Cambodia in brief: December 2, 2016

Boom built on ‘slavery’
The use of debt bondage to trap workers in “modern day slavery” is widespread in many of Cambodia’s brick-making factories, indicates research by rights group Licadho, whose findings suggest the Kingdom’s recent building boom is built on the illegal practice.

Demise of TPP revives RCEP
The announcement by US president-elect Donald Trump that he intends to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement has breathed new life into the largely dormant Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a rival multilateral free trade proposal that puts China and ASEAN in leading roles.

Former envoy to SK given 5 years
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday handed Suth Dina, the former Cambodian ambassador to South Korea, a five-year prison sentence and a fine of almost $2,500 for “abuse of power” and “unlawful exploitation” committed during his stint in Seoul from 2014 to 2016.

Government sets out HIV/AIDS goals
Cradling her young daughter in her arms, Khat Tha confessed she was terrified to fall pregnant with HIV. Tha, now 50, has lived with the virus for 15 years. Her husband, who frequented sex workers, became infected, and in turn infected her. When he passed away from AIDS in 2014 and Tha remarried, her new husband wanted a child.

Purge’s roots queried
Sin Oeng, a relative of East Zone commander and accused “traitor” Sao Phim, testified that it had been the Khmer Rouge’s central leadership that initiated the conflict with the East Zone at the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday.

Grenade booby trap left by Thai soldiers
Cambodian border police in Battambang province yesterday issued a stern warning to Thai soldiers after they discovered a booby-trapped grenade on the border the day prior.

Red carpet for Chinese investors
The Cambodia-China Business Forum drew hundreds of Chinese investors to Phnom Penh yesterday to discuss opportunities to take a stake in Cambodia’s rapidly developing economy.

Some 7.87M registered to vote: NEC
Just under 7.9 million Cambodians enrolled to vote in next year’s commune elections during the registration period that closed on Wednesday, results released yesterday show, with the figure well short of the goal of 9.6 million people older than 18.

RCAF officer arrested after shooting at thief
An officer at the military’s artillery headquarters and a motorbike-taxi driver were arrested on Wednesday over a shooting in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, officials said yesterday.

Chinese nationals jailed over stabbing at casino
Police in Preah Sihanouk province arrested two Chinese nationals in Mittapheap district on Wednesday night after they allegedly stabbed and robbed two fellow countrymen at a casino.

Ministry to be grilled on sand exports
The National Assembly’s anti-corruption commission will summon Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem to answer questions about an apparent $700 million discrepancy in sand exports to Singapore.

City Hall, Prime Minister differ on cars
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday shot down a proposal by Phnom Penh governor Pa Socheatvong to restrict the number of second-hand car imports to the country to ease traffic congestion in the city.

Phnom Penh claims new piece of Kandal
A part of Kandal province’s fast-developing Muk Kampoul district has been transferred into the administrative jurisdiction of Phnom Penh as part of the capital city’s 2035 master plan, City Hall spokesman Mean Chanyada said yesterday.

Article 2 will stand: Hun Sen
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday hit back at opposition critics of his efforts to seek French expert help in modernising old colonial maps of Cambodia’s border with Vietnam, rejecting their claims that such an effort would require a constitutional amendment.

After scandal, CHRAC appoints new leader
The scandal-mired Cambodian Human Rights Action Coalition (CHRAC) yesterday announced the appointment of a new secretary-general, with the new face saying he hopes to reform the NGO. Prom Sophal – formerly of the East-West Management Institute – said his first order of business as CHRAC’s head would be reforming internal processes in an attempt to woo back donors, many of whom pulled funding this year.

Woman injured in acid attack, spouse arrested
Police officials in Kompong Cham’s Koh Sotin arrested a man yesterday who, in what police called a fit of jealousy, doused his wife with acid as she went to take a bath.

Manager killed in floor collapse at building site
The manager of a construction crew was crushed to death yesterday when the floor of the building he was working on in Phnom Penh collapsed, police said. Choam Chao commune deputy police chief Sao Sarith said the construction worker, Phon Toeu, 25, was from Svay Rieng province.

Better infrastructure needed for trade: study
Cambodian goods benefit from the lowest export tariff rates in the world but the Kingdom’s trade is still held back by lengthy bureaucratic procedures and corruption, according to a new study by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

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.