Trader told to return protected forest land
THE Kampong Speu provincial environment department has rejected a request for ownership of a large plot of disputed land after finding that it is located in a protected wildlife sanctuary.
The land is the subject of an ongoing court case between trader Sieng Samen and Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation director Chea Hean,
Samen sued Hean for defamation after he accused her of clearing state forest land, which she claimed to have bought from local villagers.
She intended to plant cash crops on the land but was repeatedly stopped by Hean, who filed a counter lawsuit accusing her of committing forestry crimes.
A letter sent by environment depa r t ment act i ng di rector Em Sokhun to provincial gover nor Vy Sa mna ng, dated September 11 and sighted by ThePost on Sunday said the 71ha plot i n Ora l d ist r ic t ’s Trapa ing Cho commune i s pa r t of “forest la nd” i n t he protected Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuar y.
The decision was made after officials from the environment department and the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary made a field visit to the site on September 5. The department has since ordered Samen to return the land.
“The environment department rejects Sieng Sa men’s request for ownership of the land in the wildlife sanctuar y in Oral district’s Trapaing Cho commune because an inspect ion showed t hat t he la nd t ra nsact ion wit h t he loca ls was against the law on protected areas.
Hean’s lawyer Lor Kimgech said the environment department’s finding was enough to prove his client’s innocence in the defamation case. He urged the provincial court to proceed with the forestry crime case against Samen.
“The finding of environment department officials, in this case, shows that my client’s work had been carried out in accordance with the law.
“Based on the new finding, I ask the court to drop the defamation case and instead expedite my client’s legal case against Sieng Samen in relation to the illegal land clearing in protected natural areas,” he said.