Adhoc 5 Released on Bail

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Source: The Cambodia Daily

Ny Sokha is greeted by an emotional crowd as he walks out of Prey Sar prison on Thursday night. (Licadho)

The Adhoc 5, a group of current and former rights workers who have spent more than a year in pre-trial detention on bribery charges widely seen as politically motivated, have been released on bail this evening following orders from the court.

Taing Sunlay, director of Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said Investigating Judge Theam Chan Pisith had completed his investigation into the five officials and decided to have them release due to their ill health. Continue reading →

Capital’s new governor arrives swinging

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Source: Phnom Penh Post

Khoung Sreng (centre) speaks to the press for the first time after taking over as the capital’s governor at a ceremony held yesterday in Phnom Penh. Hong Menea

Khoung Sreng was sworn in as the new governor of Phnom Penh yesterday, wasting little time before sending a warning that he will act against “ill-intentioned” people in the city, with Interior Minister Sar Kheng pledging at the event that recent commune election successes of the opposition would be kept in check by the local government.

The former deputy governor was elevated to his new role at Continue reading →

Tea Banh backs crackdown on Angkor park homes

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Source: Khmer Times

Defence Minister Tea Banh. KT/Chor Sokunthea

Defence Minister General Tea Banh has called on Apsara authorities to continue demolishing illegal buildings within Angkor archaeological park, in line with Unesco principles.

Gen Banh, who is also chairman of the National Working Group for Siem Reap province, said the constructions must be removed to protect national heritage. Continue reading →

Phnom Penh air quality levels disputed

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Source: Phnom Penh Post

A man wears a mask as smoke is released from a factory chimney behind him in Phnom Penh. The capital’s air quality is now being measured by a new PM2.5 monitor. Hong Menea

The first readings of the capital’s PM2.5 concentration, a major indicator of air quality, show that levels of the harmful particulates are “still low”, said Thiv Sophearith, chief of the Ministry of Environment’s Air Quality, Noise and Vibration Office, though an environmental specialist yesterday challenged how representative the readings were.

In April Cambodia received its first air quality monitor, Continue reading →

Government eyeing low-cost housing

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Source: Phnom Penh Post

Garment workers sit outside their rented rooms in Phnom Penh. The government yesterday put forward ambitious plans to meet the demand for low-income housing as urban populations skyrocket. Pha Lina

An estimated 7.9 million people in Cambodia will be living in urban areas by 2030, up from 4.5 million in 2014, with officials at a forum on national housing yesterday announcing ambitious plans to meet the demand for some 55,000 affordable new homes each year.

In 2014, Cambodia adopted a National Housing Policy to Continue reading →

Kratie road blocked as villagers protest sand dredging

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Source: Phnom Penh Post

A truck is loaded with sand in Kratie province, where villagers claim dredging has caused riverbanks to collapse over the past year. ADHOC

Some 30 families in Kratie town blocked a road on Sunday, using 10 vans to prevent trucks from transporting sand in order to demand that authorities halt sand dredging in Krakor commune.

The villagers claim the sand dredging operation – taking place where Continue reading →

Governor called out on Facebook over traffic obstructions

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Source: Phnom Penh Post

The entrance to a China Construction Fourth Engineering Division Corp construction site, which was criticised for blocking traffic along Norodom Boulevard in Phnom Penh. National Police

A National Police post on social media yesterday criticised the Chamkarmon district governor and City Hall, which it accused of getting “benefits” for allowing a Chinese construction firm to store materials on Norodom Boulevard adjacent to a construction site, blocking traffic on the busy thoroughfare in the process.

The post, made to the police’s Facebook page, was Continue reading →