over-taking-logs-from-mondolkiri-77737/
No room for refugees: Kheng
Montagnards seeking asylum in Cambodia and who are found to be fleeing persecution in Vietnam will not be allowed to stay in the Kingdom if a third country does not accept them, Interior Minister Sar Kheng said yesterday. Speaking after opening a workshop on violence against ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-room-refugees-kheng
Anti-trafficking fight expands
Cambodia, a common source, transit and destination country for human trafficking, yesterday launched a far-reaching plan to combat the exploitative practice. The 2014 to 2018 National Plan of Action (NPA), which was launched yesterday afternoon at the Interior Ministry, was devised by the National Committee for ...
Alice Cuddy and Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/anti-trafficking-fight-expands
CPP youth group, road safety NGO launch helmet campaign
A CPP-aligned youth group and a regional road-safety NGO on Tuesday launched a $1.2 million, two-year pilot program to educate Cambodians about the importance of wearing helmets while driving or riding as passengers on motorbikes. ...
Khuon Narim and Max Weinstein
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-youth-group-road-safety-ngo-launch-helmet-campaign-77747/
Meaning of valentine’s day lost in translation, minister warns
With Valentine’s Day just days away, the Ministry of Education on Tuesday entreated the nation’s teachers to put their students through a crash course to dispel what it believes is a widely held misconception among Cambodian youth that the holiday is a pretext for sex. ...
Former teacher denies child sex abuse charges
An Australian teacher charged with sexually abusing six young boys claimed during the first day of his trial at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Tuesday that an anti-pedophile NGO framed him. George Moussallie, 52, a former English teacher at the American Pacific School in Phnom Penh, ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/former-teacher-denies-child-sex-abuse-charges-77739/