Land Claim by Commune Chief’s Nephew is Disputed

More than 100 villagers from Svay Rieng province’s Romeas Hek district protested yesterday on land they say was stolen from them in 2007 and recently cleared by a former community representative, whose uncle is a local commune chief Villagers said lang Hai, who acted as a community representative for 671 families in Andong Trabek commune and led efforts to protect the 350-hectare plot since 2002, had since banned villagers from using the land. Suon Seiha, one of the protesting villagers, claimed that Mr. Hai had hired police to threaten the villagers after telling them that he had been granted a rubber and cassava plantation. Mr. Hai could not be reached, but his uncle, Lang Hun, the Andong Trabek commune chief, said his nephew had been granted a concession from the district governor in September. “I don’t have the authority to resolve this problem; only high officials can do that,” he said. But deputy governor Phen Sokun denied that a concession had been granted. …