Land Rights Still Unclear in Pheapimex Dispute
Following a decision in March to give land back to residents of 13 communes in Pursat province from a vast economic land concession belong to the conglomerate Pheapimex, boundaries have yet to be drawn, and ownership of the land still remains unclear, residents and a rights group said yesterday. The Council of Ministers signed an agreement on March 14 to return more than 6,000 hectares of forested land to villagers in Pursat City’s Krakor district and Phnom Kravanh district. Land development giant Pheapimex, owned by Choeung Sopheap, CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin’s wife, has held a 316,000-hectare land concession in the area since 1997.
