News
Logging up after poll, NGOs claim
- 22 August 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Forest products / Forests and forestry / Land / Logging and timber
- Adhoc / Binh Phuoc Rubber I / Binh Phuoc Rubber II / Cambodian Youth Network / Chut Wutty / Coalition Of Cambodia Farmers Community (CCFC) / Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) / Forest products / Forestry Administration / Forests and forestry / Kampong Cham / Kampong Cham Province / Kampong Chhnang / Kampong Chhnang Province / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Kampong Thom / Kampong Thom Province / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / kratie / Kratie Province / land / Land and Natural Resources / Logging and timber / Preah Vihear / Preah Vihear Province / Prey Lang Forest / Protected areas / protected forests / Pursat Province / Ratanakiri / Ratanakiri province / Rovieng District / Sar Chamrong / Snuol district / Stung Tatai dam / Stung Treng / Stung Treng Province / Timber Green Company Ltd / Try Pheap Import Export Co Ltd / TTY Co Ltd / Tycoon Na Marady / Tycoon Try Pheap
At least a dozen companies including some of Cambodia’s most prominent developers have been illegally logging and transporting rosewood since the election without any action from authorities, a pair of local NGOs alleged. In a report released yesterday, the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community and the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/logging-after-poll-ngos-claim
Court draws more into Sabrina case
- 21 August 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Free Trade Union / Garments and textiles / industry / Judiciary and Courts / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / labor / Law and Judiciary / manufacturing / Nike / Sabrina Garment Factory
Eight people allegedly involved in a worker demonstration that devolved into a violent clash with authorities at a Kampong Speu-based Nike supplier have been summonsed to court. Another eight arrested at the scene already await trial. The clash resulted in significant property damage and left ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/court-draws-more-sabrina-case
Worker applications eased
- 13 August 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Siem Reap
- Battambang / Battambang Province / Heng Sour / Kampong Cham / Kampong Cham Province / Kampong Chhnang / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Kampong Thom / Kampong Thom pronvince / Kampot / Kampot Province / Kandal / Kandal Province / Kompong Chhang province / kratie / Kratie Province / labor / Ministry of Labour / Phnom Penh / Prey Veng / Prey Veng Province / Pursat / Pursat Province / Siem Reap / Siem Reap Province / South Korean aid / Svay Rieng / Svay Rieng Province / Takeo / Takeo Province
Candidates for a government program that sends Cambodians to work in South Korea can file paperwork closer to home this year, as applications will now be distributed in 13 provinces. Applications will be available until Friday in provincial labour offices in Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/worker-applications-eased
Anti-trafficking laws under-enforced: NGO
- 4 July 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agriculture and fishing / Fishing, fisheries and aquaculture / Human rights / Human trafficking / Law and judiciary / Social development
- Adhoc / Anti-trafficking laws / compensation / Fiji / Fishing / fishing boats / Giant Ocean International Fishery Co. Ltd. / Human trafficking / impunity / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / labor / labour / Lin Yu Shin / Migrant Workers / migrant workers' rights / NGOs / nongovernmental organizations / slave labour / Thun Saray / trafficking
Rem Vannak remains in poor health after enduring about two years of 21-hour days working for no pay on a fishing boat in Fiji, where he was beaten when he complained. Lin Yu Shin, who owns Giant Ocean – the company Vannak worked for that allegedly ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070466659/National/anti-trafficking-laws-under-enforced-ngo.html
Map connects factories and buyers
- 1 July 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce / Exports / Human rights / Investment / Social development / Trade / Unions
- ACILS / American Solidarity Center / Bangladesh / Cambodian Centre for Human Rights / CCHR / Dave Welsh / Exports / Factories / Factory collapse / Footwear / Gap / Garment factories / Garment Factory Map / Garment Industry / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia / garment sector / garment workers / garments / H&M / human rights abuses / Investors / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Ken Loo / labor / labor law / labour / Labour dispute / Levis / Macy’s / manufacturers / MO / Nike / Ou Virak / Phnom Penh / Puma / Safety Concerns / Swedish aid / Top World garment factory / Unions / Walmart / Wing Star Shoes factory / workers / workers rights / working conditions
In light of ongoing disputes over working conditions in the garment sector, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) released yesterday details on hundreds of factories it believes will offer greater transparency along the garment supply chain – from producers to buyers – and shine ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070166578/Business/map-connects-factories-and-buyers.html
Nike calls for probe on Cambodian police clash with garment workers
- 22 June 2013
- Times Live
- Economy and commerce
- American Solidarity Center Cambodia director / arrests / Chea Mony / contract termination / David Welsh / DPA / Factories / Free Trade Union / Free Trade union leader / FTU / garment workers / garments / Hannah Jones / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / labor / labor law violations / labour / labour conflict / Labour dispute / manufacturers / Minister of Commerce / Nike / Phnom Penh / protests / Royal Government of Cambodia / Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing / Sabrina factory / Sabrina Garment Factory / Strikes / United States aid / US Embassy / violent protests / wage increase / workers
Nike expressed “deep concerns” over the May 27 incident at the Sabrina Cambodia Garment Manufacturing plant outside Phnom Penh, in a letters to Cambodia’s commerce and labour ministers released late Friday in the United States. Following the violence, eight workers and trade union members were ...
