Two-thirds of Tonle Bati lake — a popular weekend getaway — will be filled in by a developer, official documents show, as three other lakes in Kandal and a further area on Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok have been privatized by Hun Sen’s decree.
The Anti-Corruption Unit is looking into a complaint by an environmental group alleging irregularities in the privatization of forest land at Phnom Tamao in Takeo province.
Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon assured animal welfare NGO Wildlife Alliance that an animal rescue center at Phnom Tamao will remain untouched, but did not address the potential destruction of hundreds of hectares of protected forest around it through the planned privatization of land.
A senior Forestry Administration official told a wildlife NGO there was not much he could do about the future development and privatization of the Phnom Tamao protected forest, according to an account of the meeting provided by an NGO participant.
The potential scope of the destruction of the forest, home to a wildlife rescue center and endangered animals, was not previously disclosed.
Phnom Tamao, a green oasis in Takeo province, has been home to endangered species and a wildlife rescue center. But a recent government order has privatized large swaths of land in the area, threatening the forested area and a local pagoda.
A wildlife protection group says it is concerned by potential plans to clear hundreds of hectares of forest in a wildlife sanctuary for development.
Thinking it was a buffalo, the three local residents had tried to kick the bovine out of their farms before it charged them.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
