By Kuch Naren and Whitney Kvasager
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Hundreds of villagers who rioted at Tonle Bassac commune's Village 14 on Wednesday will be evicted from the site next week, Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said Sunday.
Kep Chuktema said the removal of the families would not be violent, and that they would be relocated to other, unspecified locations with good security.
"Those remaining families must be relocated next week because they have done many bad things," he said.
"We cannot let them construct shelters at mat place to pollute our city's beauty. In particular, we cannot allow them to live like such anarchic squatters," he added. "We will use fences to evict them peacefully from that area. We will use gentle eviction."
On Wednesday, club-wielding villagers pursued a private security guard, torched the deputy village chief’s house, tore down the village office and battered down a half-kilometer-long metal fence put up by the Sour Srun company, which owns the land.
The villagers were renters, not owners, at Village 14 and have not been allocated land at the designated relocation site 22 km outside Phnom Penh.
Several villagers at the site said Sunday that they would demonstrate against any attempt to relocate them.
"We will start protesting again if officials try to relocate us," said a 42-year-old villager who declined to give her name. The local authorities and municipal officers need to solve this problem."
A 74-year-old woman, who also declined to give her name, said she would not relocate unless she was given a plot of land to live on elsewhere.
Chan Soveth, program officer for local rights group Adhoc's monitoring section, appealed to the government to ensure that violence does not occur.
"The children in the camp, many, many are sick," he said.
He called on the government and the Cambodian Red Cross to provide them with food.
The villagers are preparing a petition to retired King Norodom Sihanouk opposing the eviction, he said. "Only the King can help them now," he added.
Kep Chuktema said the removal of the families would not be violent, and that they would be relocated to other, unspecified locations with good security.
"Those remaining families must be relocated next week because they have done many bad things," he said.
"We cannot let them construct shelters at mat place to pollute our city's beauty. In particular, we cannot allow them to live like such anarchic squatters," he added. "We will use fences to evict them peacefully from that area. We will use gentle eviction."
On Wednesday, club-wielding villagers pursued a private security guard, torched the deputy village chief’s house, tore down the village office and battered down a half-kilometer-long metal fence put up by the Sour Srun company, which owns the land.
The villagers were renters, not owners, at Village 14 and have not been allocated land at the designated relocation site 22 km outside Phnom Penh.
Several villagers at the site said Sunday that they would demonstrate against any attempt to relocate them.
"We will start protesting again if officials try to relocate us," said a 42-year-old villager who declined to give her name. The local authorities and municipal officers need to solve this problem."
A 74-year-old woman, who also declined to give her name, said she would not relocate unless she was given a plot of land to live on elsewhere.
Chan Soveth, program officer for local rights group Adhoc's monitoring section, appealed to the government to ensure that violence does not occur.
"The children in the camp, many, many are sick," he said.
He called on the government and the Cambodian Red Cross to provide them with food.
The villagers are preparing a petition to retired King Norodom Sihanouk opposing the eviction, he said. "Only the King can help them now," he added.
1 comment:
The beautiful city (Phnom-Penh) is intended only to corrupted authority HUN SEN and his groups, Chines, rich people, rich foreigners.
According to Phnom-Penh Governor KEP CHUKTEMA, there are no place for the monkeys miserable people Who could polluate and damage this beauty city so they have to be sent back to the jungle.
KEP CHUKTEMA, you are a racist man, aren't you!
Ke
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