Homes Destroyed, One Arrested Amid Land Grab
The homes of 137 families in Pursat province’s Phnom Kravanh district have been demolished since Tuesday, when more than 60 police, military forces and forestry officials began evicting families from land claimed by Touch Hiv, an agricultural company, local officials and villagers said yesterday. … “We demolished the houses of families that stayed on company land and state forest land; we can’t allow them to stay,” said district governor Touch Sambor. … Aun Mady, a villager who was threatened with arrest when he tried to resist his family’s eviction, said families were given no warning. … Officials from Touch Hiv could not be reached for comment but according to Mr. Mady, the company claims to have bought the land in 2004. “But many families, we have been living and farming here since 2000,” he said. …