Collapses raise concerns over emergency training
- 14 June 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Development policy and administration / Environment and natural resources
- 2013 election / Ath Thorn / Australian aid / Cambodia / Cambodia National Rescue Party / Cambodian Labour Confederation / CLC / CNRP lawmaker Son Chhay / disaster management training / disaster response / Dreamland / Dreamland amusement park / emergency response / Factory collapse / Garment Factory / garments / Global Security Solutions / health and safety / John Muller / Kampong Speu Province / Kirt Chantarith / Koh Pich / Koh Pich stampede / Ministry of Health / NGO / Phnom Penh / Phnom Penh municipal police chief / Police / Sisha / Son Chhay / Steve Morrish / Top World / Top World garment factory / wage / Water Festival / Wing Star / Wing Star Shoes
When a bridge and kiosk collapsed into a pond at a Phnom Penh garment factory last month, injuring more than 20 workers, the Prime Minister’s Bodyguard Unit and police rushed to scour the murky water for survivors. Some hours later, those forces remained unsure whether any ...
Call for Oversight of Cambodian Land Campaign
- 12 June 2013
- Radio Free Asia
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economic land concessions and plantations / Human rights / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease / Social development
- Brad Adams / communal land / concessions / Corruption / CPP / donor countries / donors / ELCs / evictions / forced evictions / HRW / HRW Asia director Brad Adams / Human Rights Watch / Human Rights Watch Asia director Brad Adams / Hun Sen / indigenous communal land / Indigenous Land Rights / indigenous peoples rights / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / land / land demarcation / Land grabs / land ownership / Land rights / Land titles / land-titling program / Mondulseima district / national elections / New York / Phnom Sruoch / Phnom Sruoch district / Prime Minister Hun Sen / RCAF / Royal Cambodian Armed Forces / student volunteers / Surya Subedi / Thporng district / transparency / UN / UN’s special rapporteur on human rights Surya Subedi / United Nations / violent evictions / World Bank
A land titling campaign in Cambodia launched and financed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s lacks transparency and could leave thousands of people landless, a human rights group said Wednesday, urging the country’s donors to push for reform of the program. The campaign, which employs volunteer youth ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-06122013150317.html
Hundreds are given sack for Sabrina clash
- 11 June 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce / Judiciary and courts
- arrests / Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers / Demonstrations / Factories / factory workers / Free Trade Union / FTU / Garment factories / garment factory workers / garments / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Kompong Speu Provincial Court / labor / labor law / Labor Law Violation / labor regulations / labor rights / Nike / Police / property damage / protests / Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing / Sabrina factory / Sabrina Garment Factory / Strikes / trade union members / trade unions / worker rights / workers
Hundreds of workers were sacked at the Sabrina Garment factory on Saturday following several violent protests at the Kampong Speu province premises and the arrest of unionists involved. The firings came after workers continued to protest outside the provincial court on Friday and Saturday demanding ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061166188/National/hundreds-are-given-sack-for-sabrina-clash.html
Cambodian Trade Union warns protest to demand release of arrested members
- 4 June 2013
- Xinhuanet News
- Economy and commerce / Exports / Trade
- Demonstrations / Employment / Europe / export revenue / Exports / Factories / footwear factories / Free Trade Union of Workers / FTU / Garment exports / Garment Industry / garment workers / garments / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / labor / law on incitement / minimum wage / Ministry of Commerce / National Military Police / National Military Police Kheng Tito / National Police / Nike / non violent protests / peaceful protests / protests / Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment factory / sports brands / trade unions / trade unions members / US / violent protests / wages / worker rights / បាតុកម្មកម្មករកាត់ដេរ
Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers (FTU) warned Tuesday to stage a protest if the authority does not release its eight members who were arrested by police on Monday during a demonstration at a Taiwanese-owned garment factory, a union leader said. FTU’s president Chea Mony ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-06/04/c_132430572.htm
