Hun Sen Pushes for Three-Party Border Talks

Say Mony, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 27 Jul 2011

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday insisted on three-party talks with Thailand and Indonesia in an effort to implement an international court ruling to resolve the border dispute near Preah Vihear temple

More Understanding Needed Among Mekong Countries: Experts

Say Mony, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 20 July 2011

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.

Water Experts Warn of Conflict Over Mekong Dams

Say Mony, VOA Khmer
Tuesday, 19 July 2011 

Experts on water security met in Siem Reap on Friday, July 15, 2011, at a two-day conference of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific in an effort to address upcoming issues surrounding such projects and other water conflict.

The race for hydropower development among Mekong countries could lead to conflicts or even war over water, regional security experts say. Hydroelectric projects have begun to spring up across the Mekong River, with some already under way and other already creating tensions between Southeast Asian neighbors.

Among Students, Doubts Over Tribunal Suspects’ Defense

Say Mony, VOA Khmer
Friday, 14 July 2011 

Cambodian Students line up to attend the Khmer Rouge trial in Phnom Penh, June 27, 2011.

As more Khmer Rouge leaders are put on trial by a UN-backed tribunal, some Cambodians students say they don’t believe their defense claims, that they established an ultra-Maoist regime to prevent Cambodia from falling into foreign hands. The tribunal has put the crimes of the Khmer Rouge back into the public consciousness, and many of the young generation are now learning more about the regime than they learned from parents who often withhold their own stories of atrocities.

For Victims, More Indictments the Way to 'Justice'

Say Mony, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 05 July  2011

As the Khmer Rouge tribunal moves toward a trial of four jailed leaders of the regime, many victims say they want more indictments from the UN-backed court. The court has potentially five more suspects to investigate in two more cases, but these are opposed by the prime minister and others. "Just a few of them is not enough, so I want Case 003 and others ," said In Vuthy, a civil party complainant in the upcoming trial, who had 11 relatives die under the Khmer Rouge.

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.

Villagers See Negative Impacts from Proposed Dam

Say Mony, VOA Khmer
Tuesday, 31 May  2011

River protection groups and villagers along the Sesan River in Ratanakkiri province have appealed to halt the Lower Sesan Dam II project, insisting more studies are needed on the dam's impact on community livelihoods. The appeal followed the government's approval of the dam project during a Vietnam-Cambodia investment conference in Phnom Penh last month.

Plucked From Garbage Scavenging, a Girl Makes Good

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Today Chen Sokha, 16, is a student at a prestigious international school and has even been named one of Newsweek magazine’s top 150 women.

When Chen Sokha was a young girl, she found herself, through circumstance and bad luck, an orphan, and a scavenger at Phnom Penh’s notorious Stung Meanchey dump. Things went poorly from Day One. “While I was scavenging on the side of the trash hill, a bulldozer pushed the trash down and the trash covered one of my legs,” she said in a recent interview, recalling the day years before.