Society
Japanese Ambassador Mikami Masahiro and UN World Food Programme country director Francesca Erdelmann shake hands at a ceremony at the Education Ministry in Phnom Penh on October 17, 2019. (Vann Vichar/VOD)

Japan Donates $3M for Canned-Fish School Breakfasts

About 415 tons of Japanese canned fish will be bought for schoolchildren’s breakfasts in five provinces using a $3-million Japanese grant disbursed via the U.N. World Food Programme, the organization announced on Thursday.

An elephant sculpture built from the parts of 300 confiscated chainsaws (Environment Ministry)

300 Confiscated Chainsaws Turned Into Elephant Sculpture

Three-hundred chainsaws confiscated from illegal loggers have been disassembled into pieces and reconstructed into a metallic elephant sculpture that authorities hope will raise awareness about conservation.

Representatives of indigenous communities, NGOs and the Rural Development Ministry gather for a workshop in Phnom Penh on October 10, 2019. (Khun Vanda)

Indigenous Communal Land Registrations Lagging

The registration of communal land for indigenous people has lagged — with just 24 of an estimated 455 communities receiving titles — due to inadequate funding and other challenges, NGO and government officials said.

Chi Khor Leu commune police monitor a meeting of local residents involved in a land dispute in Koh Kong province on September 30, 2019 (Supplied)

Authorities Interrupt Meeting in Search of CNRP Support, Land Disputants Say

Koh Kong villagers involved in a yearslong land dispute said Friday that authorities interrupted their meetings on three consecutive days this week, telling the disputants they were checking if the gathering was in support of exiled opposition leaders’ planned return to the country next month.