Lone Firm Takes 23,000 Hectares for Plantations in Preah Vihear
A Malaysian company has been granted three tracts of land totaling more than 23,000 hectares for oil palm and rubber plantations in Preah Vihear province, according to documents submitted to the Malaysian stock exchange. The acquisition flout the legal maximum of concession land that a single company can lease in Cambodia. Preahh Vihear administration chief Khoy Khunn Hor confirmed that three more concessions totaling more than 23,000 hectares-in the adjacent Sangkum Thmei, Kulen and Rovieng districts-have recently been agreed with companies Green Choice (Cambodia), Eminent Elite (Cambodia) and Distinct Harvest (Cambodia)[ subsidiaries of Lion Forest Industries Berhad]. … The case is just the latest example of companies using connected subsidiaries to get around the 10,000-hectare limit. …
