Hundreds Order Video of Hun Sen’s Land Speech

Hundreds of people have ordered video compact discs (VCDs) of Thursday’s speech on land rights given by Prime Minister Hun Sen after an official at CTN offered on-air yesterday to send a copy to anyone who requested it Orders of the speech have been pouring in from villagers, some of whom said they would use it as insurance to solidify claims to their land if local authorities prove reluctant to implement the prime minister’s orders. During the speech, Mr. Hun Sen outlined an elaborate land titling policy for villagers living inside state forests and land concessions, whereby so-called primary titles can be handed out instead of more robust hard titles. He also stressed that his May 7 ban on economic land concessions would likely remain in place for a long time. About 300 people had already requested copies of the video as of yesterday afternoon, according to CTN Deputy Director General Som Chhaya.  ‘We’ve received a lot of orders from villagers, especially people facing controversial land disputes, such as villagers calling from Banteay Meanchey province,” said Mr. Chhaya The videos are not priced, but Mr. Chhaya is asking for a small voluntary contribution from those who place orders to offset printing costs. He said he had received permission from Mr. Hun Sen to distribute the speech, and that the initiative was his own idea and had nothing to do with either the government or CTN. …