My Land, My Village: Omlaing community - Poem by Ven. Loun Sovath

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Koh Kong villagers are protesting about land disputes

Koh Kong villagers have gathered on National Road 48 to protest land dispute (Photo: Ouk Savborey, RFA)

21 October 2007
By Ouv Savborey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

"We call on Hun Sen, Bunrany Hun Sen to come and help me, if not my people will all die” - a call made by Lean Moeung, a villager from Koh Kong province, protesting against land-grabbing by Ly Yong Phat, one of Hun Sen's cronies

Several hundreds of villagers from Koh Kong province have peacefully protested for more than a month, in front of the house of the Chi Khor Leu commune chief, regarding the unresolved dispute over several hundreds of hectares of lands, and today, the protesters plan to shut down National Road 48 (NR48), and preventing the traffic to Koh Kong province.

Phav Nhoeun, a woman among the hundreds of protesters, indicated that the disputed lands are located on both sides of NR48. Along the north side of the road, Oknha Li Yong Phat grabbed several thousands of hectares of lands, and on the south side of the road, several hundreds of hectares of lands are being grabbed by a number of Oknhas who are clearing the lands by demolishing homes and chasing the villagers out of their lands.

Phav Nhoeung said that because there is no resolution from the government, several hundreds of victimized villagers are suffering from lack of housing and lack of land for planting crops. Phav Nhoeung said that 2-3 months earlier, domestic animals which ventured inside the disputed lands, were killed by the sugarcane plantation guards, and in some other cases, villagers are forced to pay ransom to get their animals back from the guards.

Phav Nhoeung added that the protest had lasted all this time, and even though MPs came to visit the area, there is still no resolution. Therefore, villagers from several villages in Chi Khor Leu and Chi Khor Krom communes want to shut down NR48 to stop all traffic to Koh Kong province.

Phav Nhoeung said: “If today, there is no resolution, we plan to cooperate with each other to shut down NR48 in order to get a resolution.”

Kob Tiyum, a Khmer-Islam woman from Chhuk village, indicated that 6 hectares of her sandalwood, mango and pepper plantation were completely cleared. Not only that, she is also accused of murder attempt against a sugarcane plantation guard, and she was forced to pay a compensation because she burnt down dead grass which caused an underground explosion of an unexploded ordnance (UXO) left there (since the war era).

Kob Tiym said: “I work on the land for several years with my husband, after working on the land, one bomb exploded. They (sugarcane guards) took me to the company, they pressured me to give them my lands in order for them to release me back. They took 300,000 riels (~$750) (in ransom) just for that explosion.”

Lean Moeung, an old villager, claimed that (Ly Yong Phat’s) sugarcane company did not allow children of the protesters to work in the sugarcane plantation. “I don’t know what to do to earn a daily living nowadays because the kids could no longer go to school, they are too busy chasing after the cattle. We call on Hun Sen, Bunrany Hun Sen to come and help me, if not my people will all die,” Lean Moeung said.

An Haiya, a representative of the protesting villagers from the two communes, claimed that, in the past, lands claimed by the Ly Yong Phay sugarcane plantation have encroached on 5,000-hectare of lands inside Chi Khor Leu commune. After several protests from the villagers, Ly Yong Phat’s company bought about half of the lands from villagers, but another 3,000-hectare of lands located in Chhuk and Trapaing Kandal villages, Chi Khor Leu commune, have not been bought yet.

An Haiya said that the majority of lands claimed by Oknha Ly Yong Phat in Chi Khor Krom commune has not been resolved yet either. He indicated that on 22 October, an official from the Ministry of Interior will invite representatives of the protesters for a discussion. “On the 22 (October), H.E. Nuth Sa An invited 5 of us to go provide clarifications at the Ministry of Interior at 9:00 AM,” An haiya said.

Chhay Vuth, the Chi Khor Leu commune chief said that villagers installed banners protesting the land dispute in front of his house for more than one month already, and they will pursue this action until they obtain a resolution. However, he said that there is no violence occurring. He indicated the local authority can only send the demands made by the villagers to the higher authority to resolve, and that the resolution of this dispute is the duty of the government.

The protesters said that they will wait until the return of their 5 representatives from the meeting at the Ministry of Interior on 22 October, if there is no result, they will actually shut down NR48.