[Cambodia] Rubber firm tells villagers to bounce

Villagers embroiled in a longstanding land dispute with a Chinese rubber company in Ratanakkiri’s O’Chum district received an official eviction notice last week from local authorities who failed to promise compensation, community representatives told the Post yesterday.

More than 100 families will have to move so Swift Rubber Limited – which obtained a 3,000-hectare land concession in the area last year – can begin clearing their land, the notice signed by the O’Chum district governor says.

“We saw the letter that was placed on a rubber tree to evict us without paying us any compensation. This shows a total lack of responsibility to us residents who have lived here since 1993,†community representative Chhun Sokchea, 47, said.

Ngen Borin, a company representative, said responsibility to decide compensation lay with the authorities.

“The company is not authorised to say which families own this land or how much money [they should get]. That is the authority of the local authorities, and the company follows the authorities.â€

District governor Sak Sun could not be reached.