Some 100 Preah Sihanouk villagers protested in support of six families whose land is being claimed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s nephew, as the nephew said he had a legal title to the land while the local commune chief said he didn’t know how Hun Chea had obtained it.
A Cambodian man accused by police of impersonating a law enforcement officer and transporting a Chinese man outside a locked-down Covid-19 “red zone” in Sihanoukville was sent to the provincial court on Wednesday, a court official said.
Sihanoukville became the second city to designate a “red zone,” putting five villages under stringent lockdown measures for 14 days starting Friday, as the coastal province sees an uptick in Covid-19 cases.
Sihanoukville has recorded 17 new Covid-19 cases in relation to the “February 20” cluster, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday, as a Preah Sihanouk spokesperson said there were now more than 50 cases in the province.
Four factories in the Sihanoukville SEZ were last year put under investigation for or found to be falsely shipping Chinese plywood, cabinets and pipe fittings to the U.S. as if they were Cambodian-made, according to U.S. Customs documents.
About 150 families encroaching on Sihanoukville’s 7 Makara St. and refusing to make way for roadworks could face jail time and hefty fines, according to local authorities.
One of Cambodia’s biggest conglomerates was handed some 6 hectares of beach and lake on prime Sihanoukville land after the company made a donation to the city’s road renovation.
Sihanoukville’s centrally located administrative buildings are being relocated to the city’s outskirts in a move that will open up parcels of land each worth a few million dollars.
A year after a fatal building collapse in Kep province, the trauma and the effects of workers’ injuries linger, but one surviving worker is returning to construction despite opposition from others in the family.
In December, Sihanoukville appears stripped to its components: Bright blue sky streaks through the metal and concrete frames of half-built, abandoned skyscrapers, and scraggly trees and grasses take hold of empty lots marked by for-sale signs.
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