Over 1,000-hectare of land in Bavet leased to the Viets: Opposition officials

Summary: Opposition officials asked govt officials to visit land along the border with Vietnam and they claimed that more than 1,000-hectares in Bavet city, Svay Rieng province, were leased to the Vietnamese for farming.

Chhouk Bandit, the Bavet city governor, denied the fact and threatened to jail SRP officials for making this claim. Chhouk Bandit admitted that arrangement was made between the Xmer and Viet govts to allow Vietnam to bring in tractors to till soil Cambodian rice fields because Cambodian farmers do not have enough machinery (sic!).

Reach Thul, a villager in Bavet, indicated that Cambodians do leased their lands to the Viets.

Svar Kim Hong said that the authority does not collude with the farmers to lease their lands. Furthermore, villagers along the border are not allowed to own their land as private property.

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