Showing posts with label Boeung Kak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boeung Kak. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Boeung Kak Protesters To Be Held After Arrest
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
May 23, 2012
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| A Cambodian protester, right, from Boeung Kak lake, cries as she clashes with police officers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, May 22, 2012. AP photo |
The women were arrested at the site as they attempted to rebuild homes that had been demolished there earlier this year to make room for a massive commercial development.
In a statement Tuesday, the rights group Adhoc said the situation at the development site had deteriorated and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens and their right to adequate housing.
Around 50 demonstrators gathered in front of Phnom Penh municipal court Wednesday morning, where they stayed all day, anticipating the arrested women would be sent there.
City officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
“They are trying to hide their faults by continuing to detain the arrested persons,” said Chan Saveth, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc. Peaceful demonstration was not a criminal offense, he said.
Friday, March 09, 2012
ក្រុមស្ត្រីនៅបឹងកក់ និងបីសហគមន៍ផ្សេងទៀត ហែក្បួនទិវា៨មីនា បញ្ឈប់ការប្រើអំពើហិង្សាលើស្ត្រី តែអាជ្ញាធរមិនឲ្យហែទៅផ្ទះនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី - Evictees marching to Hun Xen's mansion
ថ្ងៃទី 8 មីនា 2012
ដោយ: មុន្នីរ័ត្ន
CEN
ភ្នំពេញ: ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋសហគមន៍បឹងកក់ បុរីកីឡា អតីតប្រជាពលរដ្ឋបឹងកក់ និងសហគមន៍៣៤៧ ប្រមាណជិត ៣០០នាក់ នៅព្រឹកថ្ងៃទី៨ ខែមីនា ឆ្នាំ២០១២ ដែលជាទិវាសិទ្ធិនារីអន្តរជាតិខួប ១០១ឆ្នាំ បានធ្វើការប្រមូលផ្តុំគ្នានៅក្នុងបឹងកក់ រួចនាំគ្នាដើរហែក្បួនចេញមកតាមមហាវិថីមុនីវង្ស កាត់មុខសាលារាជធានីភ្នំពេញ រួចបត់ទៅតាមសាកលវិទ្យាល័យជាតិគ្រប់គ្រង កាត់មុខស្ថានទូតសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក និងមានបំណងហែតាមមហាវិថីនរោត្តម ឆ្ពោះទៅកាន់វិមានឯករាជ្យ ប៉ុន្តែត្រូវបានកម្លាំងអាជ្ញាធរ និងកម្លាំងសណ្តាប់ធ្នាប់ខណ្ឌដូនពេញ ធ្វើការរារាំងមិនឲ្យហែនោះទេ ពីព្រោះខ្លាចប្រជាពលរដ្ឋហែទៅកាន់ភូមិគ្រឹះសម្តេចនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន ក្បែរវិមានឯករាជ្យ ទើបធ្វើឲ្យមានការប៉ះទង្គិចពាក្យសម្តីគ្នារវាងប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ និងអាជ្ញាធរ ប៉ុន្តែមិនមានការប្រើអំពើហិង្សាដាក់គ្នានោះទេ។
បន្ទាប់ពីអាជ្ញាធរហាមឃាត់មិនឲ្យហែរក្បួនតាមមហាវិថីនរោត្តម ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋបានបង្វែរទិសដៅហែតាមវត្តភ្នំ រួចបត់តាមបណ្តោយផ្លូវ២៤៧ ឆ្ពោះទៅកាន់គល់ស្ពានជ្រោយចង្វារ កាត់ស្ថានទូតអង់គ្លេស រួចបត់ទៅប្រមូលផ្តុំនៅស្ថានទូតបារាំងមួយសន្ទុះ ទើបបន្តដំណើរទៅផ្លូវទំនប់ទួលគោក រួចបត់ចូលក្នុងតំបន់បឹងកក់វិញ។
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Boeung Kak couple did not receive compensation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J29nDhm1aZY&feature=player_embedded
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sustainable growth in focus [...only among Hun Xen's cronies?]
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| Prime Minister Hun Sen addresses the Cambodia Outlook conference at the Phnom Penh Hotel Today. (Photo by: Pha Lina) |
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
May Kunmakara and Tom BrennanThe Phnom Penh Post
“They do need to make sure that the benefits from growth flow through broadly ... And we’re seeing in North Africa the consequences of when that doesn’t happen, which is why issues like [Boeung Kak] lake, they have to deal with that in a different way ... What is happening at the lake at the moment does not reflect well on the country” - Stephen Higgins, chief executive officer of ANZ Royal Bank
Prime Minister Hun Sen today outlined the key challenges and opportunities that Cambodia faces in its pursuit of both economic growth and sustainable development, as a leading business figure highlighted the importance of tackling corruption.
The premier’s comments were part of the opening address to more than 300 international development partners, nongovernmental organisations, experts, economists and businessmen at the Fifth Cambodia Outlook Conference, held at the Phnom Penh Hotel.
“We now see more clearly than ever that Cambodia is well positioned to benefit from three important opportunities,” said Hun Sen, “harnessing the benefits of regional integration in our dynamic East Asian region, the management of our considerable natural resources in a sustainable way and investment in the future through agriculture, infrastructure, education and higher savings.”
He added that success in dealing with the related challenges of vocational education and training, tertiary education, human resource development and labour market responsiveness, in response to the country’s growing need for a skilled and educated workforce, “will also be fundamental to our success”.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Boeung Kak at boiling point: Hun Xen's land revolution is near [-Khmer cops only serve Hun Xen's crony Lao Meng Khin]
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| Police guard the office of Boeung Kak lake developer Shukaku Inc while protesters care for village representative Ly Mom, who fainted during a protest yesterday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan) |
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post
About 100 residents from Boeung Kak lake’s Village 7 clashed with police on Tuesday during a heated protest relating to the recent flooding of lakeside homes by local developer Shukaku Inc.
The protesters gathered at the developer’s office at the lakeside, urging Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene to halt the pumping of sand into the lake and reevaluate compensation packages for those agreeing to relocate for a controversial development.
The protest turned violent when a Shukaku worker ordered police employed by the developer to destroy a protestor’s banner, knocking two villagers to the ground. Village representative Ly Mom also fell to the ground unconscious during the protest.
Hout Motdy, a resident of Village 20, said that she was frustrated by the lack of action on the part of the authorities.
“I have been everywhere, including Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, City Hall, the Daun Penh district office and the developer’s office, but they just sent us from place to place,” she said.
“This shows the intention of the government not to address our issue.”
Hout Motdy said villagers have never heard Hun Sen address the Boeung Kak development issue in public.
“If Samdech [Hun Sen] just says one word to let us stay, we will be able to stay here,” she said.
Rights groups say more than 4,000 families are set to be displaced by the 133-hectare commercial and housing development project, which is being built by Shukaku, a firm owned by ruling party senator Lao Meng Khin.
