Companies to face court for illegal logging, land clearing
In what’s believed to be an unprecedented move, the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court has ordered two companies holding economic land concessions to face court questioning on accusations of illegal logging and land clearing. Deputy prosecutor Ros Saram said he summonsed Vietnamese-owned Company 72 last week and will summons rubber plantation company Chea Chanrith today because of complaints made by the ethnic Jarai community in O’Yadav district. … The villagers are demanding the company return and replant the forest and complete a land boundary study of the area. … “We hope this sets a precedent for other companies in the region. It’s a good example that if they do wrong, they could go to court too,” he said. “It’s a better result than in the past. Before, if the villagers complained, the court didn’t care; but if the company complained, the villagers got arrested.” …
