By Sav Yuth
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
More than 100 villagers from various villages in Kon Kriel commune, Samrong district, Oddar Meanchey province, traveled on several tractors to meet government officials in Samrong district to demand for a resolution of a land dispute involving a large number of hectares of rice field that the Angkor Sugar Co. is currently clearing and grabbing, and the authority did not take the responsibility to provide compensations to the villagers.
The villagers indicated in the morning of Monday 07 April that they will not agree to give up their rice fields to this foreign company, even if the company promised to the villagers who owned the lands, that they will get a laborer job in compensation. “We ask the district authority to resolve this land dispute, they (Angkor Sugar Co.) said that if this company is set up, they want us to work for them as laborers, therefore, we refused and we are not going to sell our land to become someone else’s laborers,” One of the villagers said.
Nobody from the Angkor Sugar Co. can be contacted to provide clarification on this issue.
Chhum Phoeun, the Kon Kriel commune chief, recognized that some of the rice field lands belong to villagers from 7 villages in his commune. These villagers were victimized by the land clearing operation conducted by the Angkor Sugar Co., but he has no ability to end this land clearing because this is the duty of provincial government officials to interact with the company: “They clear the lands and seriously affected (the villagers), as a commune official, I have no right to prevent them because His Excellency the provincial governor, and the provincial authority (should be in charge on this issue)…”
Muth Vuth, the Samrong deputy district governor, said that the villagers protest involves tidbits of rice fields that are located next to the forest, and they were included in the company’s development zone map.
Nevertheless, Muth Vuth said that the Oddar Meanchey committee for land dispute resolution will visit the spot on Tuesday: “In this protest, the villagers’ lands are located next to the company’s lands. The villagers are planting their crops in tidbits, here and there, all over the forest. When the government delimited the area as being concession lands, the villagers’ lands are located next to the company’s land which is included in the planning map.”
Srey Naren, an investigator for the Adhoc human rights organization in Oddar Meanchey province, accused the authority of lacking the will to resolve this land dispute in which the villagers are facing with the loss of their lands, and that the villagers have been protesting on this issue for several days already.
Srey Naren indicated: “Some areas are wooded areas, nobody is doing anything there, but in some other areas, along the plains, the villagers are planting their crops. Some of these villagers just went to live there, but the concession lands granted to the company affect older rice field lands (belonging to the villagers). The committee (for land dispute resolution) which claimed to study this case, we don’t know what they are studying about, a portion of the rice fields belonging the villagers had been lost (to the company) already.”
Since 03 April, the Angkor Sugar Co. brought in mechanical machinery to clear several hectares of rice field lands to plant sugar cane, and it also plans to build a sugar factory as well. No authority dares stop the Angkor Sugar Co. from violating the rice fields belonging to the villagers at all.
Government officials in the Kon Kriel commune revealed that the Angkor Sugar Co. received more than 10,000-hectare of concession lands, but that 4,000-hectare of these lands involve rice fields belonging to the villagers as well as lands reserved for other use.
The villagers indicated in the morning of Monday 07 April that they will not agree to give up their rice fields to this foreign company, even if the company promised to the villagers who owned the lands, that they will get a laborer job in compensation. “We ask the district authority to resolve this land dispute, they (Angkor Sugar Co.) said that if this company is set up, they want us to work for them as laborers, therefore, we refused and we are not going to sell our land to become someone else’s laborers,” One of the villagers said.
Nobody from the Angkor Sugar Co. can be contacted to provide clarification on this issue.
Chhum Phoeun, the Kon Kriel commune chief, recognized that some of the rice field lands belong to villagers from 7 villages in his commune. These villagers were victimized by the land clearing operation conducted by the Angkor Sugar Co., but he has no ability to end this land clearing because this is the duty of provincial government officials to interact with the company: “They clear the lands and seriously affected (the villagers), as a commune official, I have no right to prevent them because His Excellency the provincial governor, and the provincial authority (should be in charge on this issue)…”
Muth Vuth, the Samrong deputy district governor, said that the villagers protest involves tidbits of rice fields that are located next to the forest, and they were included in the company’s development zone map.
Nevertheless, Muth Vuth said that the Oddar Meanchey committee for land dispute resolution will visit the spot on Tuesday: “In this protest, the villagers’ lands are located next to the company’s lands. The villagers are planting their crops in tidbits, here and there, all over the forest. When the government delimited the area as being concession lands, the villagers’ lands are located next to the company’s land which is included in the planning map.”
Srey Naren, an investigator for the Adhoc human rights organization in Oddar Meanchey province, accused the authority of lacking the will to resolve this land dispute in which the villagers are facing with the loss of their lands, and that the villagers have been protesting on this issue for several days already.
Srey Naren indicated: “Some areas are wooded areas, nobody is doing anything there, but in some other areas, along the plains, the villagers are planting their crops. Some of these villagers just went to live there, but the concession lands granted to the company affect older rice field lands (belonging to the villagers). The committee (for land dispute resolution) which claimed to study this case, we don’t know what they are studying about, a portion of the rice fields belonging the villagers had been lost (to the company) already.”
Since 03 April, the Angkor Sugar Co. brought in mechanical machinery to clear several hectares of rice field lands to plant sugar cane, and it also plans to build a sugar factory as well. No authority dares stop the Angkor Sugar Co. from violating the rice fields belonging to the villagers at all.
Government officials in the Kon Kriel commune revealed that the Angkor Sugar Co. received more than 10,000-hectare of concession lands, but that 4,000-hectare of these lands involve rice fields belonging to the villagers as well as lands reserved for other use.
7 comments:
Yuon try to buy and control the landake profit to feed thei people
People Power! Farmers' Revolution! Now all very possible, rich/powerful have to give the stolen land back to the people.
Yeah!
Paper work please.
Please start another war, and take out all the bad folks in the government who can't do their jobs.
KR part 2 this time leads by Bol Bot.....
ah juy hun xen and ah yietcong on ki-media will be put on the guillotine
by the khmer farmers soon......
Wrong, Khmer farmers are having a good time counting their money right now. They don't have time for that.
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