Gov’t Denies Flouting Ban on Concessions

The government on Friday denied it had violated a moratorium on granting new land concessions when Prime Minister Hun Sen signed off on more than 20,000 hectares of land to three rubber companies 11 days after the ban was announced on May 7. According to documents published in the Royal Gazette, Mr. Hun Sen announced that the land be transferred on May 18 to rubber companies with investments in Ratanakiri, Siem Reap and Kompong Thom provinces. Eight thousand hectares of land were granted to SK Plantation (Cambodia) Ltd. in Ratanakiri’s Veun Sai and Kon Mom district; 7,710 hectares were granted to the Ly Ye Rubber Co. LTD in Siem Reap’s Svay Loeu district, and 5,914 hectares were granted to HMH C. in Kompong Thom’s Santuk district. … The Cabinet [of] Mr. Hun Sen would like to clarify that the three sub-decrees dated May 18, 2012 is the continued implementation and final procedure in granting an economic land concession that was approved before May 7 2012 when the temporary ban on granting economic land concessions was signed and put in place for effective implementation,” Mr. Hun Sen’s Cabinet Chief Ho Sithy wrote in a letter. …