Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Villagers fear eviction after homes marked

A woman walks past homes that have been spray-painted in Trapaing Chhouk village, in Teuk Thla commune, in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district yesterday. (Photo by: Meng Kimlong)

Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Kim Yuthana
The Phnom Penh Post

More than 50 representatives of a community in Sen Sok district’s Teuk Thla commune gathered yesterday at the commune office to inquire about why local officials had spray-painted red markings on their homes, fearing they may be set for demolition.

The villagers claimed to be representing roughly 400 families in Teuk Thla’s Trapaing Chhouk village whose homes were marked and numbered by police and local officials this week. Community representative Chheang Rith, 39, said these officials did not give residents any indication of why their homes were being marked, prompting widespread fears of an impending eviction.

“We aren’t holding a strike or a demonstration,” he said. “We just want the authorities to clarify why they sprayed red numbers on the walls of our homes.”


Trapaing Chhouk resident Leav Srey Touch, 39, told commune chief Tan Navin that she had been paralysed with anxiety since the number was sprayed on her home.

“I am so worried that I cannot sleep or eat because of this,” she said. “I don’t know what [local officials] want to do.”

Trapaing Chhouk was gutted by fire in 2008, and current residents of the area have therefore been forced to rebuild their homes on the site of the previous community.

Tan Navin told the assembled residents that he did not know about the policy behind the spraying of the homes, but that the rationale would be revealed next week. Later in the day yesterday, however, he told The Post that the government planned to renovate the area to decrease the risk of fire.

“The measurements are to develop a road and drainage system for the area to avoid the risk of a fire like in 2008,” he said, adding that the surveying of the homes would help local officials preserve “order” in the community.

“This area has a lot of rented homes that cause disorder and are involved in drug use and trafficking,” he said.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director for the local NGO Housing Rights Task Force, called yesterday for local officials to be transparent about their plans for the area and the homes of the affected villagers.

“The authorities should call the villagers to attend a meeting and tell them clearly why the surveying was done so that they aren’t frightened,” he said.

6 comments:

Pi Anh II said...

From Tik L'ak to Tik Thla there's
no help from the government but hurt and harm even worse! For the sole purpose of getting rid of poverty, why doesn't his Yuon-slave govern-ment help those poor people by building new subsidized houses and rent cheap to them?

Anonymous said...

11:59 PM

Why should they?
The current government is not working for the benefit of the Khmer, but they are working for the benefit of the Viet, their bosses.

Anonymous said...

The government came up with all kind of excuses.One by one,they used force and evicted/took innocent people land.Why don't people gather up and protest against this. STAND UP WITH ALL YOUR MIGHTY,TOGETHER ALL, OF COURSE, PROTEST AND KEEP FILM AND CAMERA READY.KEEP MEDIA POSTED AND SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD WHAT GOING ON. THEY CAN NOT BREAK THE WILLING OF ALL THE PEOPLE. BUT ONE BY ONE OR PLACE BY PLACE,NOT UNITED.YOU WILL LOST!!!SO UNITED!!!! COME ALL!!!!JUST LIKE MDDILE EAST!!!!!END THE SUFFERING!!!

Anonymous said...

If you want to protect your home, you need to learn from our beloved brothers and sisters in Kampong Speu. United you can protect your home. United you can stop those doge from bitting your. Grab the stick and hit those dogs head and that the only thing that DOG will understand.

Dear beloved Khmer, do not wait until your turn be evicted, we need to prevent it from happen by joining hand with our brothers and sisters in Teul Thla beating these DOG before they evicted you from your own home.


Unification is the only weapon to protect your home.

God Buddha will be with you.

Anonymous said...

Koh Tral Island must not be forgotten

By Ms. Rattana Keo

Why do Koh Tral Island, known in Vietnam as Phu Quoc, a sea and land area covering proximately over 30,000 km2 [Note: the actual land size of Koh Tral itself is 574 square kilometres (222 sq miles)] have been lost to Vietnam by whose treaty? Why don’t Cambodia government be transparent and explain to Cambodia army at front line and the whole nation about this? Why don't they include this into education system? Why?

Cambodian armies are fighting at front line for 4.6 km2 on the Thai border and what's about over 30,000km2 of Cambodia to Vietnam. Nobody dare to talk about it! Why? Cambodian armies you are decide the fate of your nation, Cambodian army as well as Cambodian people must rethink about this again and again. Is it fair?

Koh Tral Island, the sea and land area of over 30,000 square kilometres have been lost to Vietnam by the 1979 to 1985 treaties. The Cambodian army at front line as well as all Cambodian people must rethink again about these issues. Are Cambodian army fighting to protect the Cambodia Nation or protecting a very small group that own big lands, big properties or only protecting a small group but disguising as protecting the Khmer nation?

The Cambodian army at front lines suffer under rain, wind, bullets, bombs, lack of foods, lack of nutrition and their families have no health care assistance, no securities after they died but a very small group eat well, sleep well, sleep in first class hotel with air conditioning system with message from young girls, have first class medical care from oversea medical treatments, they are billionaires, millionaires who sell out the country to be rich and make the Cambodian people suffer everyday.

Who signed the treaty 1979-1985 that resulted in the loss over 30,000 km2 of Cambodia??? Why they are not being transparent and brave enough to inform all Cambodians and Cambodian army at front line about these issues? Why don't they include Koh Tral (Koh Tral size is bigger than the whole Phom Phen and bigger than Singapore [Note: Singapore's present land size is 704 km2 (271.8 sq mi)]) with heap of great natural resources, in the Cambodian education system?

Look at Hun Sen's families, relatives and friends- they are billionaires, millionaires. Where did they get the money from when we all just got out of war with empty hands [in 1979]? Hun Sen always say in his speeches that Cambodia had just risen up from the ashes of war, just got up from Year Zero with empty hands and how come they are billionaires, millionaires but 90% of innocent Cambodian people are so poor and struggling with their livelihood every day?

Smart Khmer girl, President Ms. Rattana Keo,

Anonymous said...

Khmer people could hear you what
you wrote or what you said.
They have no leaders to help to
get out to protest like in K.Speu.

Even Khmer abroad should help them
to protest on any cities in the
world,but they couldn't.

A tree grows and dies out because
there is no one taking care of it.