NGO, rangers probe 300ha land grab in wildlife sanctuary

NGO Natural Resource and Wildlife P r e s er v at ion Or g a n i s at ion a nd env ironmental of f icia ls are investigating the alleged encroachment on protected la nd in Kampong Speu prov i nce’s Ph nom Ora l Wi ld l i fe Sa nct ua r y a f ter a newly for med community claimed that fake documents were prepared to grab more than 300ha there.

The NGO’s director Chea Hea n told The Post on Monday that he and several environmental rangers from t he sanctuar y are collecting a ll t he releva nt data.

Once the investigation is complete, he said, they will send a report to the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Interior so they can take swift action against the masterminds behind the alleged scam.

Hean said the land grab happened in Sre Kin v illage in Oral dist rict’s Trapaing Chor commune after the creat ion of t he Odom Sre K hpuos community.

Villagers t hen elected a chief, he said, who, along with the communit y members, grabbed forest land i l lega l ly to sel l, under t he pretex t t hat it belonged to t hem.

When the rangers came to enforce t he law, Hean sa id, t he Odom Sre Khpuos community chief mobilised v i l lagers to protest a nd ask t hem not to conf iscate t he la nd as state propert y.

“If they didn’t protest, the land dealers would sue them for fraud, so they had to protest to demand the land.

“[Some] loca l aut horities cooperated with the community by asking v i l l ager s to t hu mb-pr i nt [ documents] say ing t hat t he land in t he wildlife sanctuar y was village farmla nd, but act ua l ly t he la nd i n t he area belonged to the protected wildlife sanctuar y,” he said.

Hean said machinery was brought in to clear plots ranging from 10 to 30ha, a nd in tota l some 300ha of protected land was grabbed.

Phnom Ora l Wild life Sa nct ua r y deput y director Hul Mara said v illagers were mobi l ised to protest aga i nst t hem when t hey went to investigate t he case. “If [it was only] villagers who grabbed the land, they wouldn’t have grabbed such a large area.

“They would only have grabbed 4 or 5ha . V i l l a ger s on t hei r ow n wouldn’t dare, a nd have no r ig ht, to cla im t his protected forest la nd. But t he l a nd t hat wa s g r a bbed i s s u r r ou nde d b y 4 0 0 t o 5 0 0 boundar y markers,” he sa id.

Mara sa id t he tea m is t r y i ng to solve t he issue a nd w i l l ma ke a repor t to t he prov i ncia l Env i ronment Depa r t ment t hat it wou ld f o r w a r d t o t h e Mi n i s t r y o f Environment.

Kampong Speu prov incial governor Vei Samnang said on Monday n ig ht t hat rele v a nt of f ic ia l s a re investigating the issue before taking lega l action. “We have assigned our of f icia ls to dest roy t he bounda r y makers used to surround the land,” he said.

Oral district governor Moung Thy said legal action had already been taken against land grabbers including revoking some land. “Those villagers just grabbed the land. People in other areas have official land titles,” he said.

Provincial environment department deputy director Nov Nak said on Tuesday that no authority could issue land titles for the villagers because the grabbed land is inside the sanctuary.

“It is the villagers’ right to protest to demand the land, but we as environmental rangers must implement the law to protect the area’s natural resources,” he said.

Nak said that despite the protests of more than 10 villagers, the rangers removed some boundary markers on Monday.

No representative of the accused community could be reached for comment.

The Ministr y of Environment has made clear t hat any tit le issued for l a nd i n s ide pr ot e c t e d a r e a s i s invalid, even if t he v illage and commu ne a u t h o r i t i e s r e c o g n i s e d them.