News
Impact assessment for Areng dam nears final steps as project looms
Companies contracted to carry out social and environmental studies of the proposed Stung Cheay Areng dam in Koh Kong province yesterday confirmed that the Sinohydro Group is set to renew work in the Areng Valley in the coming days. The studies, which would pave the way ...
Daniel Pye and Alice Cuddy
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/impact-assessment-areng-dam-nears-final-steps-project-looms
Risking it all for rosewood
At dawn on the Dangrek Mountain range, 62-year-old logger Suon Song* uses an empty beer can to boil water for his morning coffee. He’ll need it to stay alert during the illegal and dangerous work ahead, after the first of several sleepless nights in the ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/risking-it-all-rosewood
Koh Pich Awash With Development, but Don’t Ask for Details
Business is booming on Koh Pich. Since development began in 2006—and about 300 families were pushed off what was then farmland—the island has slowly grown into the symbol of commercial modernity in Phnom Penh. The developer, Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp., is also extending the island by ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/koh-pich-awash-with-development-but-dont-ask-for-details-36411/
Lao dam unapproved yet under way: NGO
The construction of Don Sahong Dam, the second of 11 potential and controversial Mekong mainstream dams, is moving ahead without approval from Mekong River Commission members, according to a conservationist group report. Located less than two kilometres from the Cambodian-Lao border, the dam has been slammed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013062766515/National/lao-dam-unapproved-yet-under-way-ngo.html
Dam firm violated law
The parent company behind a firm constructing the Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng has repeatedly violated Chinese law by building “massive” power projects without prior approval, China’s national auditor has found. State-owned China Huaneng Group, of which Lower Sesan 2 partner Hydrolancang International Energy ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060566083/National/dam-firm-violated-law.html
Deutsche Bank, IFC Rubber Investments Questioned
Deutsche Bank and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) have poured millions of dollars into Vietnamese rubber companies operating in Cambodia that have engaged in illegal logging and forced evictions of local farmers, the environmental rights group Global Witness says in a new report ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/deutsche-bank-ifc-rubber-investments-questioned-23598/
Ratanakkiri Hydropower Dams Deemed Economically Viable
Two massive hydropower dams planned for the Mekong’s tributaries in Ratanakkiri province have been deemed economically viable by two feasibility studies conducted by a pair of giant Chinese conglomerates, a provincial industry, mines and energy official said yesterday. Despite the feasibility studies having been completed, ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ratanakkiri-hydropower-dams-deemed-economically-viable-23116/
Chinese Investments in Cambodia Ignore Environment Queries
China’s expanding investment portfolio in Cambodia has brought into sharper focus the darker side of the Asian giant’s “development projects” in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. And it is in the southwestern corner of Cambodia—known for its rich biodiversity, forest covered hills and bubbling rivers—where this ...
Siamese Rosewood Elevated to Protected Status
Siamese Rosewood, which is illegally logged and exported from Cambodia in large quantities, will be protected internally as a threatened species following a decision taken in Bangkok yesterday. A meeting of the 177 countries party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild ...
Thailand, Vietnam Seek Controls on Rosewood Trade
Thailand and Vietnam have called for strict controls to be placed on the international trade of rosewood in an attempt to prevent the luxury wood species from being logged to extinction. Cambodia currently exports thousands of cubic meters of the wood to China each year, and ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thailand-vietnam-seek-controls-on-rosewood-trade-12299/
CPP Promises Oversight on Royal Group's Dam
The government has promised to monitor the progress of local conglomerate Royal Group in its implementation of a $781 million dam project in Stung Treng province, that has been guaranteed by the government, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said yesterday. Mr. Yeap said yesterday that the ...
Lawmakers to Discuss Sesan 2 Dam Draft Law
The National Assembly has announced that it will discuss a draft law on the financing of a controversial dam project in Stung Treng province on February 15, a move environmental groups called premature. Meach Mean, coordinator for 3S Rivers Protection Network – which has been ...
Dam in Northeast Built on Earthquake Site, Study Finds
Experts are recommending that a proposed dam on the Sesan River in northeast Cambodia be equipped with earthquake protection measures, after discovering a quake occurred in the area some 30 years ago. The proposed Lower Sesan II dam would be situated on a site in Stung ...
Sesan Dam Approval Angers Villagers, Human Rights Groups
The government approved the Lower Sesan 2 dam project in Stung Treng province without any prior consultation with the most affected communities in Sesan district, where at least 5,000 people stand to be displaced, rights groups and villagers said yesterday. A study published earlier this ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sesan-dam-approval-angers-villagers-rights-groups-5231/
Mirach Energy Aims for Green Light to Start Drilling Cambodia Offshore D
The energy exploration and production company said in a statement on Tuesday that its associate company CPHL (Cambodia) has signed a drilling environmental impact assessment (EIA) contract with two environmental consulting firms The firms, the International Environmental Management Company Limited and SAWAC Consultants For Development Company ...
Law drafted to enforce environmental reports
The Ministry of Environment has drafted a law that will hand out fines and prison terms for companies that fail to complete and submit Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) on the development projects they undertake. According to a copy of the EIA draft law, fines of 100 ...