Lim Leang Se, deputy chief of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, said yesterday that the government had a clear plan for relocating the villagers from the development zone.
He added that city authorities would coordinate with the developer to pay the villagers compensation, provided they had “formal supporting documents or any identification papers”.
“The compensation options are either an apartment in another area, cash reparations or the building of a house at the development zone,” Lim Leang Se said.
Also yesterday, City Hall issued a statement calling on people not to be incited by small groups of protesters.
“Phnom Penh Municipality appeals to people living under the Boeung Kak development project not to listen to a few small opportunists”, it said, asking villagers to contact the development firm to work out compensation payments.
It stated that about 2,000 families from the lake had already accepted government compensation packages.
Daun Penh deputy governor Sok Penh Vuth, who visited the scene of the protest yesterday, declined to comment.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Couldn't the CPP see that this a national disgrace for Cambodia?
In Cambodia, No Land Title, No Rights
OCTOBER 17, 2010
By WILL BAXTER
The Wall Street Journal
OCTOBER 17, 2010
By WILL BAXTER
The Wall Street Journal
An estimated 250,000 Cambodians have been affected by land grabbing and forced evictions since 2005. Few Cambodians possess official land titles, making it easier for private businesses to force people off their land to make way for urban development projects and large-scale agro-business plantations.
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| In central Phnom Penh, more than 4,000 families living near Boeung Kak Lake will be evicted from their homes to make way for a 329-acre housing and commercial development project. At left, residents harvested morning glory, a local vegetable, which grows in the shallows at the edges of the lake. Many families have lived there for 10 to 25 years, but few possess land titles. (All Photos: Will Baxter, The Wall Street Journal) |
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| A Cambodian boy helped rebuild his family's home in central Phnom Penh, where a March fire destroyed 178 houses and displaced 257 families. Residents and rights groups say that government officials have tried to use the fire as a pretense to relocate residents to an undeveloped site that lacks water, electricity and toilets. |
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| Shukaku Inc., which is headed by senator Lao Meng Khin, according to local media reports, was given rights in 2007 to begin work on a housing and commercial development project at the Boeung Kak Lake site. Sen. Lao and Shukaku could not be reached for comment. At left, workers contracted by Shukaku pumped sand and water into the lake into the lake in September in an effor to fill it in. |
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| Residents claim that the filling in of the lake -- combined with seasonal rains and poor drainage -- has led to unsanitary conditions including garbage- and sewage-tainted floodwaters, at left. |
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| A Boeung Kak Lake resident, who has been promised about $8,470 in compensation from Shukaku after agreeing to move away from the lake, dismantled his family's house before relocating in August. Dozens of families have taken apart their houses and left the area in recent months. |
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| A girl ran through a Boeung Kak Lake neighborhood in June. |
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| A girl rode a bicycle along the railroad tracks that skirt the southwestern edge of Boeung Kak Lake in June. |
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| Meanwhile, a couple of hours outside the capital in Kampong Speu province's Thpong district, Phnom Penh Sugar Co., which is owned by another senator, has been granted an approximately 20,616-acre land concession in Omlaing commune, which will result in the eviction of more than 2,000 families. Two Omlaing Commune representatives were recently arrested and accused of involvement in a fire at a makeshift Phnom Penh Sugar Co. structure. At left, a woman cried during a protest against the arrests outside the Kampong Speu Provincial Court. |
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| At left, villagers traveled in a convoy of 20 mini tractors to the court to protest the arrests. The accused were later released. The owner of Phnom Penh Sugar, who could not be reached for comment, has been granted a number of other large land concessions in other provinces. |
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| A woman evicted from another community, called Dey Krahorm in Phnom Penh walked past makeshift homes at a relocation site in Phnom Bat commune in Kandal Province. Residents say there are no jobs in the area and they have no way of earning a living because the relocation site is more than 25 miles from Phnom Penh. In December of last year each family was given a 13-foot by 20-foot plot of land at the site, on which they have built shelters of wood, mud, tarpualin and corrugated tin. |
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| In January 2009, police and construction workers employed by a local developer forcibly evicted hundreds of families to make way for the development project, which has not yet broken ground, on the former site of the Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh. At left, workers played soccer at the site. |
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| Boeung Kak Lake residents who face eviction played volleyball on an area of sand where the lake has been filled in. |
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| A Cambodian woman watched over her grandchildren at her family's home and business, which will be torn down to make way for Shukaku's commercial housing and development project. |
Monday, June 14, 2010
Fire victim resettlement plan axed
A resident of Tuol Kork district’s Boeung Kak 2 commune, where hundreds of homes were destroyed in a March 8 fire, stands by a stake marking her land soon after the blaze. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)Monday, 14 June 2010
Khouth Sophakchakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
TUOL Kork district officials have announced the cancellation of a plan to relocate 170 families made homeless by a March 8 fire in Boeung Kak 2 commune, saying they will instead need to rebuild on smaller plots at the site of the blaze.
At a meeting between families and district officials on Friday, Thim Sam An, Tuol Kork’s deputy district governor, said that because an additional 67 families had refused to move, the city had scrapped the relocation altogether. Distribution of replacement plots will begin “soon”, he added.
Until Friday, officials had promised to move 170 families to 5-by-12-metre plots of land in Dangkor district’s Choam Chao commune.
Meanwhile, the 67 families that refused relocation were told they could rebuild in the commune as long as they accepted smaller plots and left sufficient space for new access roads.
Thim Sam An’s announcement was not well-received by families that had already agreed to leave.
Seang Hai, a representative of the 170 families, said that the authorities should stick to the original relocation plan.
“We have been waiting for three months for the authorities to prepare the relocation site. They should still build infrastructure there and fill in the land, so it can be distributed to us,” she said. “I can’t live at the fire site on such a small plot.”
Sok Heng, another resident, said that before the blaze, her family of eight had lived in a 5-by-7-metre home.
“If the authorities cannot relocate us I must ask to rebuild a house on my old land because we cannot accept only a 3.92-metre by 5.5-metre plot,” she said.
Buth Ngim, a representative of the families that refused to move initially, called for the distribution of plots at the fire site as soon as possible.
“We cannot stay in tent shelters anymore. The roofs are wrecked. If the authorities cannot distribute land to us this month, they must let us build better temporary shelters,” he said.
Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said that the announcement was good for the victims of the fire, since they have been spared the loss of income that has faced many residents evicted to the city’s outskirts.
At a meeting between families and district officials on Friday, Thim Sam An, Tuol Kork’s deputy district governor, said that because an additional 67 families had refused to move, the city had scrapped the relocation altogether. Distribution of replacement plots will begin “soon”, he added.
Until Friday, officials had promised to move 170 families to 5-by-12-metre plots of land in Dangkor district’s Choam Chao commune.
Meanwhile, the 67 families that refused relocation were told they could rebuild in the commune as long as they accepted smaller plots and left sufficient space for new access roads.
Thim Sam An’s announcement was not well-received by families that had already agreed to leave.
