Kampong Speu villagers seek intervention in land dispute

VILL AGERS from t he Domrey Ja k Tlork community in Kraing Deivay commune in Kampong Speu prov ince’s Phnom Sruoch district on Sunday urged the aut horities to ta ke back 64ha from a private company they said had illega lly grabbed t heir la nd.

Community leader Suong Van said t he v illagers had requested aut horities keep t he la nd for collective use.

He said the firm had cleared the land on the grounds that it had bought it f rom residents liv ing in neighbouring Taing Samrong commune.

Van claimed the 1,452ha of land had been managed by 385 families in Dok Por and

Kraing Kor villages, and it had been officially designated a protected area by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 2013.

In June, he said, the unidentified company used machiner y to clear 64ha of la nd.

The clearing, he said, was halted after community members gathered to protest.

“In one day, the firm could clear 64ha because they have a lot of machiner y. Without t he protest, the company might have cleared much more than this.

“They encroached by around 200m into the community land beyond boundar y markers.

“Now t he v illagers have replaced t he markers at t heir origina l places,” he said.

Van said he suspected that the firm had colluded with the Kraing Deivay commune aut horities in acquiring t he land, a claim the commune chief rejected.

He continued t hat v illagers had reported to district aut horities and t he Forestr y Administration, only to be told that the land which had been cleared was not part of the Domrey Ja k Tlork community.

“When we protested, they stopped clearing t he la nd, but af ter t he protest, t hey resumed clearing. We want the land back,” he said.

A commune council member who asked not to be named echoed Van’s claims.

“I wonder why the authorities seem to be fearf ul [of the company]. I don’t know about the commune chief, but as a commune council member, I need to lead the protests demanding the land back. I need to protect t he la nd,” he said.

Kraing Deivay commune chief Mann Men denied the aut horities had colluded to sell the community land. He claimed the land that had been cleared was not part of the community land.

He said the land in question was cleared by well-of f v illagers who had bought it and not by any private company.

“The district deput y governor and I have i nspected the community land t hree to four times a lready. I a lso went t here a lone t wice. I’ve asked the Forestr y Administ rat ion to cla r if y it. The problem arose because of a misunderstanding,” he said.

So Kim Seang, t he Forestr y Administration chief for Phnom Sruoch and Baset districts, said he had v isited the area last month to sur vey the land with GPS dev ices and found t hat it was not part of the community.

“If t he v illagers st i l l demand the land, they should discuss wit h t he v illage and commune aut horities. My team can only handle t he technica l work,” he said.