The government has granted nearly 200 hectares of Ream National Park and flooded forest land that a local official said was disputed in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nob district to companies and private individuals, to the surprise of two commune officials.
A soldier who was removed from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit over his involvement in a land dispute has this month been made an adviser to Interior Minister Sar Kheng, according to government letters and court documents.
Local officials in disputed areas of Preah Sihanouk province say they know little about a newly disclosed batch of land granted to connected business owners, with a police chief expressing shock over the transfer of a Kbal Chhay water resource to one individual.
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.
Two schools have been closed in Preah Sihanouk province due to Covid-19 precautions after a prime ministerial assistant visited three coastal provinces over the weekend despite being a suspected contact of a visiting Hungarian foreign minister who tested positive after leaving the country last week.
Some officials have breached quarantine and traveled outside Phnom Penh, leading the search for indirect Covid-19 contacts of a visiting Hungarian foreign minister to spread to at least seven provinces.
A Preah Sihanouk man who tried to report a stolen loudspeaker to local police ended up beaten at the hands of officers due to “confusion,” then signed an agreement in which police promised not to beat him again if he did not sue.
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.
The government has allocated 600 hectares of state forests in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nob district to two tycoons linked to sugar plantations and other businesses.
The Health Ministry confirmed two more cases of the Covid-19 respiratory disease late Thursday, and another recovered patient, bringing the nation’s total number of infections since January to 98.
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