Community Marks Fifth Anniversary of Violent Eviction
About 150 members of the former Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district marked the fifth anniversary on Friday of the day mechanical excavators, security guards and authorities destroyed their homes to make room for a real estate project. Much like on past anniversaries, the community members held a 50-meter long banner with pictures of their brutal eviction in front of the 3.6-hectare plot of land that now belongs to the 7NG conglomerate. ... In the early morning hours of January 24, 2009, residents were woken by the sound of bulldozers and excavators rolling onto their land, located just across from the Russian Embassy in Tonle Bassac commune. ... 7NG offered the families they evicted alternative houses in Pur Senchey district’s Choam Chao commune. However, several hundred families who had rented homes in Dey Krahorm but did not own land, were then evicted a second time by 7NG group, this time to Kandal province’s Ponhea Leu district, where they set up makeshift tents in fields lacking access to water and basic sanitation. “The conditions were so poor, there was no electricity, no water, no jobs and no school,” Ms. Sam Em said, adding that she since moved back to the city center to rent a small room and make a living as a nail designer. ... In 2009, the company said that they intended to build luxurious residential buildings on the evicted families land, but in the intervening years they have only constructed a small football pitch that has since disappeared. Council of Ministers spokesperson Phay Siphan said the land now belongs to 7NG.
Khuon Narim and Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/community-marks-fifth-anniversary-of-violent-eviction-51017/
