Village residents in Siem Reap have sued four environment department officials for alleged destruction of property and encroachment, an allegation made last week against them and military officers.
Unidentified criminals have cut down and stolen four prized rosewood trees from a Siem Reap conservation area, officials say.
The Kuy community has long been in dispute with Sambath Platinum, to which in 2011 the state granted nearly 2,500 hectares of land for a rubber plantation in Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary.
A slew of new government decrees has privatized seven public lakes and waterways in Kandal and further carved up Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok. One local commune chief is threatening to resign over the sudden handover of a lake his residents rely on.
The army’s Region 4 has been accused of using nature protection to grab Siem Reap land, while Koh Kong villagers protested the questioning of a representative.
The Anti-Corruption Unit is looking into a complaint by an environmental group alleging irregularities in the privatization of forest land at Phnom Tamao in Takeo province.
As Kampong Speu’s Metta forest is rapidly destroyed, locals’ allegations against Brigade 70 soldiers are multiplying: a monk’s phone confiscated to prevent photos of forest clearing, seven Buddha statues destroyed, and the land sold to tycoons for dirt mining.
The Mondulkiri Provincial Court questioned four Bunong environmentalists for several hours on Tuesday over alleged defamation and incitement based on a developer’s complaint.
Prom Thomacheat, living in Oral district’s Metta forest, said the small hut where he had slept was burned to the ground on Monday.
Palm sugar production is barely meeting half of this year’s target output because of early rains and unpredictable weather, an industry association said.
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