Youth Say They Are Ill Prepared for Asean Inclusion

Say Mony, VOA Khmer 
Thursday, 23 June 2011

Cambodia is slated to fully integrate with Asean markets in 2015, but youth organizers said Sunday the country's next generation is not prepared to take advantage of it. Cambodia is preparing to host a youth summit for the regional body next year.  The Youth Resources Development Program brought together nearly 1,000 attendees, most of them students, on Sunday, to prepare for next year's summit, but organizers said many Cambodians still have little understanding of the benefits of Asean, even as a younger generation will come of age under full Asean market inclusion.

Villagers, Officials See Prey Lang Land Concessions Differently

Say Mony, VOA Khmer
Friday, 10 June 2011

Granting economic land concessions to private companies in the northeastern Cambodia area of Prey Lang means development for the government but to communities depending for generations on the dense forest it means the destruction of their livelihood. Chhoun Long, a 24-year-old farmer in Kampong Thom's Sanden district, says he's concerned about the environmental impact of 'development' in this rural area. Bak Kimsok, 57, is worried for his village's survival.

Delay on Sesan River Hydrodam Unlikely: Officials

Say Mony, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh 
Saturday, 04 June 2011

Government officials say any delay on the construction of a hydropower dam on the Sesan river in Stung Treng province is unlikely, even though residents along the river say they want more impact studies conducted.

Prach Sun, secretary of state for the Ministry of Environment, told VOA Khmer the government has already conducted an impact study, but that it would still deal with river communities on the issue of compensation.

Last month, representatives of communities living on the Sesan in Ratanakkiri province, 40 kilometers from the proposed dam site, appealed to the government to delay construction of the dam, saying they were concerned about their livelihoods and the amounts of resettlement packages.