Ethnic Jarai villagers defend claim at court
Jarai ethnic minority villagers appeared at Ratanakkiri provincial court yesterday, demanding compensation from a Vietnamese company they say illegally cleared 30 hectares of community land in November last year. … Chea Chanrith was granted a licence from the Ministry of Agriculture last year to clear land in Bakeo and O’Yadav districts to plant rubber trees. … In response to the allegations, Chan Mab, a translator from Chea Chanrith, said the company had cleared the land in accordance with a map acknowledged by the forestry administration and other authorities. “We cleared with our map. Sometimes villagers think the forest is their own, but actually it is granted to a company,” he said, adding that compensation will depend on negotiations between the community and the company supervised by authorities. Chea Chanrith was granted 659 hectares of land to plant rubber trees and some 600 hectares have already been cleared and planted. The Jarai community forest had been recognised since 2010 by provincial authorities, which had maps clearly delineating their claim of 481 hectares. …
