Brick walls and barbed wire divide Pu Rang village now, says Tha Vy. When an outsider buys up the peak of a hillside, the local predominantly Bunong residents often can no longer even get to their traditional farmlands.
Phnom Penh has been at the center of the recent Covid-19 outbreak, reporting more than 2,000 cases in the past week, according to Phnom Penh City Hall data. The outbreak has spread rapidly through the city’s markets and factories — leading to the country’s first lockdown and the creation of “red zones.”
Vegetable sales in Stung Meanchey, now declared a “red zone,” was happening secretly in houses, sellers said, while a commune chief said he was cracking down on the 60 Meter wholesale trade, confiscating carts and taking “serious action” to prevent public disorder.
Five people have been sentenced to one year in prison in Kampong Cham and Takeo provinces for violating the Covid-19 Law after drinking in groups against public health protocols, amid a slew of arrests across the country for parties, illegal travel, not wearing masks and breaking curfew.
“I love this fishing boat so much. Every time I sleep on it I feel like I have [another] house,” says Suong Rang in Kampong Phluk. But the fisherman has recently turned to making flower pots instead amid declining water levels and fish stocks.
In a speech Saturday morning, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the country had recorded 483 more Covid-19 cases following a record 576 new cases announced on Friday.
New data from an international forest monitoring program shows a slight increase in deforestation in Cambodia last year, with new spots of forest clearing moving deeper into Cambodia’s remaining dense forests.
With schools shut nationwide for the third time since the start of the pandemic, and university enrollment down slightly last year, students say they have struggled with finances and months of online learning, with some deferring their studies or calling for tuition reductions.
In the two countries long marked by U.S. involvement in their media sectors, Chinese training programs, partnerships and media ownership in recent years have added a new dimension to the under-pressure media environments.
As Covid-19 infections spike and deaths begin to accumulate in Cambodia, a healthy dose of fear of the coronavirus, and rational responses to that fear, may help the country avoid the worst of what the global pandemic has to offer, writes Matt Surrusco.
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