Villagers won’t swap land for apartments + Locals block bulldozers, fence

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Villagers won’t swap land for apartments

Tue, 3 June 2014

Khouth Sophak Chakrya

Villagers who claim a development project in Russey Keo district has already taken a bite out of their land said yesterday that they fear the plan will swallow the rest of their property, as they filed petitions and met with local authorities.

Members of 80 families who own land in Prek Leap commune’s Kean Khlaing village thumb-printed a petition asking the district and municipality to keep their village off limits to the Overseas’ Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC) satellite city project, a community representative, Reth Dyna, said.

The requests – filed with commune, district and Phnom Penh City Hall officials – asked for the project’s area to be revaluated, rather than stopped, Dyna said.

“In reality, we are pleased with the development, which will have commercial buildings, resorts and supermarkets,” Dyna said. “But we do not want to exchange our land and homes with the company.”

Dredging that began in Kean Khlaing last week kicked off the Chroy Changvar development project, a joint venture between the city and OCIC.

But villagers who live there and others who own land to grow rice and vegetables say sand dumped near their property has already ruined a pond they used
for agriculture.

Commune officials met with and encouraged local residents yesterday morning to trade their land for nearby apartments, said Hom Sith, who attended talks. If not, officials advised attendees to gather land titles, family books or any other evidence they could find that proves they legally own the disputed plots.

“The authorities want us to swap our land for a 4-by-12-metre apartment nearby that [OCIC] already built,” Sith said yesterday. “But the trade does not balance out with the amount of land we would
give up.”

Asked about the dispute yesterday, OCIC general manager Touch Samnang said that finding a resolution falls on the municipality.

“Any problems will have to be resolved by Phnom Penh authorities,” Samnang said. “The company is just operating the project.”

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Locals block bulldozers, fence

Tue, 3 June 2014

Sen David

Fifty-seven families embroiled in a decadelong land row with a company owned by the wife of Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem faced off with the firm’s security guards yesterday in Kampong Chhnang’s Kampong Tralach district.

The villagers in April rejected an offer from KDC International, which is owned by Sem’s wife, Chea Kheng, while 33 other families accepted the offer.

No clashes were reported yesterday, and guards withdrew from the area without incident.

Om Sophy, 35, a community representative, said that the villagers had blocked the company’s bulldozers from clearing the land and prevented KDC employees from building a fence around the property.

“The company agreed to give [from $250 to $1,500] to each family, but it is too little,” she said. “With this money, we cannot buy new land or houses.”

Reach Seima, another villager, said the company should not bulldoze the area while the families still live there.

“The villagers have a war of words with the company and block their bulldozers, but they are not violent,” he said.

Thai Hy, a KDC representative, could not be reached for comment.

Hol Veasna, Kampong Tralach district police chief, said the company had “stopped its activity in order to find a solution”.

The protracted dispute has resulted in arrests for a few of the residents, one of which ended with the sentencing of a villager to six years in prison. The row started in 2002, when KDC cleared about 140 hectares of land granted to villagers as a farming concession.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/locals-block-bulldozers-fence