Phase two of social and economic land allocation to aid 18,000 poor families
THE government is due to launch the Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development Project II (Lased II) from 2020-2025 to the tune of $60 to $90 million.
The land a llocation is aimed at a llev iating povert y i n five nort heastern prov inces, easing t he hardships of the homeless, and prov iding 18,000 families wit h agricultura l land, said Dok Doma, the director of Lased II.
Doma is a lso the deput y director of the Ministr y of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction’s General Department of Housing.
Speaking to The Post on Sunday, he said: “The nationwide poverty rate remains at 10 per cent, so we aim to reduce it further. The project is aimed at poor people who have no land. If they don’t have land, we will allocate them housing and agricultural land so they can farm and build houses.”
Residents are considered fit to receive support as long as they live permanently in the village or commune and have social security cards issued by local officials, he said.
They will be allocated land to benefit society and for their development, Doma said, but if they have migrated from one province to another, they will not be eligible.
He said working groups were cur
rent ly studying five prov inces in which to expand the second project – Kampong Thom, Mondulkiri, Ratanak k iri, Preah Vihear and Stung Treng.
“The prov inces in the northeast have a high rate of povert y. The government is highly committed to getting t he povert y rate below 10 per cent and we will expand the phase t wo project from 2020 to 2025,” Doma said. He said the government will grant land to constr uct residentia l projects and for agricultura l use.
The areas will be urbanised, he said, by building roads, schools, nurseries, markets, community and healt h centres, wells and ponds, and residentia l homes for teachers.
Doma said the project will provide training in raising livestock, growing trees and choosing agricultural products which are right for the land.
The government will grant the land, provide seeds and build irrigation systems in response to the local people’s demands and ensure agricultural products have a high production yield so residents have food security and can sell their crops at local markets.
Bou Saroeun, the communications officer for the World Bank’s Cambodia Office, inspected land for the project in Tipor commune in Kampong Thom province’s Santuk district last Thursday.
He said the World Bank supported t he a llocation of socia l concessions and the economic development which will be expanded i n five prov inces but said the budget had not yet been set.
“The project will help villagers by giving people decent houses to raise their families, by allowing them to send their children to school regularly and by granting them agricultural land,” he said.
Lased I is being implemented in 14 zones in five prov inces – Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu, Kampong Thom, Kratie and Tbong Khmum – by the ministries of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction; Agriculture, Forestr y and Fisheries, and t he National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development from 2016 to 2021.
It has a budget of $26.8 million, supported by a grant from t he World Bank, and some 5,141 families are set to benefit.