Environment and natural resources
Probe finds high-ranking officials involved in smuggling timber to Vietnam
An official investigation has found that more than a dozen police, military police and army officials allegedly colluded with Vietnamese timber smugglers to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in bribes, according to a letter from National Police Commissioner Neth Savoeun. Signed by ...
Cambodia’s Sambor dam plans causes controversy as public left in the Dark
“If the dam is built, it will be like before, in the time of the Khmer Rouge when we all had to move,” said Plau Saret, 44, of Domrae Village on the Mekong River island of Koh Tnaot, right next to the proposed Sambor Dam ...
Illegal logging in Quảng Nam
Local administration and provincial agencies are investigating illegal logging in the Bắc Trà My District’s protective forest. Trần Anh Tuấn, Chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, confirmed the ongoing investigation to the Việt Nam News on March 15, saying that the illegal forest destruction has occurred in Trà ...
Chinese-invested firm builds solar-panel plant without environmental report
JA Solar Vietnam, a subsidiary of Chinese JA Solar Group, is building a big $280 million solar panel plant in Bac Giang province, though it has still not submitted a report on the possible impact on the environment as stipulated by law. The Bac Giang provincial ...
Egat fires up coal plant plans
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand says it will launch a new environmental and health impact assessment for the planned coal-fired power plant in Krabi and an environmental impact assessment for its deep-sea port within three months. The studies will take two years to complete ...
Call for ban on Mekong dams
A group of 50 youth, community and civil society representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand gathered to celebrate the International Day of Action for Rivers in Kratie province on March 14. They used the event in Sambo district to urge the government and the ...
Japan wades in on Tonle Sap algae
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has agreed to oversee a project to help recover water quality in the Tonle Sap lake in response to the appearance of a large bloom of algae. The project is part of a wider five-year initiative to improve water quality in ...
Students use seafood waste to grow safe vegetables
Two students in Can Tho City are using waste from seafood processing factories to create microbiological sludge to grow safe vegetables and ornamental flowers. Nguyen Huu Huy Hao, a third year student of the Can Tho Economics & Polytechnic College, and Phan Hong Muc, a third ...
Villagers affected by dam meet with government officials
Villagers from Stung Treng whose homes stand to be flooded by the Lower Sesan II dam met with representatives of the Ministry of Mines and Energy at an NGO Forum-sponsored meeting in Phnom Penh on March 9, in hopes of establishing a dialogue towards a ...
No fear of drought this summer
Many parts of the country are experiencing water shortages, as summer has officially begun, but authorities have said that there is adequate water supply for the current dry season. The Meteorological Department announced recently that summer had begun on March 3. Some areas of the country ...