Seang Hai, a representative of the 170 families, said that the authorities should stick to the original relocation plan.
“We have been waiting for three months for the authorities to prepare the relocation site. They should still build infrastructure there and fill in the land, so it can be distributed to us,” she said. “I can’t live at the fire site on such a small plot.”
Sok Heng, another resident, said that before the blaze, her family of eight had lived in a 5-by-7-metre home.
“If the authorities cannot relocate us I must ask to rebuild a house on my old land because we cannot accept only a 3.92-metre by 5.5-metre plot,” she said.
Buth Ngim, a representative of the families that refused to move initially, called for the distribution of plots at the fire site as soon as possible.
“We cannot stay in tent shelters anymore. The roofs are wrecked. If the authorities cannot distribute land to us this month, they must let us build better temporary shelters,” he said.
Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said that the announcement was good for the victims of the fire, since they have been spared the loss of income that has faced many residents evicted to the city’s outskirts.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Aftermath of the Phnom Penh fireball
By Stephen FordDemotix
Mr. Phat and Ms Leakenha, who lives in the community, say that the community have been informed by government officials that they have two choices: Stay here and rebuild or relocate to a community area out of Phnom Penh.A fireball started in a poor community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, razed 257 houses and left 407 families homeless. The fire was ignited in the night on the 9th March 2010. The one attending fire engine was no match for the blaze and the community housing was totally destroyed. Phnom Penh, 13/03/2010.
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It seems probable that few, if any, of the dwellers will be able to remain in this “prime” residential area in the long term.
Nighttime on Tuesday 9th March 2010. A firebomb ignited on the western side of a Phnom Penh slum community gutted 257 homes. A total of 407 families living in the "104 and 105 community" were rendered homeless overnight. One solitary fire engine attended and saved the end house from total destruction. Charred stakes, memorial markers to the lost homes, penetrate through the foundation layer of stagnant detritus.
Children and adults sift the debris for treasure-metal cutlery or any surviving object.
Cash was burned with the infrastructure; these people do not trust the banks with their money, choosing to secrete the notes in under floor compartments in their homes.
Today saw some families started claiming their land plots on the effluent impregnated swamp, fashioning new homes before the rainy season arrives next month. Rebuilding what remains of their lives.
Mr. Sambat Phat coordinates the food aid distribution for the community, provided by the charity "Solidarity for the Urban Poor". 5 kg of rice and 2 boxes of noodles per family. Aid, 4 distributions today but he has “no idea” if more aid will follow tomorrow. Families cling onto their food lifeline under the cover of tarpaulin gazebos, unsure of what the future holds. Queues form outside the hastily erected toilet tents in the middle of the wasteland, access on rough planks so that one does not sink into the poisoned swamp. Most inhabitants stare in disbelief at the bubbling stillness which previously formed the under house sewage system.
What next?
Mr. Phat and Ms Leakenha, who lives in the community, say that the community have been informed by government officials that they have two choices: Stay here and rebuild or relocate to a community area out of Phnom Penh. Ms Leakhena lost everything in the fire, including all her University studies. "My family has no money to rebuild our home here". "We were away from the house when the fire started and only have the clothes we were in and our mobile phones".
Note Well. 104/5 community was constructed adjacent to the disused and dilapidated rail line and stock maintenance building. New Governmental legislation demands a minimum separation between housing and rail transport infrastructure, which will probably result in most of this land deemed as unlawful for housing development.
Approximately 407 families inhabited the houses, although officially only 150 were rented; house sharing is common and a necessity in such inherently poor communities.
It seems probable that few, if any, of the dwellers will be able to remain in this “prime” residential area in the long term.
According to a number of reliable local sources, the fire was started in the “room, which a “drug user” rented from his grandmother”. During the previous month it is alleged that he only intermittently inhabited the room when bringing personal effects to store. On the evening the fireball ignited, around the location of his room, a strong westerly wind ensured the near total destruction of the remaining housing stock in this close community. Remarkably, no one was killed or injured in the fire; the only person missing is the “drug addict” who has not been seen since in Phnom Penh.
Some support for the displaced people now has arrived and a water supply has been connected by a local NGO although as Ms Leakhena says “ we have no toilet and only have water today for a wash”. “It will be impossible to find work living in these conditions”; she was recently made redundant from her waitress role in a popular tourist café as the peak season has passed.
Here is a community desperate for support. The fireball stole their homes and probably the location on which they were built. Currently they have little protection from the sun or from the imminent flooding of the site in the rainy season. There are rumors that the Prime Minister will visit the site soon, let’s hope that he brings rapid and rigorous support and aid for these people with him.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
200 Families Homeless After Phnom Penh Fire
By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh
09 March 2010
More than 200 families lost their homes to a fire Monday night in Phnom Penh, with many forced to stay on the grounds of a pagoda nearby.
The fire began at 6:30 pm Monday evening and was extinguished by 10 pm, Phnom Penh officials said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but residents say it started in one house where a grandson had been fighting with his grandmother, knocking over a kerosene lantern.
No one was killed in the blaze, which brought in 26 fire trucks and destroyed 158 houses and eight units of monk housing from Wat Neak Kavorn, in Tuol Kork district.
Some of the homeless from 217 families were staying under trees and amid the stupas of Wat Neak Kavorn, calling for emergency food, shelter and medical care.
“I lost everything. It caused about more than $300 [in damage], including my house and my assets in the house,” Phat Yeour, 35, as he carried a woven mat through the pagoda. “I need the Cambodian government to help me get my life back.”
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chutema said the muncipalitiy had not yet decided how to compensate the victims but had already provided some emergency provisions.
The fire began at 6:30 pm Monday evening and was extinguished by 10 pm, Phnom Penh officials said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but residents say it started in one house where a grandson had been fighting with his grandmother, knocking over a kerosene lantern.
No one was killed in the blaze, which brought in 26 fire trucks and destroyed 158 houses and eight units of monk housing from Wat Neak Kavorn, in Tuol Kork district.
Some of the homeless from 217 families were staying under trees and amid the stupas of Wat Neak Kavorn, calling for emergency food, shelter and medical care.
“I lost everything. It caused about more than $300 [in damage], including my house and my assets in the house,” Phat Yeour, 35, as he carried a woven mat through the pagoda. “I need the Cambodian government to help me get my life back.”
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chutema said the muncipalitiy had not yet decided how to compensate the victims but had already provided some emergency provisions.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Blaze destroyed homes and monks’ housings in Wat Neakawoan Pagoda
A fire blaze burning down a monks' housing in Wat Neakawoan Pagoda (Photo: Uy Sophea, RFA)09 March 2010
By Om Oddom
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer
Residents living near Wat Neakawoan Pagoda, located in Boeung Kak 2 commune, Tuol Kok district, Phnom Penh city, were victimized by a major blaze that destroyed their homes and belongings. The blaze also destroyed a number of housings for monks in Wat Neakawoan Pagoda as well.
