Decision Pending in Dispute Between Villagers, Businesswoman

Farmers in Kompong Chhnang province locked in a land dispute with a local businesswoman are waiting for the government to make a decision on who owns the property after student volunteers measured the area earlier this month as part of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s nationwide land-titling program. A team of student volunteers measured the 45 hectares of rice and cashew fields claimed by 76 fam­ilies in Rolea Ba’ier district’s Kraing Leav commune on April 2 and 3. At the request of local businesswoman Moul Engly, the volunteers then measured the same area again on April 4. … In his letter clarifying the role of the student volunteers in the land dispute, Mr. [Por] Vannith, the volunteers’ provincial coordinator, addressed a Supreme Court decision from 2010 involving a criminal case Ms. Engly had brought against eight local farmers for allegedly occupying her land illegally, and damaging her property. While the Supreme Court ruled that eight villagers were not guilty of the allegations levelled by Ms.Engly, as had the Appeal Court before it, Mr. Vannith said the decision made by the Supreme Court had not settled the question of ownership to the land. …

http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/decision-pending-in-dispute-between-villagers-businesswoman-20022/