Sugar firm under fire
- 3 June 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Biofuel crops / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Exports / Human rights / Investment / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease / Social development / Sugar / The poor / Trade
- Angkor Sugar / Asia / blood sugar / child labour / Chongkal district / duty-free trade preferences / Eang Vuthy / ELC / Equitable Cambodia / EU / European Parliament / European Union aid / Everything But Arms / Food insecurity / force eviction / Human Rights / human rights abuses / Kampong Speu Province / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / KSL / Land concession / land conflict / Land dispute / land eviction / Land Law / LICADHO / Ly Yong Phat / Mitr Phol Sugar Corporation / O’Bat Moun / Oddar Meanchey Province / Phnom Penh Sugar Company / Senator Ly Yong Phat / social impact assessments / Somrang district / sugar / sugar cane-planting concessionaires / Sugar company / sugar concession / sugar plantations / Tate and Lyle / Thai conglomerate / Thai human rights body / Thai national human rights commission / Thai sugar manufacturer KSL / Thailand / Tonle Sugar Cane / trade preferences
Asia’s largest sugar company has been accused of torching hundreds of homes, orchestrating the imprisonment of a pregnant activist and using security forces to beat villagers – among a raft of other grave human rights abuses – by communities in Oddar Meanchey province. The allegations levelled ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060366024/National/sugar-firm-under-fire.html
Wing Star Widow in Limbo
- 3 June 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce / Exports / Investment / Labor / Labor policy and administration / Social development / Trade
- ACILS / American Center for International Labor Solidarity / ASICS / Bangladesh / ceiling collapse / collapse / compensation / Dave Welsh / Factory collapse / ILO / ILO conventions / International Labor Organization / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Kim Dany / labor / labor rights / labour / Labour unions / National Social Security Fund / NGOs / NSSF / NSSF Deputy Director / Royal Government / shoes / shoes factory / Sum Sophorn / Wing Star incident / Wing Star Shoe factory / Wing Star Shoes / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / worker rights
Government officials have suggested the widow of the man crushed to death last month at the Wing Star Shoes factory, a supplier to Asics, will still be denied compensation from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), a labour rights worker said yesterday. American Center for International ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060366021/National/wing-star-widow-in-limbo.html
Workers not underage, factory says
- 30 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Development policy and administration / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources
- ASICS / Asics supplier / ceiling collapse / Chan Kosal / child labor / factory / factory ceiling collapse / Factory collapse / factory ownership / factory representative Chan Kosal / Garment factories / Garment Industry / garments / illegal workers / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / labor / labor law / New Star factory / Phnom Penh / Preah Sihanouk / Preah Sihanouk Province / Shoe factories / shoes / Underage Workers / Wing Star Shoes / Wing Star Shoes factory / Ying Dong Shoes / Ying Dong Shoes Factory
A Ying Dong Shoes representative yesterday denied claims his factory employs workers as young as 13 and shares an owner with Wing Star Shoes, where two died in a ceiling collapse on May 16. Chan Kosal, a representative of Ying Dong, a supplier to Asics, said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053065943/National/workers-not-underage-factory-says.html
Cambodian police clash with thousands of garment workers, 23 hurt
- 27 May 2013
- Reuters
- Clothes / Economy and commerce / Exports / Garments and textiles / Industries / Manufacturing / Trade
- Bangladesh / clothing brands / Exports / Factories / Factory collapse / factory working conditions / Free Trade Union president Sun Vanny / freedom of association / FTU / Garment exports / Garment factories / garments / Healthcare / IMF / International Monetary Fund / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / labor / labor rights / labour / labour rights / manufacturers / minimum wage / Nike / Nike clothing / Phnom Penh / Police / protests / riots / Sabrina / Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing / Sabrina factory / shoes / Strikes / stun batons / Sun Vanny / trade unions / transport / United States aid / worker / worker rights / working conditions