RFA reporter Om Oddom who traveled to the blaze location last night (on Monday 08 March) has filed a detailed report on the incident below:
Om Oddom: A blaze took place in Boeung Kak 2 commune, Tuol Kok district, Phnom Penh city. According to residents who live in the blaze area, the fire started at about 6PM.
Based on preliminary estimates by group leaders in Boeung Kak 2 commune, more than 200 homes are currently destroyed by the fire which leaped from one house to another. The majority of homes that were burnt were wooden homes and the majority of the residents are poor people scavenging recycled materials or selling boiled corns or salted clams.
According to one of the residents living in the house where the fire started, the fire may have started from carelessness in the kitchen. However, he did not dare make any presumption. The fire also burnt down 10 monks’ housings in Wat Neakawoan Pagoda.
I did not meet with the authority because they were busy putting out the fire. Right now, residents whose houses were burnt down, some are crying, some are trying to salvage their belongings. Some can only stand and watch their houses burnt down to the ground because they were not able to take anything out. In some of the houses, all that remain were the concrete poles.
Residents and observers of the situation indicated that, based on a preliminary assessment, there was no life lost accounted for yet.
RFA reporter Om Oddom who traveled to the blaze location last night (on Monday 08 March) has filed a detailed report on the incident below:
Om Oddom: A blaze took place in Boeung Kak 2 commune, Tuol Kok district, Phnom Penh city. According to residents who live in the blaze area, the fire started at about 6PM.
Based on preliminary estimates by group leaders in Boeung Kak 2 commune, more than 200 homes are currently destroyed by the fire which leaped from one house to another. The majority of homes that were burnt were wooden homes and the majority of the residents are poor people scavenging recycled materials or selling boiled corns or salted clams.
According to one of the residents living in the house where the fire started, the fire may have started from carelessness in the kitchen. However, he did not dare make any presumption. The fire also burnt down 10 monks’ housings in Wat Neakawoan Pagoda.
I did not meet with the authority because they were busy putting out the fire. Right now, residents whose houses were burnt down, some are crying, some are trying to salvage their belongings. Some can only stand and watch their houses burnt down to the ground because they were not able to take anything out. In some of the houses, all that remain were the concrete poles.
Residents and observers of the situation indicated that, based on a preliminary assessment, there was no life lost accounted for yet.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Massive relocation diplaces Phnom Penh's poor
February 27, 2009
ABC Radio Australia
ABC Radio Australia
As the price of land has soared in Cambodia in recent years, tens of thousands of urban and rural poor have been evicted from their land and their homes.
Human rights groups and civil society say that - despite the passing of a Land Law in 2001 - the situation continues to worsen as the powerful indulge in a scramble for land at the expense of the poor.
Robert Carmichael
Speakers: "Channy", Village Six evictee; Kek Galabru, founder of human rights group Licadho; Peter Jipp, land special with the World Bank in Phnom Penh
CARMICHAEL: Phnom Penh has changed markedly over the past decade. Where there were once large slums providing homes and work for tens of thousands of people in central locations, there are now tracts of fenced off, empty land, or freshly-painted modern buildings. It's all part of what the municipality calls its 'beautification' programme - but it has come at a price, often paid by the poorest. I am standing at Village Six in the north of Phnom Penh. It's part of the latest threatened area - a low to middle-income suburb surrounding the city's Boeung Kak Lake. Last year, in a multi-million dollar land deal that local human rights groups say was crafted illegally, a powerful politician was granted the right to fill in the lake and develop the land on and around it.
The Boeung Kak lake development will see 30,000 people evicted in the coming months in what will be one of South-East Asia's largest land evictions in decades. Some families have lived in the area since the Khmer Rouge were driven out of power in 1979. One of the residents faced with eviction is Channy. She is using a false name for fear of retribution. Channy moved here in 1990 and has raised a family in her home - a respectable two-storey building, tiled and well maintained. She says the municipality and the company haven't bothered to come and discuss the development with residents. Instead, they heard about it through the media.
She is angry that the compensation offered is so meagre - around eight thousand US dollars per house, no matter what its real value. Channy says that residents aren't being greedy - they simply want a fair deal.
CHANNY: What we can accept is this: We have to get the price that our houses are worth on the open market. The government and the company have to do this exchange for a reasonable price so we can buy another house in the city, not twenty kilometres outside the city in the countryside.
CARMICHAEL: Amnesty International says at least 150,000 people are at risk of eviction in Cambodia - that's 1 per cent of the population. Dr Kek Galabru is the founder of human rights group Licadho. She says the Boeung Kak Lake case is the latest in a long line of land grabs and evictions that generally target the poor and powerless.
She says the problem is getting worse.
GALABRU: I don't think this is better - we don't see the sign. Because we see the number of the victims that come to us, come from the province. Everywhere.
CARMICHAEL: The World Bank is involved in a program to issue land title documents. The Bank's land specialist, Peter Jipp, says almost 1 million land title documents have already been distributed to people across the country. The target is to issue 1.5 million land titles before the program closes at the end of this year.
JIPP: This is really the first time since the Khmer Rouge that formal titles are being issued. And there have already been almost a million titles that have been issued to land owners in Cambodia under the program. I would have to say that this is a very significant step for Cambodians to have formal title. This is a long process and with almost a million titles having been issued there still are another 11 million parcels out there that need to be titled, so there is still a long way to go.
CARMICHAEL: But while legal title may be important, the courts that were specially-created to hear land disputes are widely seen to have failed. Licadho's Dr Kek Galabru.
GALABRU: It didn't work because most of the people who are in the conflicts - you know, the ones that want to grab the land of the poor - they have power. And in Cambodia if you have power and you have money, you always win.
CARMICHAEL: For its part the government denies accusations that it is working against its own poverty alleviation strategy. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith acknowledges there have been high-profile cases where things have gone wrong, but maintains that the situation is not as bad as is sometimes painted. That is cold comfort to Channy and her neighbours at Village Six - they stand little chance of resisting eviction in the coming months.
The only certainty is that Channy and her family will soon be forced to leave their home, which will then be demolished to make way for offices and expensive houses. At that point she will become just the latest in a long line of powerless Cambodians who have been evicted in the country's unending scramble for land.
Human rights groups and civil society say that - despite the passing of a Land Law in 2001 - the situation continues to worsen as the powerful indulge in a scramble for land at the expense of the poor.
Robert Carmichael
Speakers: "Channy", Village Six evictee; Kek Galabru, founder of human rights group Licadho; Peter Jipp, land special with the World Bank in Phnom Penh
CARMICHAEL: Phnom Penh has changed markedly over the past decade. Where there were once large slums providing homes and work for tens of thousands of people in central locations, there are now tracts of fenced off, empty land, or freshly-painted modern buildings. It's all part of what the municipality calls its 'beautification' programme - but it has come at a price, often paid by the poorest. I am standing at Village Six in the north of Phnom Penh. It's part of the latest threatened area - a low to middle-income suburb surrounding the city's Boeung Kak Lake. Last year, in a multi-million dollar land deal that local human rights groups say was crafted illegally, a powerful politician was granted the right to fill in the lake and develop the land on and around it.
