As thousands of families evicted from Angkor Wat move to a desolate relocation site, they are leaving behind plots of land they have used as collateral for microfinance loans — putting them in the tenuous position of having to repay loans without income or access to the land itself.
A leaked report from experts at an international body overseeing Angkor Archaeological Park reiterated past congratulations for Cambodia’s efforts to dismantle illegal structures in heritage areas amid mass evictions of roughly 10,000 families from the site.
Siem Reap residents are collecting hundreds of thumbprints for the reinstatement of a village chief who was fired for joining a protest against the resettlement of Angkor evictees.
Penh Pren, a village chief in Balaing commune in Prasat Bakorng district, told VOD Thursday that he was removed from his position after attempting to protest overnight at Run Ta Ek relocation site earlier this week.
Siem Reap families set up camp on disputed land this week in protest of their former farms being used to resettle Angkor park evictees, but have left under threat from authorities, the residents said.
Villagers who settled two years ago in Run Ta Ek eco-village — where thousands of new Angkor Archaeological Park evictees have been promised plots of land — say that poor living conditions and lack of job prospects have caused many to abandon their homes.
More than 200 Siem Reap families say they are still owed compensation from the Apsara Authority for land being used to resettle displaced villagers from within the Angkor Archaeological Park.
The fallen face of an apsara carving at Angkor Archaeological Park’s Ta Prohm temple was reattached during a spell of good weather.
The missing face that recently fell from an apsara statue in Ta Prohm in Angkor Archaeological Park will be restored as soon as the weather obliges, the Apsara Authority said this week.
Around 70 Siem Reap families want local authorities to give them titles to land they say has been occupied by generations and more recently claimed by the military.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
