Koh Tonsay Families Say Relocation Will Ruin Them
By Kuch Naren
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Fourteen families living on Kampot province's Koh Tonsay, or "Rabbit Island," said a government proposal to relocate them would ruin their livelihoods, force them to shoulder rebuilding costs and leave them with inferior land. Kep Municipal Governor Has Saren said the government may evict the families anyway to make way for a five-star casino and golf course. "We will have another meeting at the end of the month and make a final decision," Has Saren said on Tuesday. "But our government has limited ability to help those families." The government has offered each family a 25-meter-by-50-meter plot of land on the island, located about 7 km from the proposed Try Pheap Company construction site. Has Saren said. Villagers say the offer fails to account for their fruit plantations. Khim Vouch Ai, 50. said she earns between S4,000-$5,000 a year farming seaweed, mangos and coconuts. "The government should compensate me at least $10,000 because I can't start my new life at a new location with an empty hand," she said. Another villager who would give his name only as An, 40, said: "Our children will die."
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