Environment and land
Dầu Tiếng Reservoir sand mining suspended
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked the provinces of Tây Ninh, Bình Dương and Bình Phước to suspend sand mining operations at Dầu Tiếng Reservoir, following an order from the Government. The ministry told officials to adjust planning for construction sites and ...
Deep-sea fishing banned in Formosa spill area
Fishermen from the central provinces, which saw the Formosa spill, have been warned not to catch species living in the deepest levels of the ocean for 20 nautical miles offshore. Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình issued this advisory on Wednesday during a meeting with ...
PM tells committee to strengthen int’l climate change co-operatioន
The National Committee for Climate Change needs to enhance its international co-operation and learn from other countries’ experience to promote climate change response in Việt Nam, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said on May 18. At the committee’s eighth meeting in Hà Nội, the Ministry ...
ANZ distances itself from Cambodian partner
Australian financial institution ANZ has distanced itself from the Royal Group, its local partner in a Cambodian joint venture bank, following police reports linking the group to illegal logging activities. A report published by Cambodia’s National Police this week accused Royal Group, owned by prominent ...
David Brown: peace gets a chance in Vietnamese land conflicts
Last month, a band of farmers forced their way into the administrative compound of Dong Tam, an ancient village on the fringes of Hanoi, to protest the expropriation of their land. To the astonishment of many observers, Vietnam’s communist regime calmed the explosive situation after ...
Mekong Delta faces increased risk of landslides as sediment loss continues
Every year, 55 million tons of sediment is lost from the rivers in Mekong Delta, 90 percent of which is sand. Nguyen Huu Thien, an independent expert, said the Mekong Delta has been taking shape for the last 6,000 years thanks to alluvial accretion. But the ...
SMEs in 8 provinces to get Pracha Rath loans
The Department of Industrial Promotion will extend loans initially totalling Bt20 billion from a Pracha Rath fund for SME development in eight provinces, starting with Songkhla on May 24. Eight provinces have been initially targeted for the programme. Besides Songkhla, they are Krabi, Chon Buri, ...
Less US funding for UXO clearing
The United States has warned Cambodia it may have to shoulder more responsibility for the cost of clearing mines from its territory, ending an era in which Washington has carried the bulk of the cost of removing mines and other explosives after the Vietnam War ...
Police link Kith Meng to illegal wood racket
The National Police on May 16 published a brief but scathing report on business mogul Kith Meng, citing anonymous sources who accuse his company of using its license to log the reservoir of the nearly completed Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam to launder timber. Mr. ...
Swine smugglers put on notice
The Ministry of Agriculture has authorised a new private sector task force to investigate reports of widespread pig smuggling and bogus pig-raising operations, which domestic pig farmers claim have put market prices on live swine in a trough. The task force is led by agro-industrial ...