Dozens of hectares of state land illegally grabbed in Mondulkiri

DOZENS of hectares of state land in Mondulkiri prov ince have been grabbed illega lly, prov incia l Forestr y Administ rat ion deput y director Saro Ratana told The Post on Sunday.

The pine farm where the land grabbing has ta ken place covers 225ha i n Pou Hyam v illage in O’Raing district’s Sen Monorom commune.

Ratana said the farm has been registered in t he inventor y of t he prov incia l Agriculture, Forestr y and Fisheries department, so the Forestr y Administration has an obligation to manage and protect t he land.

But wit h land prices soaring, he said, some opportunists have secret ly planted posts and cleared the land wit hout aut horisation.

Ratana said that on Thursday, his team cooperated with t he O’Raing dist r ict militar y unit and loca l aut horities to inspect t he area and witnessed land encroachment happening in four locations.

“During t he inspection, which was conducted over a few days, we discovered four cases i n the pine farm. Though we have not measured t he site, we estimate t hat it is not less t han 50ha of land,” he said.

Ratana said his team is attempting to identif y t hose responsible in order to prepare a lawsuit for t he court to ta ke further action against them.

Sen Monorom commune chief Thvan Trel told The Post on Sunday that none of t he residents of her v illage had grabbed land in the area, and she does not know where the perpetrators come from.

“The land that has been grabbed is ver y large. It is at least 3ha or more in one place, so our v illagers are not capable of doing t hat. St ill, I don’t know where t he perpetrators came from eit her,” she said.

Some loca l people said the case might esca late into a new land dispute if experts and relevant aut horities do not ta ke measures to prevent t he clearing and seize t he land back as state propert y.

Pou Hyam v i l lage chief Nhang Myok said t hat in the past, he had seen workers planting posts around t he land in t he area, but he and ot her v illagers did not rea lise t hat the posts were being planted privately and i l lega l ly.