Only about 5 percent of the roughly 2,000 major development projects, such as dams, roads and bridges, approved by the government between 2004 and 2011 carried out environmental impact assessments, an official at the ministry of Environment said yesterday.
Speaking at a workshop in Phnom Penh on a new draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) law, Danh Serey, deputy director of the ministry’s EIA department, said existing legislation such as the 1996 Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Management was not strong enough to ensure companies conduct the necessary environmental check before starting work. …
Simon Lewis and Khuon Narim, P.1
www.cambodiadaily.com
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is aiming for an ambitious trade agreement that not only covers ASEAN and its neighbours but leaves the door open for other entrants.
Ms Gillard arrived in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Monday for the East Asia Summit, which is set to launch the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Tuesday afternoon (Cambodian time).
The RCEP agreement – which would bring down trade barriers and cut customs duties across the region – is set to involve the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. …
Paul Osborne
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/pm-gillard-flies-into-rights-debate/story-fn3dxix6-1226519390469
As severe flooding continues to plague provinces along the Mekong River and around the Tonle Sap lake, new figures released by aid groups and officials yesterday showed that the scale of the disaster is far bigger than initially expected and could be worse than Typhoon Ketsana, which wreaked havoc on Cambodia in 2009.
According to the Cambodian Red Cross, nearly 40,000 families have now been evacuated to safe high-ground areas in five provinces alone, while a government officials said that about 163,000 hectares of paddy fields are inundated with floodwaters in 14 provinces.
The figures represent a three-fold increase from the previous government estimates of the number of evacuees and a four-fold jump in the extent of flood damage to crops…
(Paul Vrieze and Phorn Bopha, p.1)
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/ (Note: Infrequently Updated.)
