News
Mineral exploration permits offered for protected Prey Lang
One of four new mining exploration permits, advertised publicly this week, is within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary map, coordinates reveal, sparking concern among activists and community members about the strength of the forest’s recently-acquired protected status. In the first public tender of fresh exploration ...
Calls to halt ‘reforestation’ plan
Fourteen community representatives speaking for thousands of families on May 9 petitioned the South Korean Embassy, Environment Ministry and Forestry Administration to halt the expansion of a controversial “reforestation” project by a Korean company situated between the protected Prey Lang forest and Mekong River. Their petition ...
Four mining licences put up for bids
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has publicly announced that companies can bid for four mining exploration permits in both Kratie and Kampot provinces, marking the first time since the ministry was formed in 2013 to issue fresh licences for private companies to investigate mineral ...
Domestic workers rescued from Malaysia
The Cambodian consul-general in Malaysia on April 12 helped repatriate eight Cambodian domestic workers who were forced to work in grueling conditions in Malaysia. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Chum Sounry said on April 12 that the Cambodian embassy in Kuala Lumpur intervened to help the ...
Villagers, soldiers in land battle
Villagers involved in a long-running land dispute in Kratie province’s Sambor district have prevented soldiers from building a fence around disputed land that the army intends to use as a sniper training ground. The two-year-old conflict surrounding 20 hectares in O’Krieng commune’s O’Kandie village between ...
Villagers urged to swap fishing for ecotourism
The Tourism Minister has called on riverside communities in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces to avoid fishing in areas where dolphins live to attract visitors who want to see the rare creatures. Thong Khon’s call came as the government prepared to open the third annual River ...
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 ...
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 ...
New era of big dam building on the Mekong?
More than 50 years have passed since Australian engineers from the Snowy Hydroelectric Authority did site studies for the huge Sambor Dam on the Mekong River in Cambodia, but the mega project is now back on the drawing board. The Cambodian Government has signalled it ...
Ministry okays wood plant
The government issued a statement on February 12 allowing Lim Royal Joint Stock Company to create a temporary wood and furniture manufacturing plant in Trapeang Srae village in Kratie province. According to an announcement signed by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Veng Sakhon last Thursday, Lim ...