The Boeung Kak lake development will see 30,000 people evicted in the coming months in what will be one of South-East Asia's largest land evictions in decades. Some families have lived in the area since the Khmer Rouge were driven out of power in 1979. One of the residents faced with eviction is Channy. She is using a false name for fear of retribution. Channy moved here in 1990 and has raised a family in her home - a respectable two-storey building, tiled and well maintained. She says the municipality and the company haven't bothered to come and discuss the development with residents. Instead, they heard about it through the media.
She is angry that the compensation offered is so meagre - around eight thousand US dollars per house, no matter what its real value. Channy says that residents aren't being greedy - they simply want a fair deal.
CHANNY: What we can accept is this: We have to get the price that our houses are worth on the open market. The government and the company have to do this exchange for a reasonable price so we can buy another house in the city, not twenty kilometres outside the city in the countryside.
CARMICHAEL: Amnesty International says at least 150,000 people are at risk of eviction in Cambodia - that's 1 per cent of the population. Dr Kek Galabru is the founder of human rights group Licadho. She says the Boeung Kak Lake case is the latest in a long line of land grabs and evictions that generally target the poor and powerless.
She says the problem is getting worse.
GALABRU: I don't think this is better - we don't see the sign. Because we see the number of the victims that come to us, come from the province. Everywhere.
CARMICHAEL: The World Bank is involved in a program to issue land title documents. The Bank's land specialist, Peter Jipp, says almost 1 million land title documents have already been distributed to people across the country. The target is to issue 1.5 million land titles before the program closes at the end of this year.
JIPP: This is really the first time since the Khmer Rouge that formal titles are being issued. And there have already been almost a million titles that have been issued to land owners in Cambodia under the program. I would have to say that this is a very significant step for Cambodians to have formal title. This is a long process and with almost a million titles having been issued there still are another 11 million parcels out there that need to be titled, so there is still a long way to go.
CARMICHAEL: But while legal title may be important, the courts that were specially-created to hear land disputes are widely seen to have failed. Licadho's Dr Kek Galabru.
GALABRU: It didn't work because most of the people who are in the conflicts - you know, the ones that want to grab the land of the poor - they have power. And in Cambodia if you have power and you have money, you always win.
CARMICHAEL: For its part the government denies accusations that it is working against its own poverty alleviation strategy. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith acknowledges there have been high-profile cases where things have gone wrong, but maintains that the situation is not as bad as is sometimes painted. That is cold comfort to Channy and her neighbours at Village Six - they stand little chance of resisting eviction in the coming months.
The only certainty is that Channy and her family will soon be forced to leave their home, which will then be demolished to make way for offices and expensive houses. At that point she will become just the latest in a long line of powerless Cambodians who have been evicted in the country's unending scramble for land.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Boeung Kak: the Court of First Instance declares lacking competence [-What else to expect from an incompetent kangaroo court controlled by the CPP?]
22-09-2008
By Nhim Sophal
Cambodge Soir Hebdo in English
Click here to read the article in French
By Nhim Sophal
Cambodge Soir Hebdo in English
Click here to read the article in French
Phnom Penh’s Court of First Instance has rejected the complaint filed by the lakeside residents’ lawyer in order to halt the filling operations.
By filing this complaint on the 9th of September, Chuong Chu Ngy, lawyer of the lakeside residents, hoped to obtain a protection mandate. Contacted by Cambodge Soir Hebdo, he specified that the Phnom Penh’s Court of First Instance decided that it couldn’t give a verdict on land dispute. According to this Court, the dispute doesn’t directly concern the contract signed between the town hall and the company and has thus to be processed by the cadastre.
Chuong Chu Ngy also indicated that he was preparing a file for the Court of Appeals.
By filing this complaint on the 9th of September, Chuong Chu Ngy, lawyer of the lakeside residents, hoped to obtain a protection mandate. Contacted by Cambodge Soir Hebdo, he specified that the Phnom Penh’s Court of First Instance decided that it couldn’t give a verdict on land dispute. According to this Court, the dispute doesn’t directly concern the contract signed between the town hall and the company and has thus to be processed by the cadastre.
Chuong Chu Ngy also indicated that he was preparing a file for the Court of Appeals.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Weigh Needs of Residents on Lake: Guest
Boeung Kak LakeBy Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Washington
04 April 2008
The government should work hard to ensure it is considering the needs of residents as it seeks to develop and improve Phnom Penh, a representative of a "housing rights" task force said Thursday.
Phnom Penh is enjoying a development boom, leading to a steady climb in property prices, but many residents say they are caught between government policies to develop and the need for fair prices for moving.
"Take Boeung Kak lake for an example," said Phann Sitha, coordinator for the Housing Rights Task Force, on "Hello VOA" Thursday. "The average income of the residents is at least $10 dollars a day. So when people heard that the area would be developed, they stood to lose that much money in income. Therefore I urge the government to make sure that after the development of the area, the residents will be able to make at least the same amount of money, if not more."
Boeung Kak residents told VOA Khmer in recent weeks they were not being paid a fair market price for their homes, which must be removed in a city development plan.
The city government has offered a regulated buy-out, but residents say this is far too low, and they fear they will be forcibly evicted following general elections in July.
Many Boeung Kak residents have lived around the lake since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, and some actually lived there under the regime, said Soeng Bunna, president and CEO of Bunna Reality Group, another guest on "Hello VOA" Thursday.
Some of them, however, just moved in, he said.
"I don’t have the specific number, but I know that some people have just moved to Boeung Kak in the last few years," he said. "Irregardless, it's up to the government, the development company and the people to talk about a specific amount of money the residents should be compensated. I understand that sometimes the area is very hard to develop and therefore the developer has to spend a lot of money."
The city has leased 133 hectares of land around the lake to Shukaku, Inc., in a 99-year-lease worth $79 million.
Phnom Penh is enjoying a development boom, leading to a steady climb in property prices, but many residents say they are caught between government policies to develop and the need for fair prices for moving.
"Take Boeung Kak lake for an example," said Phann Sitha, coordinator for the Housing Rights Task Force, on "Hello VOA" Thursday. "The average income of the residents is at least $10 dollars a day. So when people heard that the area would be developed, they stood to lose that much money in income. Therefore I urge the government to make sure that after the development of the area, the residents will be able to make at least the same amount of money, if not more."
Boeung Kak residents told VOA Khmer in recent weeks they were not being paid a fair market price for their homes, which must be removed in a city development plan.
The city government has offered a regulated buy-out, but residents say this is far too low, and they fear they will be forcibly evicted following general elections in July.
Many Boeung Kak residents have lived around the lake since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, and some actually lived there under the regime, said Soeng Bunna, president and CEO of Bunna Reality Group, another guest on "Hello VOA" Thursday.
Some of them, however, just moved in, he said.
