Environment and land
Communities demand regulation as jade mining destroys landscape
Ywel Jer remembers a time when Saijarbon, an ethnic Kachin village perched upon a hilltop in Hpakant Township, was surrounded by mountains. In the past 10 years, however, vast mountain areas around the village here in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State have been turned into rubble by ...
Public had no say in Tak SEZ, NHRC finds
The National Human Rights Commission will report to the government after its investigation on 23 May into alleged human rights violations in the Tak Special Economic Development Zone. Its conclusion was that the main problem in the dispute was the lack of opportunity for public involvement in the ...
Investor excitement builds ahead of MTSH listing
Investor appetite is high for shares in Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Limited, which will on 20 May become the second company to list on the Yangon Stock Exchange, securities firms say. MTSH, established in 2013 by a nine-shareholder consortium, will list 3.9 million shares at a base ...
Savannakhet folk get lesson in fruitful farming methods
Provincial agriculture officials are helping the people of Nateuy village in KaysonePhomvihane district, Savannakhet province, to improve crop cultivation and livestock production methods. The Savannakhet Agriculture and Forestry Department and village authorities gathered on 18 May to explain the best ways to grow fruit, rice and ...
Amid drought, diarrhea poses severe threat
Teachers at Toul Mead Primary School in Siem Reap province tell students to bring drinking water from home to keep them hydrated in the scorching heat. But water is increasingly hard to come by as the worst drought in decades drags on. There is no free ...
Livelihoods in jeopardy as Vietnam’s Mekong Delta struggles with sediment loss
The World Wide Fund for Nature reported that suspended sediment load in the Mekong Delta declined from 160 million tons in 1992 to 75 million tons in 2014 due to the construction of hydropower dams and reservoirs on the mainstream and branches of Mekong River. It noted that sand ...
Four sentenced for roles in Preah Vihear ELC protest
The Preah Vihear Provincial Court on 17 May sentenced four men for burning a contentious fence during a 2014 protest against an economic land concession in Kulen district held by the FP Malaysia (Cambodia) Plantation. Lor Chan, the provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc said,“Even though the ...
Govt widens ban on timber exports, tightens wood business
The government has announced a new ban on the export of various tree species, timber products and ornamental plants in a move to take ownership of and maximise the benefits of Laos’ natural resources. Prime Minister ThonglounSisoulith issued an order last week imposing the ban on ...
Organic produce becoming popular, lucrative
Demand for organic farm produce has increased significantly both in Viet Nam and globally, and this offers good prospects for businesses investing in the field, a seminar heard in HCM City on 16 May. Nguyen Ba Hung, general director of Organik Da Lat, said organic farming ...
Finishing touches coming for Sugar Act
A draft of the long-awaited Sugar Act is to be revised with recommendations from industry figures at a meeting of the Sugar and Sugar Related Products Merchants and Manufacturers Association on 17 May. Once the revision is complete the act will be submitted to parliament through Myanmar’s ...
