24 May 08By Vichheka
Samleng Yuveakchon KhmerTranslated from Khmer by AnonymousThe people whose houses were destroyed by a Vietnamese Oknha [tycoon] known by the Khmer name of Thong Sarath or and the Vietnamese name of Tung are living in fear as they do not know when Oknha Tung would resort to using violence against them again. The victims said that the money of this young Vietnamese tycoon Tung spoke very loud and could stop the authorities from intervening in their favor. Tung, the Vietnamese tycoon, can do whatever he likes, they said, such as bulldozing their houses in the night of 16 May. Since then, not a single member of the local authorities has visited the victims to expressed sympathy with them.
News sources reported that under the influence of the money of this Vietnamese tycoon named Tung three villagers have been jailed to these days because of the dispute over a piece of land claimed by the Vietnamese tycoon. The authorities from district to provincial levels have been afraid to protect the people as required by the law. This is because Vietnamese oknha Tung known under the Khmer name of Thong Sarath has bribed the Khmer officials at all levels. For this reason, no matter how bad the people have suffered, nothing can be done, for the authorities are under the monetary influence of this young Vietnamese tycoon named Tung.
According to some gossips floating among the people, Oknha Tung planned to sell that piece of land to the wife of Kun Kim, who is the head of Hun Sen's board of advisers. This land transaction is said to be prompted by Kun Kim's wife's desire to develop this property. Because there is a buyer, the Vietnamese tycoon has not hesitated to resort to the use of a strong-arm method in violation of the Cambodian law by forcibly evicting the people from their houses. On the contrary, if this were in Vietnam, such an act of forcible eviction would never happen so easily. But because of the money of this Vietnamese oknha the people have been repressed, and now they continue to live in fear.
The victimized people appear to be completely terrified. They are afraid even to meet and seek a way to retain that piece of land. They said that this land was given through the good offices of the government by Vietnamese Oknha Thong Sarath to the poor who were evacuated from various areas in Phnom Penh. The people who have lived on this land are in possession of proper documents showing that the land was given to them. This proves that the people have all the right to the land and are its true owners.
However, last May Vietnamese Oknha Tung, whose Khmer name is Thong Sarath and whose father is a Vietnamese known by the name of Thong Chamraeun, used a violent method to get the land by surreptitiously bulldozing the houses of the people in the middle of the night. During this incident none of the commune, district, or provincial authorities turned up to intervene and stop the act of breaking the Cambodian law committed by Oknha Tung. It is this official apathy that has frightened the people the most, for in some other places when the local people are in trouble the authorities unfailingly show up to help them. However, the authorities in S'ang district did not dare to oppose or protest against the act of breaking the Cambodian law committed by Vietnamese tycoon Tung. A villager scoffed with relatively harsh words that the Khmer big shots have all been sold out to the Vietnamese businessmen.
In the night of 16 May Vietnamese tycoon Thong Sarath ordered more than 100 houses of the residents of Svay Rolum commune, S'ang district, Kandal province to be leveled. The victims of this order did seek an intervention from Prime Minister Hun Sen, but to no avail. For this reason, the people planned to rise up in another protest against Oknha Thong Sarath. If the Prime Minister does not help us, they said, we will go to the National Assembly and if the National Assembly cannot help, then we will seek the help of the civil society.
Some 100 families flocked to the lane leading to Prime Minister Hun Sen's mansion, voicing charges against the company of Vietnamese Oknha Thong Sarath and claiming that his company bulldozed their houses in the middle of the night without giving them any prior notice and without informing the local authorities or local police. They claimed that this company used its own security forces to conduct the raid.
Observers of various non-governmental organizations are waiting to see what the government is going to do before the elections when it wants the people to give it their ballots. It is believed that the Cambodian People's Party [CPP] would either grab the situation or ask its friend, the Vietnamese tycoon, to temporarily desist. And after the elections, this Vietnamese oknha will be free to seriously act again by shooting and killing the people and grab their land for sale. Right now, the Vietnamese tycoon has not yet used a really strong-arm method because he is afraid that the CPP would blame him for causing it to lose votes.
