Villagers protest after sand dumped on land
About 30 villagers in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district staged a protest Tuesday morning against tycoon Sok Kong, whom they accuse of piping dredged sand into their farmland and fishing ponds. Fourteen families occupying 21 hectares of land in Prek Pra commune have been locked in a land dispute for years with Sok Kong Import Export Co., which they say illegally obtained the title to land they have occupied for more than a decade. At the protest, villagers burned car tires and shouted accusations at the company, which has announced plans to embark upon a large-scale development project complete with flats, villas and markets. “We protest against the Sok Kong company, which secretly dumped dredged sand on our land because they want to occupy our land,” said Lorn Pisey, 33. According to Ms. Pisey, she and the other 13 families bought about 21 hectares of land in the area from a landlord who had lived there since 1983. But in 2010, the government granted a title to the Sok Kong company that overlapped with their land. … Complaints have been filed with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Land Management, but no resolution has been reached. …
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-protest-after-sand-dumped-on-land-57736/