At least 23 workers were hurt in Cambodia on Monday when police using stun batons moved in to end a protest over pay at a factory that makes clothing for U.S. sportswear company Nike , a worker and a trade union representative said. Police with riot ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/27/cambodia-garments-workers-idUSL3N0E829T20130527
Accident rocks garment industry again
- 20 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Development policy and administration / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Investment
- C.CAWDU / Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union / Factory collapse / Factory’s safety standard / Garment Industry / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia / garment workers / GMAC / GMAC Secretary General Ken Loo / Kampong Speu Province / Ken Loo / Mean Chey district / Phnom Penh / Top World Garment (Cambodia) Ltd. / Wing Star Shoes Co
For the second time in five days, Cambodia’s garment industry has been rocked by another partial collapse of a structure at a factory. Garment workers are reporting that at least 10 people, including a pregnant woman, have been injured after a concrete platform collapsed into a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065721/National/accident-rocks-garment-industry-again.html
‘Take it or leave it’
- 20 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce
- American Center for International Labor Solidarity / ASICS / Asics supplier / But Rorn / Cambodia Defenders Project / Community Legal Education Center / compensation / Dave Welsh / Factory collapse / footwear factory / illegal construction / Kampong Speu Province / Kim Dany / Kong Pisei district / Manslaughter / Moeun Tola / neglect / negligence / Rim Roeun / shoes / shoes factory / Sim Srey Touch / Sok Sam Oeun / Sum Sophorn National Social Security Fund / Wing Star incident / Wing Star Shoes / Wing Star Shoes factory
The uncle of a man who died in Thursday’s ceiling collapse at the Wing Star Shoes factory in Kampong Speu province claimed yesterday that the company had threatened to give the family nothing if they did not agree to an on-the-spot payout. It came as a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065719/National/take-it-or-leave-it.html
The canes of wrath
- 10 May 2013
- Southeast Asia Globe
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Exports / Human rights / Judiciary and courts / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Law and judiciary / Public land lease / Social development / Sugar / Trade
- Agro-Business / agro-business firms / American Sugar Refinery Company / assault / Boycott Blood Sugar campaign / child labor / child labour / compensation / CPP / CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat / criminal activity / Dr Nirun Pitakwatchara / Dr Pung Chhiv Kek / EBA / economic land concession / education / ELC / ELC scheme / EU / EU in Cambodia ambassador Jean-Francois Cautain / Europe / European Parliament / European Union aid / Everything But Arms / Everything But Arms Agreement / Everything But Arms scheme / Everything But Arms Treaty / Exports / farming / forced evictions / Human Rights / human rights violations / illegal possession of land / ILO / International Labor Organisation / International Labour Organisation / Jean-Francois Cautain / Jones Day / Jones Day law firm / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Public Company Limited / KKP / KKS / KKS industry / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / Koh Kong Sugar Industry / Koh Kong Sugar Plantation / KSL / labor / labour / land / Land grabs / Land rights / Land titles / Lawsuits / LICADHO / Licadho president Pung Chhiv Kek / livestock / London / Ly Yong Phat / National Human Rights Commission of Thailand / NGO Equitable Cambodia / NHRC / NHRC commissioner Dr Nirun Pitakwatchara / Nirun Pitakwatchara / Oddar Meanchey / Oddar Meanchey Province / OECD / Omlaing / Omlaing commune / Omlaing sugar plantation / Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development / Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises / PC Law Firm / Phnom Penh Sugar Company / Phnom Penh Sugar director Seng Nhak / Phnom Penh Sugar’s Omlaing plantation / plantation workers / Plantations / preferential trade scheme / protests / Pung Chhiv Kek / razed crops / Rees Broome law firm / Seng Nhak / shootings / subsistence farming / sugar / sugar exports / sugar industry / sugarcane / sugarcane plantations / Taiwan / Tate & Lyle / Tate & Lyle Sugars / Thailand / Thpong district / UK / UK’s High Court of Justice / UN / United Nations / United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights / US / US National Contact Point / Ve Wong Corporation / wages
Satiating the demands of the global sugar industry is big business for Cambodia’s sugarcane plantations. Yet accusations of human rights abuses and land grabs in the Kingdom have left a bitter aftertaste for many on the ground as companies vie for a larger slice of ...