"I don’t have the specific number, but I know that some people have just moved to Boeung Kak in the last few years," he said. "Irregardless, it's up to the government, the development company and the people to talk about a specific amount of money the residents should be compensated. I understand that sometimes the area is very hard to develop and therefore the developer has to spend a lot of money."
The city has leased 133 hectares of land around the lake to Shukaku, Inc., in a 99-year-lease worth $79 million.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Boeung Kak Lake residents can avoid post-eviction by voting out the current government
Lake Residents Fear Post-Election EvictionsBy Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 April 2008
[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the second in a two-part series examining the development of Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak lake.]
Residents living on and around Phnom Penh's largest lake are at loggerheads with the city over a proposed a development that is pressuring many to take a low government buy-out.
The residents, who mainly live in tiny wooden shanties on the banks of Boeung Kak lake, or on stilts over the water, are asking for market price for their homes, but city officials say the structures are occupying land that already belongs to the municipality.
For now, all is calm, but residents told VOA Khmer recently they worry they will be forcibly evicted after July's general elections.
"We will stand up in a struggle if the authorities use violent eviction against us," said Be Pharum, a 55-year-old resident, as she scrubbed clothes in front of her small, wooden home over the lake. "I think that before the national election, the authorities will not evict us. But after the election, the power will be concentrated in the hands of the current government."
After that, she said, "I believe an eviction will really happen."
"I know this because right now the government wants the vote from the people here," she continued. "So the authorities will do nothing wrong to the people, like in other places. All this history makes us very concerned."
About 8.12 million voters are expected to turn out nationwide in Cambodia's fourth general elections, slated for July 27.
Thearn Phos, 36, whose house juts over the river behind an Islamic mosque, said he was praying to god for help preventing a post-election eviction.
"I fret the authorities will evict and dismantle my house when the election is completed," he said. "I ask the government not to dismantle my house."
Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong and Lao Meng Khin, director of the Shukaku, Inc., which has leased the lake area in a $79 million deal, say they have no intention to evict the villagers.
But residents are worried by an established government track record of forced evictions, especially in the cities of Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Poipet and the provinces of Mondolkiri and Ratanakkiri.
Protesters in the past have been shot dead or wounded in clashes with security forces. Some have been arrested. Some have fled their homes for fear of arrest.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers and rights workers have accused the government of delaying compensation to villagers on threatened land, such as Boeung Kak, until after the election, because, they say, it allows the ruling Cambodian People's Party to apply pressure to voters.
Pa Socheatvong denied accusations as "baseless," saying the delay in compensation is not political but technical.
"I believe that the people [really living in the area] don't have to worry, because they will get the government-regulated [land price]," he said. "The municipality does not cheat people. The ruling party cannot commit political suicide on this problem, because we need the votes from the people."
Developer Lao Meng Khin, who is also a CPP senator, told VOA Khmer that the villagers should not worry about compensation.
"We are making a fair business, and we have to pay compensation to the villagers," Lao Meng Khin said. "We won't get their property without paying."
The development of the lake area will likely start in late 2008, after the election, Pa Socheatvong said.
Residents living on and around Phnom Penh's largest lake are at loggerheads with the city over a proposed a development that is pressuring many to take a low government buy-out.
The residents, who mainly live in tiny wooden shanties on the banks of Boeung Kak lake, or on stilts over the water, are asking for market price for their homes, but city officials say the structures are occupying land that already belongs to the municipality.
For now, all is calm, but residents told VOA Khmer recently they worry they will be forcibly evicted after July's general elections.
"We will stand up in a struggle if the authorities use violent eviction against us," said Be Pharum, a 55-year-old resident, as she scrubbed clothes in front of her small, wooden home over the lake. "I think that before the national election, the authorities will not evict us. But after the election, the power will be concentrated in the hands of the current government."
After that, she said, "I believe an eviction will really happen."
"I know this because right now the government wants the vote from the people here," she continued. "So the authorities will do nothing wrong to the people, like in other places. All this history makes us very concerned."
About 8.12 million voters are expected to turn out nationwide in Cambodia's fourth general elections, slated for July 27.
Thearn Phos, 36, whose house juts over the river behind an Islamic mosque, said he was praying to god for help preventing a post-election eviction.
"I fret the authorities will evict and dismantle my house when the election is completed," he said. "I ask the government not to dismantle my house."
Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong and Lao Meng Khin, director of the Shukaku, Inc., which has leased the lake area in a $79 million deal, say they have no intention to evict the villagers.
But residents are worried by an established government track record of forced evictions, especially in the cities of Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Poipet and the provinces of Mondolkiri and Ratanakkiri.
Protesters in the past have been shot dead or wounded in clashes with security forces. Some have been arrested. Some have fled their homes for fear of arrest.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers and rights workers have accused the government of delaying compensation to villagers on threatened land, such as Boeung Kak, until after the election, because, they say, it allows the ruling Cambodian People's Party to apply pressure to voters.
Pa Socheatvong denied accusations as "baseless," saying the delay in compensation is not political but technical.
"I believe that the people [really living in the area] don't have to worry, because they will get the government-regulated [land price]," he said. "The municipality does not cheat people. The ruling party cannot commit political suicide on this problem, because we need the votes from the people."
Developer Lao Meng Khin, who is also a CPP senator, told VOA Khmer that the villagers should not worry about compensation.
"We are making a fair business, and we have to pay compensation to the villagers," Lao Meng Khin said. "We won't get their property without paying."
The development of the lake area will likely start in late 2008, after the election, Pa Socheatvong said.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sam Rainsy's Visit to Boeng Kak Lake
February 18, 2007
Boeng Kak Lake, Phnom Penh - Sam Rainsy visits people living around Boeng Kak lake in Phnom Penh who are facing eviction from their homes because of land grabbing. The Government plans to fill in most of Boeng Kak lake for a controversial city development project.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Boeung Kak lake latest city sell-off [-Developer Shukaku Inc. is headed by Lao Meng Khin, the husband of Choeng Sopheap of Pheapimex]
By Allister Hayman and Sam Rith
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 03, February 9 - 22, 2007
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 03, February 9 - 22, 2007
Thousands of Phnom Penh's residents who live around Boeung Kak Lake may have to pack up and move after the Municipality's signing of a lease for an 133 hectare area.
Signed by Governor Kep Chuktema, the deal includes at least ten of the 24 villages that surround Boeung Kak - including the bar-lined strip known as "The Lake" - and will lead to the displacement of more than 3,900 families and hundreds of businesses.
The 99-year renewable lease was signed February 6 and was reportedly worth $79 million, with little known developer Shukaku Inc paying $0.60 per square meter for the leasehold.
Municipal officials said the developer plans to build a commercial and residential area, which will include shops, hotels, apartments, a university and a "green zone."
Though the plan does not specifically refer to the fate of the lake, with Boeung Kak consuming 90 hectares of the 133-hectare leasehold, economic logic and precedent suggest it will be filled. Last year, a 119-hectare land fill on the eastern shore of Pong Peay lake in the Tuol Kok district was completed as part of the "New Town Project."
