Evictees protest outside PM house

Protesters holding a sign reading: "The 7NG and the City of Phnom Penh demolished our houses in Dey Krahorm" (Photo: Ouk Savborey, RFA)

Monday, 09 February 2009
Written by Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

EVICTEES from the Dey Krahorm community in central Phnom Penh staged a second set of protests Sunday outside Prime Minister Hun Sen's house in Takhmao, demanding compensation for the destruction of their homes.

About 40 ex-Dey Krahorm families, most of whom are now living on the street or in pagodas, lamented the January 24 eviction that saw their houses flattened by teams of hired hands from developer 7NG.

Lim Leang Se, Hun Sen's deputy Cabinet chief, said by phone Sunday that he would call a meeting Tuesday over the issue.

"We will try to help them on Tuesday [February 11] by asking the municipality and 7NG officials to meet [evictees] at the 7NG office at Dey Krahorm," he said. "Families are unsure whether they are receiving a house [as compensation]. We will help them check whether they have their name on the list," he said.

He added, however, that any demands for cash would have to wait.

Originally housing between 800 and 1,400 families, the Dey Krahorm community had shrunk as residents accepted compensation offers and relocated. A final offer of US$20,000 was made, ensuring all but an estimated 90 families had left before the eviction. The developer terminated that last offer three days before the eviction. The company then offered the hold out families a house at a relocation site 16 kilometres outside the city, but many evictees say they would prefer cash to living so far away.

Land Dispute Families to Lobby Hun Sen [-Chum Burong: "The best way for them is to stay at home..." -sic!-]

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
12 June 2008

More than 100 people arrived at Adhoc's Phnom Penh headquarters Thursday, seeking redress from Prime Minister Hun Sen in land disputes.

The families, from Koh Kong, Battambang, Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces, as well as Phnom Penh, plan to sit in front of Hun Sen's house Friday.

"I tried to get resolution from the authorities, even those I go to the National Authority of Land Dispute Resolution, the office of Sok An, and provincial authorities, but no result, and now we think about Hun Sen's help," said Khem Rann, a representative from Sna Sang Kream village, in Siem Reap province.

Khem Rann said 88 families lost 254 hectares of land allegedly taken by a former adviser to Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

The villagers at Adhoc traveled with thumb-printed documentation of land ownership, and some of them brought their own rice for the trip.

"We represent 65 families who lost 2,460 hectares to an oknha. We want to meet Samdech Hun Sen because we think he is the only one who can resolve our problem, which we've met with for two years," said An Haya, a representative from Koh Kong province.

Phnom Penh resident Lim Ly Kien, from Village 78, said he'd been in front of Hun Sen's house six times, but received only promises. He cannot live in safety in the village, he said, so he'd joined the provincial representatives.

"It shows there's been no resolution from local authorities; that's why these people came to try to meet Hun Sen, because they think Hun Sen can help them," said Chan Saveth, an investigator for Adhoc.

"If the problem of land grabbing continues, there will be a serious problem for the current government and the next government, and people will not live in security," he warned.

Adhoc estimates these families have lost about 6,000 hectares of land.

Chum Bunrong, spokesman for the National Authority for the Resolution of Land Disputes, said the arrival of these villagers did not mean the authority cannot resolve their problems, but they came because they think they will get some gift from Hun Sen, and they were incited for political means.

"The best way for them is to stay at home and try to go from step to step, district and province, for resolution," he said.