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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Risks, Rewards as Economic Corridor Develops

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 

A system of strip dams cuts into grasslands next to paddy fields in Kampong Thom province.
Cambodia is building up its rural infrastructure in an effort to link itself to its neighbors, under an “economic corridor” project aided by the Asian Development Bank.

Proponents of the southern economic corridor, part of the Greater Mekong Subregion project, say it will bring benefits to villagers like those in Kampong Thom district’s Sambo Prey Kuk temple, in Prasat Sambo district.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Economic Corridor Spells Benefits, and Pitfalls

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Saturday, 19 March 2011

Cambodia has joined with regional governments to develop an "economic corridor" that the Asian Development Banks says will hasten economic growth. In Kampong Thom province, better roads and infrastructure could mean more tourists to little known temples and other sites.

But it can also mean a hastening of land strife, as the government grants an increasing number of land concessions to outside companies. VOA Khmer's Pich Samnang reports from Kompong Thom province.

Friday, March 18, 2011

As Rape Cases Rise, Officials Searching for Causes

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Friday, 18 March 2011

Lim Mony, deputy head of the women’s section for the rights group Adhoc, and Hor Malin, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, on "Hello VOA" Monday.
Cambodia’s rising number of rape cases is fueled by impunity and poverty, among other factors, a rights activist said Monday.

“There has been injustice as the impunity for some offenders still exists,” Lim Mony, deputy head of the women’s section for the rights group Adhoc, told “Hello VOA” Monday. “Another factor is poverty within families, where victims are sent away from home to work or to herd cattle in the fields.”

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Like Me’s Strike a Chord in Cambodia

Pich Samnang, Brian Calvert, VOA Khmer
Saturday, 05 March 2011

Laura Mam and her band, The Like Me’s, are a new group that is fast gaining popularity in the US. The band is on a quick tour of Cambodia that ends with a free show Saturday night at Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island.

Born in the US, 24-year-old Mam says she hopes her music will reach even more people in the homeland of her parents.



Friday, March 4, 2011

Parents Mourn Stampede Deaths of Two Daughters with 100 Day Ceremony

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Friday, 04 March 2011

Among the more than 350 revelers killed in the pedestrian bridge calamity in Phnom Penh were 18-year-old Uch Sotheara and 25-year-old Uch Sophany.

Their parents, Uch Yoan and Pa Sophat, marked their late November deaths this week on the 100th day with Buddhist offerings.

They were grateful they have other younger children and that the government provided them financial support for their unexpected losses.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Husband Remembers Fatal Night on Diamond Bridge

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 02 March 2011

Cambodia University students lay down flowers during a memorial service near a bridge where festival goers were killed Monday in a stampede in Phnom Penh, Nov. 25, 2010.
Like other families of stampede victims on Diamond Bridge, Leung Porn's family decided to hold the 100-day ceremony last weekend at a Buddhist clergyman's suggestion.

Leung Porn's wife, Tor Sophal, was one of the 353 victims killed in the stampede on the bridge during last year’s water festival.

Leung Porn, who is 54 and now the single father of three children, said the ceremony will help his wife rest in peace.