Confusion now clouds the fate of the International Dubai Mosque, which lies within the leasehold.
Mosque Imam San Morhamin, 75, said he is uncertain about the future of the mosque, but said Chuktema told him that the mosque's land would not be included in the leasehold.
"We were given this land by Sihanouk in 1969," he said. "I believe it is a state asset."
Shukaku Inc is headed by Lao Meng Khin, also a director of controversial logging giant Pheapimex, which is accused of land grabbing and deforestation in Pursat province.
According to Global Witness, Pheapimex is a major donor to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party and both Khin and his wife Choeng Soheap - the owner of Pheapimex - enjoy close relations with Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Chuktema said on signing the agreement that the project was in line with the muncipality's plan for the beautification and development of Phnom Penh. Chuktema said municipal authorities would begin work immediately to notify residents and owners in the area to discuss their future.
Nuon Sokchea, a lawyer at the community legal center's public interest legal advocacy project, said she has serious concerns about the deal after a lack of consultation with the community and a lack of disclosure on the part of the developer.
"According to the law the government cannot give the lake to a private company to develop as it is public property," she said. "We are really concerned how the development will affect the people and hope it will not override their land rights."
Residents and business owners along the lakeside who spoke to the Post on February 8 were either unaware of the concession or had only read about it in a local newspaper. Many of them have lived in the area for more than a decade and claimed legal ownership of their land. None had received notification from the municipal authorities and many were worried.
Tauch Sarim, 64, the owner of the popular Lakeside Guesthouse, was shocked when he heard the news.
"It seems like I will be losing everything," he said. "When I heard this, the hair stood on the back of my neck."
Sarim said he has owned his business since 1998, and the prospect of a lakeside guesthouse without a lakeside was devastating.
"Before I heard they would take only a part of the lake, so I think that's okay. Our government has a plan to develop the area. But now it's not good. It means they take the whole area."
Sarim said he had received no information about compensation, only that the municipal authorities would "come and talk to us about moving."
Daun Penh district Deputy Governor Ek Khun Doen told local media on February 8 that the residents of the district were living on the land illegally and the area "belongs to the state."
But when contacted by the Post, Doen retracted his claim. "I don't know for sure whether the people in that area own their land or not," he said.
According to Sangkat Srah Chak Commune Chief, Chhay Thirith, all the villagers affected have legal title to their land. "Those villagers in the ten villages affected are living legally, as accepted by the Ministry of Interior," he said.
Cambodia's 2001 Land Law prohibits deprivation of ownership without due process and grants the right to apply for a land title to someone who has been in possession of a private property for five years. Article 44 of the Constitution states that the government can only deprive someone of property for "public interest" purposes and requires the payment of fair and just compensation.
Thirith said he did not know what would happen to the residents, as he had not been informed of the municipality's plans. He said he hoped the development would be in accordance with Hun Sen's stated policy of removing residents to housing within the district, rather than relocation to the city's outskirts.
When contacted by the Post, Chuktemna refused to comment further on the plans. But Soun Rindy, spokesperson for Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong, said the municipality was determining a plan for the residents, with those who are part of their community group treated differently to those who are not. "The municipality is organizing a policy to deal with the people who are living in the community," he said.
Last July, in a public relations exercise, municipal officials took residents of Boeung Kak's Village 22 to tour a housing complex constructed by Phanimex in the Borei Keila district.
Deputy Municipal Governor Mann Chhoeun said at the time he considered this kind of "in the place" development a possible solution for the Boeung Kak evictees. But Chea Sivorn, 47, a resident of Village 22, said she visited the complex and was not impressed.
"The building was too high and the apartments were only four by six meters. It is too narrow," she said.
Sivorn and other residents of Village 22 said they wanted the developer or the municipal authority to buy the land off them at a fair price so they could buy another property of their choosing.
"We won't just agree to be moved to some place like Borei Keila," Sivorn said.
Other residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they feared they would be forcibly removed to the outskirts of the city, like the evictees from Tonle Bassac, where there is a lack of amenities and the price of services is high.
Despite talk of "in the place" development, they said the muncipality's track record of forced land evictions gave them little cause for confidence.
"I don't know how I can live in the outskirts and support my family," a long-term resident of Village 6 said. "We will have income loss and spending increase. I fear I will lose everything."
Signed by Governor Kep Chuktema, the deal includes at least ten of the 24 villages that surround Boeung Kak - including the bar-lined strip known as "The Lake" - and will lead to the displacement of more than 3,900 families and hundreds of businesses.
The 99-year renewable lease was signed February 6 and was reportedly worth $79 million, with little known developer Shukaku Inc paying $0.60 per square meter for the leasehold.
Municipal officials said the developer plans to build a commercial and residential area, which will include shops, hotels, apartments, a university and a "green zone."
Though the plan does not specifically refer to the fate of the lake, with Boeung Kak consuming 90 hectares of the 133-hectare leasehold, economic logic and precedent suggest it will be filled. Last year, a 119-hectare land fill on the eastern shore of Pong Peay lake in the Tuol Kok district was completed as part of the "New Town Project."
Confusion now clouds the fate of the International Dubai Mosque, which lies within the leasehold.
Mosque Imam San Morhamin, 75, said he is uncertain about the future of the mosque, but said Chuktema told him that the mosque's land would not be included in the leasehold.
"We were given this land by Sihanouk in 1969," he said. "I believe it is a state asset."
Shukaku Inc is headed by Lao Meng Khin, also a director of controversial logging giant Pheapimex, which is accused of land grabbing and deforestation in Pursat province.
According to Global Witness, Pheapimex is a major donor to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party and both Khin and his wife Choeng Soheap - the owner of Pheapimex - enjoy close relations with Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Chuktema said on signing the agreement that the project was in line with the muncipality's plan for the beautification and development of Phnom Penh. Chuktema said municipal authorities would begin work immediately to notify residents and owners in the area to discuss their future.
Nuon Sokchea, a lawyer at the community legal center's public interest legal advocacy project, said she has serious concerns about the deal after a lack of consultation with the community and a lack of disclosure on the part of the developer.
"According to the law the government cannot give the lake to a private company to develop as it is public property," she said. "We are really concerned how the development will affect the people and hope it will not override their land rights."
Residents and business owners along the lakeside who spoke to the Post on February 8 were either unaware of the concession or had only read about it in a local newspaper. Many of them have lived in the area for more than a decade and claimed legal ownership of their land. None had received notification from the municipal authorities and many were worried.
Tauch Sarim, 64, the owner of the popular Lakeside Guesthouse, was shocked when he heard the news.
"It seems like I will be losing everything," he said. "When I heard this, the hair stood on the back of my neck."
Sarim said he has owned his business since 1998, and the prospect of a lakeside guesthouse without a lakeside was devastating.
"Before I heard they would take only a part of the lake, so I think that's okay. Our government has a plan to develop the area. But now it's not good. It means they take the whole area."
