Land and Environment
Land Minister Chea Sophara and Culture Minister Phoeurng Sackona meet commune residents in Siem Reap. (Hean Rangsey/VOD)

No Relocation Plans for Preah Dak, Land Minister Tells Protesters

A protest drawing several thousand people from across Angkor Archaeological Park took an abrupt turn Friday, when the land management minister said there were no plans for a mass relocation from the park’s Preah Dak commune – days after residents said authorities had told them the opposite.

Development of the Run Ta Ek resettlement site for Angkor residents in September 2022. (Phin Rathana/VOD)

Displaced From Angkor: Desolate Land, Uncertain Futures Await Residents

Angkor residents are worried about being displaced from their work and public amenities if they move 20 km to an underdeveloped resettlement site. The state denies these are evictions, but its campaign to clean up “illegal constructions” leaves residents with little choice.

Banteay Meanchey authorities inspect flooding in the province on September 26, 2022. (Provincial disaster management)

Typhoon Expected to Lash Northern Provinces, Worsen Flooding

Typhoon Noru, which is expected to make landfall tomorrow in central Vietnam, will cause flash flooding in northern Cambodia, the weather ministry warned, as other parts of the country are still grappling with incessant rains.

The broken Buddha statue in the Metta forest, in a supplied photo taken on September 23, 2022.

Metta Forest’s Buddhist Statues Destroyed in Wind

The Metta forest community in Kampong Speu says three Buddha statues around the forest’s pagoda have been destroyed after wind blew down nearby trees, and residents are blaming loggers who they say are continuing to cut down the surrounding forest.

Run Ta Ek residents. (Supplied)

Residents Say They Have Lost 80 Hectares to Angkor Relocation Site

Around two dozen families in Siem Reap’s Run Ta Ek commune — soon to be the new home for evicted residents from the Angkor park — say the Apsara Authority took their farmland within the resettlement site and offered much smaller plots in return.