As two senior Kampong Chhnang police officers were arrested over the weekend for grabbing flooded forest land, rights NGOs said any officials caught clearing flooded forests around the Tonle Sap lake should face punishment for their crimes.
Around 200 residents protested in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district last week over the airport’s construction, and said they suspended the protest after being promised a meeting at the district hall on Monday.
Following Prime Minister Hun Sen’s command two weeks ago to stop the Tonle Sap’s destruction, provincial governors say they have retaken thousands of hectares of protected flooded forests but are still working on investigating perpetrators.
With their case reaching a French appeal court today, a Bunong community says their claims to land are in contention, while villagers say debt and wage labor are supplanting their traditions.
Phav Nhoeung and Seng Lin were summoned by the Koh Kong Provincial Court prosecutor based on a complaint from Chhay Vy, their former representative.
Families from Kandal’s Ampov Prey commune protested outside the commune hall demanding that they receive compensation for communal land that is now being used by the new Phnom Penh international airport development.
Military police and provincial officials again rushed around the Tonle Sap lake on Wednesday, destroying dozens of cottages, removing thousands of land-marker poles, accepting 675 hectares from a police deputy, and arresting several residents.
The Udom Sre Kpos forestry area, also known as the Prey Metta Thommacheat community, originally covered more than 2,800 hectares, but the government gradually privatized most of it for companies and soldiers over 20 years.
Royal Academy of Cambodia researcher Sok Touch said he had to urgently inform Prime Minister Hun Sen about the destruction of Tonle Sap’s flooded forests before it was too late.
Hun Sen launched into a tirade on Sunday against alleged “anarchic deforestation” along the Tonle Sap lake, even ordering the use of the “infantry, navy, and helicopters” to crackdown on land grabbing and encroachment.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
