On one side of Kampong Thom province, the government ended a community forest program for a World Bank project village. On the other side, farmers had land taken away to make way for an earlier version of the project.
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.
UDG, a massive Chinese-owned, U.S.-sanctioned development in the coastal province, has been embroiled in disputes with residents for years, with more than 1,000 families forced off about 10,000 hectares, and 1,500 houses dismantled and cleared, according to past research reports.
Kandal province villagers have erected tents to stand guard over their rice fields on the site of Phnom Penh’s new airport development, as two bulldozers arrived and began to clear the area.
The Environment Ministry has told all provincial governors to immediately stop the issuing of land certificates in protected areas such as biodiversity corridors, saying 70 sanctuaries in 11 provinces were facing encroachment.
A national government survey of 10,000 households, released on Tuesday, shows increased debt burdens as well as fewer households owning land, more cultivation of fruits and nuts, and the disappearance of video tape recorders and radios.
A sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen grants forest land in Preah Sihanouk province to his children Hun Mana and Hun Maly as well as the mother-in-law of his eldest son Hun Manet.
Fifteen more hectares of one of Phnom Penh’s “last lakes” will be filled in to make way for government buildings, according to a decree signed two days before authorities arrested environmental youth activists campaigning for the lake’s preservation.
More than 50 families who were evicted from their homes near Phnom Penh’s Sovanna Shopping Center have asked for land on which to resettle after they said City Hall did not offer them fair compensation.
Phnom Penh city governor Khuong Sreng blamed long-running land conflicts in the capital on interference from politicians and supposedly paid protesters, but some civil society members dismissed his claims as a frame-up and deflection.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
