Court Picks Up Land Dispute Involving Senator
The Kompong Speu Provincial Court has summoned for trial a married couple accused of encroaching on land excised from a plantation belonging to CPP Senator and businessman Ly Yong Phat, and has issued more than two dozen other summonses and arrest warrants in the past month for villagers involved in disputes with the sugar magnate, a community representative said. Khim Srey Pov and her husband Puth Yoeun are accused of illegally occupying a plot of land along Road 52 in Thpong district’s Omlaing commune that once belonged to Mr. Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company. They are among dozens of local families accused of encroachment on land along the road since 2010. Ms. Srey Pov said she was summoned for trial last week. She denied the charge of encroachment and said she and her husband had been living on and working the disputed land since 2002, well before the government granted Mr. Yong Phat the area in 2010. Though a 10-hectare area was cut out of the concession in 2010 for the families, the dispute has persisted and after laying dormant for most of this year, it picked up again in the past few months with several court actions, said Phal Vannak, a representative for the families. …
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-picks-up-land-dispute-involving-senator-49414/
