Seven women protesting evictions from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok lake have been summoned to court for incitement and obstruction based on a complaint by the district security chief.
33 young activists rode bicycles around Boeng Tamok calling for a stop to the privatization and filling of the lake. For local residents, the youths were doing what they couldn’t dare to. “I’m happy to see it,” one said. “I want to see the young generation stand up to fight.”
Another 4.6 hectares of Boeng Tamok was given to a private citizen who previously received land about six months before.
A communal lake was in the process of being filled in Kandal’s Kien Svay district, while 30 hectares of flooded forest was cleared in Kampong Chhnang over the past week, authorities said, but no perpetrators have been arrested for the violations.
A major Phnom Penh lake development involving several oknha and senators threatens livelihoods and wetlands, as well as rivers with sewage contamination, and puts 1 million people at risk of flooding, the U.N. said in a letter to the Cambodian government — which in turn responded with seven pages summarizing assessments of the development.
Phnom Penh is expanding, and it is no different from many countries in using landfill to meet the demands of development, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday as he rejected criticism over transferring public lake areas to developers.
A pipe installed under a Phnom Penh pagoda burst on Tuesday while moving dredged sand from barges on the Tonle Bassac river to landfill on Choeng Ek lake, with a pagoda representative saying City Hall had pushed for the pipe to pass through their grounds despite their reluctance.
The businesswoman who received more than 10 hectares of one of Phnom Penh’s “last lakes” Boeng Tamok from the government, raising questions around transparency and accountability, is the daughter of Land Management Minister Chea Sophara.
As he presides over a newly formed Sihanoukville “Master Plan” council, Prime Minister Hun Sen has granted four plots of land in Preah Sihanouk province to seven individuals, plus two more Phnom Penh lake areas to businesswoman Chea Sophamaden and City Hall.
With more heavy rainfall expected this weekend and ongoing flooding that has killed at least 21 people this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen cast doubt that the in-filling of capital lakes had contributed to severe flooding in Phnom Penh.
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