Phnom Penh claims new piece of Kandal

APART of Kandal province’s fast-developing Muk Kampoul district has been transferred into the administrative jurisdiction of Phnom Penh as part of the capital city’s 2035 master plan, City Hall spokesman Mean Chanyada said yesterday.

Chanyada said a November 21 royal decree had immediately transferred an unspecified portion of Sambuor Meas commune, which lies on the northern border of Phnom Penh, into the Bak Kheng and Prek Tasek communes of the city’s Chroy Changvar district.

“It has development potential, and it is also in an [appropriate] direction of the 2035 Master Plan for Phnom Penh, which is to extend the city in four directions,” Chanyada said, adding that he knew only that the land involved was in the “thousands of hectares”.

Sarin Vanna, head of the municipal land management department, said residents would be unaffected by the change, but that their land-ownership documents would have to be re-issued. “We are not going to dismiss their land titles. We will recognise the land titles from Kandal . . . and change the land titles to be in Phnom Penh,” Vanna said.

He said the border between the city and Kandal now runs cleanly along existing roads and rivers.

Sambuor Meas commune chief Nem Yorng, meanwhile, said he was happy to give up part of his jurisdiction and that most of his former residents would not notice the change.

“It is a demand of development,” Yorng said. “I do not think it will affect the people’s livelihoods, because they can still cultivate their land.”