News
Government grants approvals in principle for copper exploration
The Ministry of Mines and Energy on Sunday announced that two companies have been granted initial approval to carry out copper exploration in the Kingdom. ...
Thou Vireak
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/government-grants-approvals-principle-copper-exploration
Knock-off superglue seized in Stung Treng
Military police in Stung Treng City last week raided eight apartments and market stalls where knock-off superglue was being manufactured and sold, an official said Monday. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/knock-off-superglue-seized-in-stung-treng-74270/
Logging up after poll, NGOs claim
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
Endangered Giant Ibis Found in New Cambodia Habitat
Jubilant conservationists expressed hope on Tuesday for the survival of the critically-endangered Giant Ibis after a nest of the bird species was discovered in a previously unknown habitat in northeastern Cambodia. Habitat loss and poaching has pushed the Giant Ibis to the edge of extinction, with ...
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/endangered-giant-ibis-found-in-new-cambodia-habitat/
Irrawaddy Dolphin Killed in Mekong River by Illegal Fishing
An Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead yesterday morning tied up in a fishing net and floating in the Mekong River in Kratie province, officials said. Khieu Kin, chief of Kratie’s provincial fishery administration, said that the 2.03-meter long, 105kg female dolphin had likely become entangled in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/irrawaddy-dolphin-killed-in-mekong-river-by-illegal-fishing-39628/
Villagers Concerned Over Impact of Gold Mine
More than 700 families living in Stung Treng province’s Siem Pang district have appealed to local authorities, demanding that they intervene to stop a Chinese company mining gold near their homes. Sin Dan, chief of Thma Keo commune, said he had delivered the petition to both ...
Floods in Northwest as Hun Sen Issues Riverbank Collapse Warning
People living along the banks of the Mekong, Bassac and Tonle Sap rivers should exercise caution in the coming days, and be particularly aware of possible riverbank collapses as water levels are rising in Stung Treng province and elsewhere in the country, Prime Minister Hun ...
International Donors Call for Redesign of Sesan 2 Hydro Dam
International donors, including the U.S., Australia, the European Union and the World Bank, have urged the Cambodian government to redesign a massive hydropower project in Stung Treng province that environmentalists say will deplete fisheries and submit it to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) for consultation. In ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/international-donors-call-for-redesign-of-sesan-2-hydro-dam-33311/
Preah Vihear visits on the up
As tensions subside between Thailand and Cambodia over the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, site officials are welcoming a steady increase of international tourists. At 5,240, foreign visits are up 56 per cent in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070366630/Business/preah-vihear-visits-on-the-up.html
Mekong Dams Could Be a Threat to Cambodia’s Food Security
The construction of two hydroelectric dams proposed for the Mekong River would lead to steep declines in the availability of fish-an essential source of protein for Cambodians- potentially threatening food security, according to a new report by the fisheries administration. The study by the administration’s Inland Fisheries ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mekong-dams-could-be-threat-to-cambodias-food-security-32202/
Lao Dams, Mining Ruining Sekong Water Quality in Cambodia
Dam-building and gold mining in southern Laos are ruining water quality downstream on the Sekong River in Cambodia, where villagers are no longer able to drink or use the water, according to an environmental group. The activities undertaken by Lao and Vietnamese companies on the Sekong’s ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/sekong-06252013190742.html
Ratanakkiri reporter alleges illegal logging assault
A reporter from Cheat Sachak newspaper in Ratanakkiri province filed a complaint to provincial military police and rights group Adhoc on Monday, claiming he had been beaten by a group of illegal loggers to stop him from reporting on their activities. Phon Bun Thoen, 53, said ...
Despite Law, Minority Rights Receive Very Few Protections
The government does little to protect the rights and livelihoods of the country’s many ethnic minorities who are under constant threat from rapid development, representatives of indigenous groups said yesterday. “We have polices laws and guidelines to protect indigenous people, but we see that it doesn’t ...
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/
Jarai Villagers Ask UN for Help in Land Fight
More than 300 ethnic Jarai families from Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district in longstanding land disputes with two Vietnamese land concessionaires submitted a petition to UN human rights officers yesterday asking for help. Village representative Romas Chvat said locals were participating in an NGO-led workshop on protest ...
Villagers Seize Trucks in Protest
More than 300 protesters seized two company trucks outside the Kratie office of Korean-owned timber company Think Biotech Co yesterday as protests by villagers who allege land-grabbing continued for a second day. “We have seized the company’s two trucks to ask the company to come ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052865873/National/villagers-seize-trucks-in-protest.html
Hun Sen Hopes for Increased Rubber Exports
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that he hoped land being registered to rural families as part of the government’s nationwide land-titling program would be used to cultivate rubber trees in order to help the country compete with Vietnam as the world’s third-largest rubber exporter. ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-hopes-for-increased-rubber-exports-24502/
PM Defends Interest Rates
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday lashed out at the opposition party’s concerns over the interest rates charged by commercial banks to farmers. SRP lawmaker Yim Sovann said commercial banks in Cambodia charge customers very high interest rates, and said it is much higher than in other ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051665645/Business/pm-defends-interest-rates.html
Cambodian PM inaugurates rubber processing plant in far northern province
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday inaugurated a rubber processing plant here, saying the factory would contribute to developing the country’s fast-growing rubber sector. The 7 million U.S. dollar plant, invested by Cambodia’s Sopheak Nika Investment Agro-Industry Company, was built on the area of 9 ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-05/15/c_132384351.htm