Sarim said he had received no information about compensation, only that the municipal authorities would "come and talk to us about moving."
Daun Penh district Deputy Governor Ek Khun Doen told local media on February 8 that the residents of the district were living on the land illegally and the area "belongs to the state."
But when contacted by the Post, Doen retracted his claim. "I don't know for sure whether the people in that area own their land or not," he said.
According to Sangkat Srah Chak Commune Chief, Chhay Thirith, all the villagers affected have legal title to their land. "Those villagers in the ten villages affected are living legally, as accepted by the Ministry of Interior," he said.
Cambodia's 2001 Land Law prohibits deprivation of ownership without due process and grants the right to apply for a land title to someone who has been in possession of a private property for five years. Article 44 of the Constitution states that the government can only deprive someone of property for "public interest" purposes and requires the payment of fair and just compensation.
Thirith said he did not know what would happen to the residents, as he had not been informed of the municipality's plans. He said he hoped the development would be in accordance with Hun Sen's stated policy of removing residents to housing within the district, rather than relocation to the city's outskirts.
When contacted by the Post, Chuktemna refused to comment further on the plans. But Soun Rindy, spokesperson for Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong, said the municipality was determining a plan for the residents, with those who are part of their community group treated differently to those who are not. "The municipality is organizing a policy to deal with the people who are living in the community," he said.
Last July, in a public relations exercise, municipal officials took residents of Boeung Kak's Village 22 to tour a housing complex constructed by Phanimex in the Borei Keila district.
Deputy Municipal Governor Mann Chhoeun said at the time he considered this kind of "in the place" development a possible solution for the Boeung Kak evictees. But Chea Sivorn, 47, a resident of Village 22, said she visited the complex and was not impressed.
"The building was too high and the apartments were only four by six meters. It is too narrow," she said.
Sivorn and other residents of Village 22 said they wanted the developer or the municipal authority to buy the land off them at a fair price so they could buy another property of their choosing.
"We won't just agree to be moved to some place like Borei Keila," Sivorn said.
Other residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they feared they would be forcibly removed to the outskirts of the city, like the evictees from Tonle Bassac, where there is a lack of amenities and the price of services is high.
Despite talk of "in the place" development, they said the muncipality's track record of forced land evictions gave them little cause for confidence.
"I don't know how I can live in the outskirts and support my family," a long-term resident of Village 6 said. "We will have income loss and spending increase. I fear I will lose everything."
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Another shady 99-year land lease for Boeung Kak Lake, residents are shocked by the news
Kep Chuktema, Phnom Penh governor, is seen signing the deal for the shady 99-year lease of Boeung Kak Lake, home to 4,000 families. Current residents of Boeung Kak Lake only recently learn about the deal made by the municipality on their properties. Some residents claim to have live in the neighborhood for as long as 30-year. (Photo: Narith, Koh Santepheap newspaper)Thursday, February 8, 2007
Firm Lands 99-Year Lease on Boeng Kak Lake
By Prak Chan Thul and James Welsh
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Phnom Penh Municipality awarded a 99-year lease to a little-known private firm Tuesday to develop 133 hectares around and including the Boeng Kak backpacker area, officials said Wednesday.
Pa Socheatvong, Phnom Penh deputy governor, said the agreement with Shukaku Inc will benefit the city, though he declined to reveal how much the firm is paying or what it plans to do with the land and the Boeng Kak lake.
Money from the deal will be used to provide alternative housing for people currently living in the area in Daun Penh district's Srah Chak commune, he said.
"Our state will benefit from the rent, which will be used to build infrastructure and especially to provide housing for the residents who live there," he said.
Pa Socheatvong would not say what kind of alternative housing would be provided for those affected by the land deal, but added: "We will organize the housing in an orderly and right way."
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema, who Pa Socheatvong said signed the agreement, said he was too busy to speak to a reporter.
Lao Meng Khin, director of Shukaku Inc, did not answer repeated phone calls, and an address for the firm's office could not be located.
Khmer-language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea reported Wednesday that Shukaku Inc paid $79 million for the lease, and plans to build a luxury resort as well as commerce and cultural centers on Boeng Kak.
Ek Khun Doeun, Daun Penh district deputy governor, said there are approximately 4,000 families living and working in the affected area who do not own their land.
"Boeng Kak land belongs to the state," he said. They came to grab land there between 1993 and 1994," he claimed.
Srah Chak commune chief Chhay Thirith said he did not know what would become of the people currently living and working at the lake.
Residents and business owners around the lake said they were shocked by the news of the lease, and had only heard about it in local papers.
Den Phou, a 24-year-old staffer at a money exchange shop at the lakeside, said he was concerned residents will be violently evicted if they refuse to relocate.
"We don’t have any plans yet. We just wait," he said.
One 46-year-old man living along the lakeside said on condition of anonymity that the municipality should inform those living at the lake of its plans.
"We are afraid of being evicted and we want sufficient money to be able to buy other land in the capital," he said.
"I have been living here for almost 30 years already. According to the Land Law, I’ve owned the land for five years now," he added.
Pa Socheatvong, Phnom Penh deputy governor, said the agreement with Shukaku Inc will benefit the city, though he declined to reveal how much the firm is paying or what it plans to do with the land and the Boeng Kak lake.
Money from the deal will be used to provide alternative housing for people currently living in the area in Daun Penh district's Srah Chak commune, he said.
"Our state will benefit from the rent, which will be used to build infrastructure and especially to provide housing for the residents who live there," he said.
Pa Socheatvong would not say what kind of alternative housing would be provided for those affected by the land deal, but added: "We will organize the housing in an orderly and right way."
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema, who Pa Socheatvong said signed the agreement, said he was too busy to speak to a reporter.
Lao Meng Khin, director of Shukaku Inc, did not answer repeated phone calls, and an address for the firm's office could not be located.
Khmer-language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea reported Wednesday that Shukaku Inc paid $79 million for the lease, and plans to build a luxury resort as well as commerce and cultural centers on Boeng Kak.
Ek Khun Doeun, Daun Penh district deputy governor, said there are approximately 4,000 families living and working in the affected area who do not own their land.
"Boeng Kak land belongs to the state," he said. They came to grab land there between 1993 and 1994," he claimed.
Srah Chak commune chief Chhay Thirith said he did not know what would become of the people currently living and working at the lake.
Residents and business owners around the lake said they were shocked by the news of the lease, and had only heard about it in local papers.
Den Phou, a 24-year-old staffer at a money exchange shop at the lakeside, said he was concerned residents will be violently evicted if they refuse to relocate.
"We don’t have any plans yet. We just wait," he said.
One 46-year-old man living along the lakeside said on condition of anonymity that the municipality should inform those living at the lake of its plans.
"We are afraid of being evicted and we want sufficient money to be able to buy other land in the capital," he said.
"I have been living here for almost 30 years already. According to the Land Law, I’ve owned the land for five years now," he added.
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