By Chheang Sokha
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial translation from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read Cambodge Soir’s original article in French
The residents of “Group 78,” a place located next to the new National Assembly construction site, do not plan to remain idle. Tomorrow, they will present a relocation plan that a group of lawyers and architecture students help them set up.
Threatened with eviction since last year, residents of “Group 78,” located next to the new National Assembly construction site, have decided that they will not remain idle, while being eaten up by concerns. Representatives of the 146 families, with the help of lawyers and architecture students from the Norton University, took to task to set up by themselves a relocation plan on the same spot. They will reveal the plan tomorrow to reporters, city representatives and private companies during a press conference at the World Vision NGO office.
Pioneering spirit
“It is the first time that the residents themselves present an actual relocation plan on the same spot. This can serve as a model for other communities threatened with eviction,” said Sok Socheat, a CLEC (Community Legal Education Center) lawyer. The plan consists of building five 4-story buildings, with 36 apartments in each building. The “Group 78” residents would invest in three of the buildings, whereas the remaining two will be left to private companies which will rent or sell the apartments. The goal is to find a company willing to invest in the project costing about $2 million.
“Some residents of Sambok Chab, not far from here, who were relocated in the far suburb of Phnom Penh, came back to try to find a place to live here. They told us about the difficult living conditions they face in the suburb. We don’t want to end up like that,” Seung Deuk, a resident, said. “I earn a living selling drinks at Quai [Sisowath], I hope that we will be relocated here. If not, we must be fairly compensated.” According to an estimate by a real estate company, the cost of 1 square meter of land in this sector is about $550.
For Say Sophal, one of the representatives of the three communities of “Group 78,” the relocation on the same spot is vital. “In 2006, the city proposed us $600 per family and a plot of 5-by-12-meter land at about 20 kilometers from Phnom Penh. Will the city move us out? What will we do to survive there?” he said.
The city does not support the plan
All the families agree to put to an end the anarchic wood constructions, and to relocate in same size apartments. “It’s a way to avoid an eviction, for the municipality, it does not cost them anything, and for the investor, it’s a good deal,” Sok Chea, the CLEC lawyer, explained. According to her, the residents of “Group 78” are living there legally, most of them had settled since the 80s. Furthermore, no private companies have yet bought the land.
The city denied this fact. “These families are dreaming. The land belong to the State and to a company,” Pa Socheatvong, the city deputy governor, said. However, he refused to name this company, but that it could be the Soun Srun company, the same company which bought (and evicted) the Sambok Chab zone.
Pa Socheatvong does not support this plan because it originates from illegal residents. “The authorities do not want to inflict pain on people. The political parties want to earn votes, and these [residents] are voters. If the authorities evict them, it is not because they want to do it, but because they have to apply the law. If these residents continue [their action], the authorities will be pushed to take swift action. And, if they don’t agree with the city, the case will be resolved in court,” he warned.
Threatened with eviction since last year, residents of “Group 78,” located next to the new National Assembly construction site, have decided that they will not remain idle, while being eaten up by concerns. Representatives of the 146 families, with the help of lawyers and architecture students from the Norton University, took to task to set up by themselves a relocation plan on the same spot. They will reveal the plan tomorrow to reporters, city representatives and private companies during a press conference at the World Vision NGO office.
Pioneering spirit
“It is the first time that the residents themselves present an actual relocation plan on the same spot. This can serve as a model for other communities threatened with eviction,” said Sok Socheat, a CLEC (Community Legal Education Center) lawyer. The plan consists of building five 4-story buildings, with 36 apartments in each building. The “Group 78” residents would invest in three of the buildings, whereas the remaining two will be left to private companies which will rent or sell the apartments. The goal is to find a company willing to invest in the project costing about $2 million.
“Some residents of Sambok Chab, not far from here, who were relocated in the far suburb of Phnom Penh, came back to try to find a place to live here. They told us about the difficult living conditions they face in the suburb. We don’t want to end up like that,” Seung Deuk, a resident, said. “I earn a living selling drinks at Quai [Sisowath], I hope that we will be relocated here. If not, we must be fairly compensated.” According to an estimate by a real estate company, the cost of 1 square meter of land in this sector is about $550.
For Say Sophal, one of the representatives of the three communities of “Group 78,” the relocation on the same spot is vital. “In 2006, the city proposed us $600 per family and a plot of 5-by-12-meter land at about 20 kilometers from Phnom Penh. Will the city move us out? What will we do to survive there?” he said.
The city does not support the plan
All the families agree to put to an end the anarchic wood constructions, and to relocate in same size apartments. “It’s a way to avoid an eviction, for the municipality, it does not cost them anything, and for the investor, it’s a good deal,” Sok Chea, the CLEC lawyer, explained. According to her, the residents of “Group 78” are living there legally, most of them had settled since the 80s. Furthermore, no private companies have yet bought the land.
The city denied this fact. “These families are dreaming. The land belong to the State and to a company,” Pa Socheatvong, the city deputy governor, said. However, he refused to name this company, but that it could be the Soun Srun company, the same company which bought (and evicted) the Sambok Chab zone.
Pa Socheatvong does not support this plan because it originates from illegal residents. “The authorities do not want to inflict pain on people. The political parties want to earn votes, and these [residents] are voters. If the authorities evict them, it is not because they want to do it, but because they have to apply the law. If these residents continue [their action], the authorities will be pushed to take swift action. And, if they don’t agree with the city, the case will be resolved in court,” he warned.
2 comments:
I do not think that the PP city knows the law because he claims all the time about the law. This is the facts, when they do not know the law, they claim about the law. If cambodian court is good enough then Cambodian society is not like now. If people are anarchy, then the leaders of the people are the anarchy leaders.
Reread your writting! if it make sence?
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