Cambodia focuses on its fragrant rice
- 4 April 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economy and commerce / Exports / Rice / Trade
- Alliance of Rice Producers and Exports of Cambodia / Bali / Chinese aid / David Van / FCRE / Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters / fragrant rice / France / Golden Rice Cambodia / Indian aid / Indonesia / jasmine rice / Kampong Speu Province / Khmer Food / Kim Savuth / Malaysian aid / One Window Service / phkarmalis / Phnom Sruoch / Phnom Sruoch district / Poland / Rice Trader World Rice Conference / Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export / Sok David / Thailand
Prior to 2013, Dom Dorn, a farmer in Phnom Sruoch district of Kampong Speu province, used oxen to farm his white-rice paddies; now, after just his second harvest of sowing phkarmalis (also known as jasmine or fragrant rice), he is using a kor yun, or ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040464877/Business/cambodia-focuses-on-its-fragrant-rice.html
Organic vegetable demand growing
- 27 March 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Environment and natural resources
- Ayumi Matsuura International Volunteers of Yamagata / Boeung Trabek / cabbages / Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture / Cambodian Organic Agriculture Association / CEDAC / chemical fertilizers / chilis / Christian Fink / COrAA / cucumbers / Erm / International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements / IVY / Kaheng village / Kampong Speu Province / Lemongrass / pepper / Phnom Penh / Samrong Tong district / tomatoes / Winfried Scheewe
On a farm in Kampong Speu province, Erm Rim is talking to a small crowd of consumers and journalists, explaining the process of growing vegetables using only natural resources. Rim talks on the sidelines of a consumer field trip organised by the Cambodian Center for ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032764708/Inside-Business/organic-vegetable-demand-growing.html
First crop of stevia is successful: company
- 18 March 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economy and commerce / Investment / Sugar
- agribusiness / Ahmed El Sheikh / Beijing / Brian Dicks / Canada / Ecologica Co Ltd / EU / European Union aid / global sweetener market / Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences / Japanese aid / Kampong Speu Province / natural low-calorie sweetener / stevia / Stevia Nutra Corporation / sweetleaf / WHO / World Health Organization
Stevia Nutra Corporation, a Canadian agro-company, said in a press release on Friday that the initial growing season of stevia, commonly known as sweetleaf, in Cambodia was successfully completed. The first harvest of high-quality stevia leaves has now commenced and samples have been prepared for testing ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031861981/Business/first-crop-of-stevia-is-successful-company.html
Sweet Prospects
- 13 March 2013
- Southeast Asia Globe
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Biofuel crops / Crop products and commodities / Economy and commerce / Investment / Sugar / Trade
- baskets / Cambodia / candies / cane sugar / champagne / chocolates / Coffee / Confirel / Dutch government / Ethiopia / Europe / Geographic Indicator status / handicrafts / Indian aid / Indonesia / Kampong Speu Province / local communities / national symbol / natural product / nutritious sugar / palm sugar industry / palm tree / PUM / SAP / sugar palm / sweets / Tanzania / tea / United States aid / vinegar / whisky / wine / World Trade Organisation
The sugar palm is a national symbol for Cambodia. Harvested by the country’s poor for centuries, no part of the palm tree goes to waste in a process that fashions the tree into a range of products. The durable and strong leaves are weaved into ...
Operations commence at 18MW Kirirom III hydro power plant in Cambodia
- 26 February 2013
- Energy Business Review
- Economy and commerce / Energy / Environment and natural resources / Generation and distribution facilities / Hydropower dams / Investment / Renewable energy production / Rivers and lakes / Water resources
- China State Grid Corporation / Electricity of Cambodia / Hun Sen / Kamchay dam / Kamchay hydropower dam / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Kampot / Kampot Province / Kirirom 3 hydropwoer dam / Kirirom hydropwoer dam / Kirirom I dam / Kirirom III hydropower dam / Kirrirom 3 dam
The Cambodian government has commenced operations at the 18MW Kirirom III hydro power plant in the southwestern part of the country. The facility will produce 78 million KWh of electricity a year and help the country reduce its power shortage crisis and dependence on oil-fueled electricity. ...