Villagers say Pailin Governor gave orders to clear land in 1999
A villager involved in a dispute over 684 hectares of land with Pailin provincial governor Y Chhien claimed Thursday that in 1999 Mr. Chhien and a senior military officer distributed axes and farm tools to the families now on the land. Pailin Provincial Court on Wednesday charged four villagers with infringing on public property for cultivating the land and refusing to leave when told by authorities. The villagers were among 147 families evicted from the land on orders given by Mr. Chhien early last month. … Thong Thorn, a representative of the families, said Thursday that the land under dispute was settled by the families 15 years ago with the express permission of authorities, including Mr. Chhien himself. … Vor Roum, the deputy chief of Stung Trang commune in Pailin province, corroborated Mr. Thorn’s account. He said General Bun Heang had in the name of Mr. Hun Sen distributed the tools as well as 50 kg of rice to each of the more than 700 families cultivating the land at the time. “His Excellencies Hing Bun Heang and Y Chhien really visited villagers and distributed machetes and axes to the families, and instructed them to cut the forest and clear the land for cultivation,” he said. Mr. Roum said that Mr. Chhien had in the late 1990s instructed officials to divide unused land in Pailin for former Khmer Rouge fighters. …
