Cambodia in brief: December 1, 2016

Peninsula’s future in flux
Chea Sophat stood on the gravel embankment of a road as he pointed to what was once his rice field, an unfenced, 4,000-square-metre waterlogged plot with a handful of buffaloes wallowing in the mud.

Art form gets UN heritage status
After two unsuccessful attempts to have the musical artform chapey dong veng recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, the third time proved the charm yesterday as it not only earned the status but was added to the urgent safeguarding list, making funding available to the government to apply towards its preservation.

Drive to register wraps for NEC
An official from the National Election Committee said yesterday the body was pleased to have registered more than 80 percent of Cambodia’s estimated 9.6 million eligible voters over the past three months, blaming overzealous estimates of available eligible voters, deaths and the weather for coming up short.

Fire destroys tonnes of rice at mill
A rice mill kiln that caught fire just after midnight in Kampong Speu province saw 8 tonnes of rice destroyed overnight and $100,000 worth of damage, police and the factory owner said yesterday.

Fresh push for contract farming
Frustrated with the failure of a $27 million emergency loan package to help rice farmers find a fair market price for their crop and stem the tide of smuggled paddy across the borders, Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon is flogging a new model for the nation’s restive rice farmers: contract rice farming.

New push for ILO conventions
Female workers across multiple sectors yesterday urged two ministries to ratify International Labour Organization conventions to ensure protections for expectant mothers and domestic workers, the latter of whom are not even covered under Cambodia’s Labour Law.

Some millers are exploiting desperate farmers: Sokhon
Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon accused private sector rice millers of exploiting desperate farmers, arguing that if they really lacked capital to purchase rice paddy as they claimed, they would have been quick to snap up the government’s $27 million emergency loan package.

Depth charges
The Cambodia Mine Action Centre (CMAC) held a joint training exercise yesterday with US officials to help with the detection of underwater UXOs, according to Heng Ratana, director of the organisation. Ratana said the exercise was ‘new technical equipment training’ where trainees learned how to use equipment that helped detect underwater mines, uncover them and safely remove them.

Fears wage law article could crimp research
New concerns have been raised that a provision within the draft law on an expanded minimum wage would pose a serious threat to independent research on labour issues.

Info minister warns of dangers of ‘fake news’
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, at a roundtable hosted by the Club of Cambodian Journalists yesterday, urged netizens to watch what they repeat, lest they contribute to the circulation of inaccurate information on social media.

Audio leaks found troubling
Observers yesterday slammed the alleged involvement of the prime minister’s second son and intelligence chief Hun Manith in plans to discredit opposition leader Kem Sokha, condemnation which differed starkly from responses by officials, who cast it as a private matter of little consequence.

Supreme Court shuts down bail request
The Supreme Court yesterday denied a bail application for four staffers from rights group Adhoc and an election official, saying the lower court was still conducting its investigation and that their release “will cause social insecurity”.

Rash of arrests tied to rosewood continues
Authorities in Kampong Thom refused to name a man charged by the provincial court yesterday with the collection and transportation of Siamese rosewood. Provincial prosecutor’s office spokesman Say Nora would not name the suspect, but said that he is currently in pre-trial detention in Kampong Thom prison, having been arrested on Tuesday.

Toilet traffickers flush away their freedom
Two men who decided to bring their drug-dealing business to a toilet saw their efforts flushed down the drain on Tuesday.

Bumrungrad International: Combining medical innovation with compassionate care
Established in 1980, Bumrungrad International Hospital is one of the largest private hospitals in Southeast Asia, and one of the most internationally-acclaimed hospitals 
in the region. Every year, more than
 1.1 million patients travel to the hospital’s main campus in Bangkok, Thailand, more than 520,000 of which are international patients from more than 190 countries around the world. Bumrungrad’s commitment to providing the best care to each patient is illustrated in its continued role as a leader in utilising advanced medical technology alongside a culture of integrity and compassion.

One more day to register
The National Election Committee (NEC) said yesterday it had made a last-minute decision to extend by one day the three-month voter registration period that had been scheduled to end in the evening, citing a last-minute rush pushing enrollments past 80 percent.

‘Manith message’ inquiry pledged
Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat yesterday said authorities would investigate leaked phone messages allegedly showing the prime minister’s second son Hun Manith – head of the military’s intelligence unit – conspiring with social media star Thy Sovantha to discredit opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Angkor Gold agrees to buyback of mine NSR
Canadian mining firm Angkor Gold has agreed to an all-shares buyback of the net smelter return (NSR) interests on a mine in Ratannakiri province that it sold to Indian mining firm Mesco Gold (Cambodia) Ltd for $1.2 million in 2013, the company said in a release yesterday.

Vietnamese oil firm still on track to drill in 2017
A government official yesterday denied local media reports that it had received a request from Vietnamese state-owned PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) to extend the exploratory drilling contract for Block XV in Kampong Thom province for another year.

Prospect for a budding industry
With Cambodia’s traditional cash crops struggling to compete in global supply chains, the Kingdom could carve out a lucrative niche in commercial cannabis harvesting and exports – provided it acts fast to take advantage of the falling legal barriers, a Cambodia-based American innovator has argued.