Land dispute in Phnom Penh

28 April 2009
By Nhim Sophal
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the article in French

A group of about 50 people coming from the Reak Reay community were received by the boss of the Canadia Bank on Tuesday morning. The group was protesting in front of the bank headquarters. However, the meeting did not reach any agreement because Pung Kiev Se, director of the Canadia Bank, said that he couldn’t make any decision without prior approval of the administration council.
The construction site involved – known under the name of “Bassac Gardens” – is a real estate development project on a plot of land occupied by 222 families from the Reak reay community.

Currently, 54 families are still protesting. They demand for $30,000 in compensation before leaving the location, whereas the Canadia Bank was only willing to offer $20,000.

“We suggested to the [Bank] management to remove the fence built around the plot without authorization, and to continue to negotiate directly with the residents without resorting to the local authorities,” said Bunthat, one of the residents received by Pung Kiev Se.

The Canadia Bank management promised to think about the problem caused by the fence which disturbs the daily life of the residents. Am Sam Ath, an investigator for the Licadho human rights group, believes that the Reak Reay case is not that different from other land dispute cases, and he said that the residents will have a hard time protecting their land.

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