Land
In northeast, one company controls nearly all illegal logging: Report
A new report on illegal logging in Cambodia’s northeastern forests portrays a single company with essentially a monopoly on the illicit trade. Tek Vannara, executive director of NGO Forum, said the report could be a tool to find a solution to combat deforestation. “We ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/in-northeast-one-company-controls-nearly-all-illegal-logging-report/2934773.html
Gov’t cuts leases of 12 ELCs
The government yesterday slashed the lifespans of 12 economic land concessions (ELC) – by half in some cases – as it continued to implement a new policy capping ELC leases at 50 years. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-cuts-leases-12-elcs
Gov’t warns of lawsuit over new illegal logging report
Environment and agriculture ministry officials Wednesday warned the authors of a new report accusing the government of colluding with timber magnate Try Pheap to illegally log the protected forests of northeastern Cambodia that they could be sued unless they made changes to the text. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-warns-of-lawsuit-over-new-illegal-logging-report-92665/
Land concessions responsible for large-scale deforestation in Cambodia
Land concessions for large-scale agricultural plantations are stripping off Cambodia’s forest cover, according to a new report by Forest Trends, a U.S.-based environmental protection group. ...
Morgan Erickson-Davis
http://news.mongabay.com/2015/08/land-concessions-responsible-for-large-scale-deforestation-in-cambodia/
Gov’t and NGOs join to settle land dispute
Environment Minister Say Sam Al and a group of NGOs on Monday agreed to cooperate to resolve a years long dispute between hundreds of families in Koh Kong province and a Chinese company they accuse of stealing their land. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-and-ngos-join-to-settle-land-dispute-92392/
Demining dogs arrive from Bosnia; more to come
A pack of 10 Belgian shepherds arrived in Cambodia from Bosnia on Friday to bolster the country’s aging team of explosives-sniffing canines, courtesy of Norwegian People’s Aid, which is covering the roughly $36,000 cost, an official said Sunday. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/demining-dogs-arrive-from-bosnia-more-to-come-92350/
One day, multiple UXO found
Seven undetonated explosive devices – three in Kandal, three in Pursat and one in Prey Veng – were discovered yesterday, local authorities confirmed, just days after a Russian-made anti-personnel mine was found less than 100 metres away from a ticket booth at Angkor Wat. The ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/one-day-multiple-uxo-found
Cambodian government takes umbrage at US congressman’s comments on land grabs
Cambodia’s Ministry of Land Management is acting in accordance with the country’s laws and making an effort to respect citizens’ rights, a ministry official said Tuesday, rejecting comments by a U.S. congressman that people in the Southeast Asian country are denied basic protection from land ...
Live US bomb dug up from under shophouse
Forty-three years ago, a 500-pound MK-82 bomb fell from a U.S. warplane and onto a house in Choeung Lang village, crashing through the roof and lodging in the soft dirt beneath the floor. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/live-us-bomb-dug-up-from-under-shophouse-91800/
Officials find luxury wood in Stung Treng city pond
Forestry officials confiscated 13 cubic meters of illegally logged timber in Stung Treng City on Saturday after discovering the wood hidden in a pond and the surrounding underbrush, an official said Sunday. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/officials-find-luxury-wood-in-stung-treng-city-pond-91798/
Kratie families feel effects of NGO law
Officials in Kratie province are insisting that a small group of families involved in a local land dispute register with the Interior Ministry or be “punished.” ...
Aun Chhengpor
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/kratie-families-in-land-dispute-feel-effects-of-ngo-law-91796/
World's smallest deminers to start work in Cambodia
In Cambodia, the first group of rats is training to help their human counterparts clear land still contaminated with mines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) after decades of war.It might seem odd to use rats as deminers, but Apopo, an organization that trains Giant African ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/575039--worlds-smallest-deminers-to-start-work-in-cambodia
Tensions escalate as Royal Group accelerates island development
Residents of Koh Rong Island, off the coast of Sihanoukville, have this week called on government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, to review what they are labelling “abusive activities” by the Royal Group (RG) conglomerate. ...
Jack Laurenson
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14333/tensions-escalate-as-royal-group-accelerates-island-development/
Four years for lakeside
About 40 members of the Boeung Kak community gathered yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of a landmark government regulation that provided land to some of those dispossessed by the lake’s filling but left many others out. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/four-years-lakeside
Adhoc: houses for families displaced by dam sub-standard
New houses built for 100 families who were pushed off of their land by the construction of the Sesan Krom II Dam have been slammed as substandard by the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc). ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14260/adhoc--houses-for-families-displaced-by-dam-sub-standard/
World Bank urged to help Boeng Kak families
A group of local and international NGOs are urging the World Bank to include a program for helping the thousands of families evicted from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood as part of the plan to start funding new projects in Cambodia. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/world-bank-urged-to-help-boeng-kak-families-91236/
Senior gov’t official pays official visit to UDG site
The senior government official in charge of land dispute resolution visited more than 300 Koh Kong province families who are threatened with eviction by China’s Union Development Group to compile a report on the issue for Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/senior-govt-official-pays-official-visit-udg-site
High-profile arrest in land deal gone awry
Influential businesswoman You Chantha was arrested on Wednesday over allegations she cleared 17 hectares of land in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district, defying a court order handed down as part of an ongoing land dispute. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/high-profile-arrest-land-deal-gone-awry
Ten B Kak activists dispersed by police
Gathering yesterday in front of Phnom Penh City Hall to demand a speedy resolution to longstanding land disputes, 10 Boeung Kak villagers were forcibly dispersed by security personnel citing traffic concerns. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ten-b-kak-activists-dispersed-police
Villagers accuse ELC of reneging on deal
Nearly 200 Kuoy villagers protested yesterday at the Forestry Administration Office in Preah Vihear province to demand a Malaysian-owned company return 1,100 hectares of land and a tractor confiscated by officials last month. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-accuse-elc-reneging-deal
Landmine casualties drop by one-third this year
Cambodia reported 66 landmine casualties in the first six months of 2015, a 35 percent drop, compared with 101 cases one year earlier, according to data released yesterday . ...
James Brooke
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14062/landmine-casualties-drop-by-one-third-this-year/
Land grabbers back in business
Reinforcing a view that land grabbing is now a business for some rural Cambodians, several villagers who were paid Wednesday for ending their squat on a palm oil plantation reappeared 48 hours later, laying claim to different parts. ...
Ros Chanveasna and Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13963/land-grabbers-back-in-business/
KDC locals hold curse ceremony
A hundred members of the Lor Peang community performed a cursing rite yesterday over a 10-year running land dispute with the KDC International Company. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kdc-locals-hold-curse-ceremony
Ministry claims NGO’s land dispute numbers misleading
The Ministry of Land Management has again accused rights group Licadho of spreading false data that shows that the number of families embroiled in new or intensifying land disputes jumped threefold last year. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-claims-ngos-land-dispute-numbers-misleading-90425/