| PHNOM PENH — Citizens can be journalists, and they can help Cambodia face ongoing issues like illegal logging, rights abuses and corruption, a communications technology expert says. Ngeth Moses, ICT coordinator for the Community Legal Education Center, told “Hello VOA” Monday that new tools are making it easier for so-called citizen journalists to emerge. |
| ODDAR MEANCHEY Province - Heavy rainfall and flooding along the Mekong River killed 168 people this year and damaged hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice and other crops across the country. But this year, groups of former students who had studied abroad decided to raise funds for charity. They have so far raised some $30,000 in flood relief |
| PHNOM PENH - Members of a fishing community in Battambang province say overfishing has increased in recent years, fueled in part by collusion between criminals and the authorities responsible for protecting them. Cambodia is facing a growing crisis from overfishing, as major fish stocks in the Tonle Sap lake are being depleted, diminishing a major source of protein for millions of people. |
| KOH KONG Province - Thousands of people have been evicted from their homes to make way for a Chinese development in Koh Kong province. But some of the families have returned to their land, leaving a relocation site they say was insufficient for their needs. For families like those of Chum Siran, life has become more difficult since their removal from the development site, |
| KOH KONG - Thousands of villagers in a remote district of the coastal province of Koh Kong have been evicted or are facing eviction in the face of a Chinese resort development project. Some families have moved unwillingly to relocation sites. But others are refusing to leave, setting the stage for another land dispute. |
| PHNOM PENH — Along the lower Sesan River, villagers say they fear what a move will mean when a hydropower dam comes to Stung Treng province. Last month, hundreds of them marched along the river, protesting the construction of the dam, which would force as many as 1,500 families to resettle. |
| PHNOM PENH - An updated documentary, “Where Have All the Fish Gone?,” examines the impacts of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River. In particular, the film shows construction of the controversial Xayaburi dam, in Laos. The film screened recently at the Australian Center or Education in Phnom Penh. |
| TONLE SAP LAKE, CAMBODIA — Villagers on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, who depend on fishing for subsistence, say their livelihoods are threatened by illegal commercial fishing, which continues after a government ban. And they say authorities in charge of enforcing the ban are being bribed to look the other way. Despite a government ban on commercial fishing across Tonle Sap Lake - |
| PURSAT Province - An ongoing ban on large fishing nets for
non-commercial fishing has made life difficult for many families on the
Tonle Sap lake. Residents in the floating villages here say they rely on fish to feed their families, but they are only allowed to use nets 50 meters in length or shorter. The ban, intended to mitigate overfishing of dwindling stocks in the Tonle Sap, is seasonal, but the ban has been extended from the end of July to the end of September. |
A Japanese oil company, has been granted a rights by Cambodia Tuesday, May 4,
2010 ,to study a survey for possible oil onshore at the basin of Tonle Sap lake, file photo.
|
BATTAMBANG Province - Despite a government cancellation of commercial fishing lot permission across the expansive Tonle Sap lake, fishing communities here say bribery of corrupt local officials have meant the illegal practice is actually increasing.
The ban was meant to decrease the rapid overfishing of the lake, a major source of food for much of the country, which has seen its stocks dwindle in recent years. |
 A villager is seen here tying timber to his motorcycle for trading with the logging company as two UN investigator are looking around in the compound of the logging company, April 27, 2012. |
Forestry advocates see more youth engaging in environmental protection, especially in forest communities where illegal logging is rampant.
“Previously, only elder people from the ages of 30, 40 or 50 up stood up to protect their forests, but recently more younger people have been participating in the anti-illegal logging movement,” Chhim Savuth, a community empowerment officer of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told “Hello VOA” on Monday. |
| Family members and supporters of Chut Wutty, the conservationist who was shot dead in a remote region of Koh Kong province last week, say they will continue his work and seek to protect what remains of Cambodia's dwindling forests.
The shooting, which also saw the death of a military police officer, has underscored the dangerous work of activists in the arena of illegal logging and deforestation. |
In their search, however, the miners expose themselves to the risks of dust,
mercury and other chemicals used to purify gold. |
Poor villagers are increasingly looking for gold in a remote province of Cambodia following the recent skyrocketing price of the precious metal. But in their rush to find this buried fortune, they are at great risk of dangerous chemical exposure and malaria.
Phon Pheak and a few of his family members came to dig for gold here in Phnom Pang mountain in the village Prey Meas, or Forest of Gold, some 90 kilometers from Ratanakkir province’s Banlung city, with the international price of gold continuing its ascent. |
Results from a recent survey of 377 university students in the capital by the NGO
Forum found a majority did not know about the management and usage of those funds.
|
Most Cambodian university students have heard of their country’s fledging extractive industry. But with little access to information, few are aware of how revenue from this industry is being managed. Most of this information remains unavailable, and some are now voicing their concerns about corruption and misuse of those revenues. “The news on television tells us little about mining extractions,” student Saing Kanha told VOA Khmer. |
| Cambodia is a member of the Mekong River Commission, alongside Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.But there are two countries that also have great influence over the Mekong—Burma and China—who remain mere partners in official discussions over the use the river.The relationship between the commission, Burma and China has come into sharp relief in recent months, as plans for the development of hydroelectric dams |
| Although Laos has officially put off building a dam in Xayaburi province, researchers say the future of the Mekong is still unclear. Laos's decision to put off the dam was a positive step that recognized the river as common property, but more studies need to be done to find its best use for everyone. (Say Mony, Phnom Penh) |
| A senior official for the Cambodian Mekong Committee says that Laos could face a complaint at the International Court if it chooses to go forward with a planned hydroelectric dam without the support of other Mekong countries. The Xayaburi dam project is not supported fully by other Southeast Asian countries, and if it goes forward unilaterally, the country will be in "noncompliance" with a 1995 Mekong River agreement, said Watt Botkosal, deputy secretary-general of the committee. |
A fishing boat floats on the Mekong river at Sambor in Cambodia's Kratie Provice, a
site in the country that has been chosen for a proposed 18-kilometer hydro-dam.
Upstream, China has four hydrodams in operation on the Mekong and has plans for four more.
|
Regional security experts warn that Mekong River countries must do a better job of sharing, as more and more look toward hydropower on the massive river.
Experts met in Siem Reap this weekend to discuss ways to mitigate impending conflict over the river, which is a major food source to millions of people but also a huge power supply to growing economies in the region. |
