News
Government Suspends Logging in Stung Treng Dam Concession
The government has ordered Ang & Associates Lawyer Co. Ltd., a company headed by well-known businessman Kith Meng, to cease logging in an area of Stung Treng province where a hydropower dam will be built. Sesan district governor Yeang Srey Sary said Thursday that a delegation ...
Kuch Naren and Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-suspends-logging-in-stung-treng-dam-concession-45878/
Delays continue to constrain launch of Cambodia Airlines
For Cambodians aspiring to a career in aviation, this weekend looks promising. Almost seven months after its formal establishment, Cambodia Airlines is hosting a career fair in Phnom Penh. The airline is moving forward by looking for staff – from captains, first officers and cabin crew ...
Anne Renzenbrink
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/delays-continue-constrain-launch-cambodia-airlines
Australian company finds 'significant' mineral deposits in Preah Vihear
Australia’s Geopacific Resources NL said Thursday it had found “significant” amounts of gold, copper and molybdenum at its Kou Sa project in Preah Vihear. In a statement, the mineral explorer said the results of the first phase of its soil-sampling program had also found “associated multi-element ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OGViOWQwNzllY2F
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
Mekong Communities Tell of Hardship From Hydropower Dams
About 200 people from Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia affected by hydropower dam projects on the Mekong River and its tributaries gathered in Phnom Penh yesterday to share their experiences of how their lives have been adversely affected since the dams were constructed. Speaking at the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mekong-communities-tell-of-hardship-from-hydropower-dams-28793/
PAL to complete investment in Cambodia Air in July
PAL Holdings Inc., operator of flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc., said Monday it expects to complete a $10-million investment in Cambodia Air by July 15 this year. PAL teamed up with Royal Group of Cambodia in April to establish its first international airline venture known as ...
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/05/28/pal-to-complete-investment-in-cambodia-air-in-july/
Cambodia Airlines to add planes
Cambodia Airlines plans to spend $1.5 billion to acquire up to 22 planes, a move that might see the new airline’s eventual fleet size overtake that of national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air. “We [will be] starting to deploy 16 to 22 aircraft immediately once it’s ready ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051065531/Business/cambodia-airlines-to-add-planes.html
Long-overdue Consolidation of the Kingdom’s Mobile Telecoms Market May Have Operators Feeling Hopeful, but Challenges Remain
After years of immersion in a vicious price war, battle weary and capital-haemorrhaging [sic] mobile operators in Cambodia’s oversaturated telecommunications sector may finally have reason to breathe a sigh of relief; 2013 might be cited as the year the tide turned. Tarred by legal threats, ...
Livelihoods felled by logging
The road to Srekor I village in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district is a bumpy one. The small discomfort caused by being jolted about on a motorcycle or being thrown around in a car, however, is offset by the striking scenery that surrounds a traveller ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040964967/National/livelihoods-felled-by-logging.html
Lies, threats at dam site
Stung Treng province Commune chief Seak Mekong changes into uniform in his family’s small wooden home in Sesan district’s Srekor I village before leading reporters to a speedboat on the Sesan River and motioning them to climb aboard. Mekong, a 42-year-old Sam Rainsy Party official, says ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040864946/National/lies-threats-at-dam-site.html
Koh Rong airport plans foggy
Plans are in place for a new $10 million international airport on Koh Rong island, but questions remain as to when construction would commence and when funding would be available. Designs for the roughly 7,200-square-metre airport terminal, which will consist of Khmer- and resort-style architecture, were ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040564911/Business/koh-rong-airport-plans-foggy.html
Hun Sen Signed Off On Mfone Customers Deal With Mobitel
Prime Minister Hun Sen approved a decision in January to transfer hundreds of thousands of customers from bankrupt mobile phone operator Mfone to the country’s largest telecommunications firm, Mobitel, despite a court injunction preventing Mfone from offloading assets. According to the statement released yesterday by the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-signed-off-on-mfone-customers-deal-with-mobitel-17533/
SRP Commune Told to Stop Talking to Media about Dam
Officials from the Stung Treng provincial forestry administration have warned a local SRP commune chief against speaking to the media about the clearing of trees from a 36,000-hectare site to become the reservoir of a giant hydropower dam in the area, the commune chief said ...
Trees being cleared for Sesan dam
As many as 40 workers are cutting down trees, marking other trees they plan to fell in protected forest areas and piling up luxury timber in a flood-safety zone in Stung Treng’s Srekor commune, a local official said yesterday. Commune chief Seak Mekong said the workers ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040264835/National/trees-being-cleared-for-sesan-dam.html
Workers begin Clearing Land for Lower Sesan 2
Workers in Stung Treng province have begun clearing forested land with chainsaws in order to make way for the reservoir of a massive hydropower dam that has drawn ire from local villagers who say they have not been informed about the dam’s construction plans. The National ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-begin-clearing-land-for-lower-sesan-2-16743/
Government Has 13 Payment Guarantees for Energy Projects
A CPP lawmaker said yesterday the government has signed 13 payment guarantees to companies constructing coal-fired power plants and hydropower dams in the country, a move that an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official reiterated was risky for the country’s fiscal future. CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-has-13-payment-guarantees-for-energy-projects-11377/
Senate Oks Sesan Dam Payment Deal
After a 60- minute debate, the Senate on Friday voted in favour of a payment guarantee for the private companies constructing the controversial Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province. At the Senate session, 43 out of 48 senators voted to approve the deal which ...
Regional Bank, IMF Note Risks to Government's Dam Guarantee
The government’s guaranteed bailout of major infrastructure projects, such as the future 400-megawatt hydropower dam in Stung Treng province, requires a thorough assessment of forecasted risks – a capacity which the government currently does not possess, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said yesterday. Speaking on ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/regional-bank-imf-note-risks-to-governments-dam-guarantee-11269/
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 ...
Porsche Joins Cambodia's Luxury Car Race
Though still one of the poorest countries in the region, Cambodia’s recent economic growth has birthed a new class of consumer. And waiting in the wings is German automaker Porsche, which intends to sell its distinctive sports cars directly to Phnom Penh’s wealthy within a ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/porsche-joins-cambodias-luxury-car-race-10927/
Questions follow on heels of hydropower dam Sesan 2 vote
Villagers near the Sesan River in Stung Treng province are a step closer to being forced to make way for a hydropower dam following a National Assembly vote on Friday, but they are no closer to learning the details of such a move, a community ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021861415/National/questions-follow-on-heels-of-sesan-2-vote.html
Toll Royal Railways Yet to Spend Pledged Funds
Toll Royal Railways, the company holding the 30-year concession to operate Cambodia’s rail network, has so far only spent a tiny fraction of the millions of dollars of investment it promised upon winning the deal, documents of the firm’s expenditure show. The operation of the railways ...
Rights Group Denounces Gag Order on Lawyers Before Election
New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Cambodian Bar Association of trying to silence potential government critics ahead of July’s national elections by imposing restrictions on lawyers making public statements. The Bar Association and the Information Ministry have both issued edicts that ...
Relocation site has villagers worried
Villagers facing relocation from the site of the planned Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province were told last week that they would be moved 15 kilometres from the river they rely on for fishing, a commune chief said yesterday. Seak Mekong, commune chief in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020661210/National/relocation-site-has-villagers-worried.html