Cambodian boy killed by hornets

Sep 29, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - A YOUNG Cambodian boy was stung to death by hornets after a strong wind blew the insects' nest from a palm tree, local authorities said Tuesday.

The nine-year-old boy died on Sunday after being stung more than 30 times last week in Cambodia's quiet coastal province of Kampot, said commune chief Hay Seng.

'He was walking with his mother under a palm tree and unfortunately, a strong wind blew off a branch holding the hornets' nest, triggering the attack,' Hay Seng told AFP by telephone.

The mother was also stung a few times, he added.

The last deadly hornet attack in the country was reported in 2007, when two Cambodian children and their mother were stung to death after disturbing a nest while cutting firewood.

Hun Xen gloats on positive economic figures, but dismisses negative figures as "just a figure"

(Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

PM again dismisses 2009 GDP forecasts

Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Nguon Sovan
The Phnom Penh Post

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Monday dismissed recent GDP growth forecasts by international organisations, urging the population to concentrate on work rather than predictions on the Kingdom’s economic output for 2009.

Speaking Monday at an inauguration ceremony for a new Ministry of Tourism building in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen again predicted that the agricultural sector would flourish this year.

“Whatever the forecast is – positive or negative – it is not important because it is just a figure,” he said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) last week projected that the agricultural sector would be one of the few bright spots for the Kingdom’s economy, forecasting 5 percent year-on-year growth for 2009.

But ADB and the International Monetary Fund both lowered their predictions last week for Cambodian growth in 2009, to 1.5 percent and 2.75 percent contractions respectively.

In contrast, the London-based Economic Intelligence Unit, which has traditionally pitched its forecasts below the ADB in particular, this month revised upwards its prediction for the economy from -3 percent to -1.5 percent for this year. It cited signs of a global recovery for the improved forecast.

Nevertheless, Hun Sen said, such predictions remain meaningless to most of the population.

“The most important issue is the people’s living conditions.... If they have enough water and food, if there are people that are dying from starvation or not,” said Hun Sen, adding that most Cambodians had not shown any interest in GDP forecasts previously, even when the Kingdom experienced double-digit growth in recent years.

Earlier this year the government predicted GDP growth of about 6 percent for 2009, although some officials have since said that the economy would likely expand at around half this level.

Cambodia to end Bangkok Airways domestic flights

By THE NATION
Published on September 26, 2009


Bangkok Airways will discontinue its Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route when its aviation agreement expires on October 25, a company official said.

The official said it had been known for some time that the agreement would not be extended after it expired. Cambodia in July established its own airline, Cambodia Angkor Air, which has been servicing that route since its maiden flight on July 28.

Bangkok Airways had earlier set high hopes on establishing a presence in Cambodia.

Mao Havannal, secretary of state at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), was quoted by The Phnom Penh Post as saying a decision was made to give a boost to the new national carrier.

"Now that we have our own domestic airline, Bangkok Airways will not be allowed to continue flights when the agreement finishes on October 25," he said.

Bangkok Airways has been |flying four flights daily between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, since taking over the route last November, when its Siem Reap Airways subsidiary was grounded by the SSCA.

China's Xinhua News Agency quoted SSCA Cabinet Chief Long Chheng as saying on Thursday that a letter had been sent to Bangkok Airways last week informing it of the decision.

Tourism is one of the only sources of foreign exchange for impoverished Cambodia, which is recovering from nearly three decades of conflict, which ended in 1998.

The kingdom wants to receive 3 million tourists annually by next year.

Bangkok Airways public-relations director ML Nantika Worawan, insists the move will not affect the airline's revenue, because only a half-hour flight is involved. The company will remain focused on the Cambodian market, with four daily round-trip flights from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and five to six a day from Bangkok to Siem Reap.

Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways are among several other foreign airlines also operating direct flights to Cambodia.