Preah Vihear Villagers Protest Clearing of Farmland

7 August 2012
The Cambodia Daily
Land / Land tenure and land titling
Kulen district / Preah Vihear / Srayong commune / Wat Botum

About 300 villagers living inside a social land concession in Preah Vihear province's Kulen district protested at Phnom Penh's Wat Botum yesterday, requesting that Prime Minister Hun Sen stop provincial authorities from clearing their farmland in preparation for the area to be used to house army veterans and their families. Mr. Hun Sen's deputy cabinet chief, Lim Leang Se, said that the land - more than 5,000 hectares in Srayong commune - had been turned into a concession for the veteran's families, but that some of it would be set aside for the villagers. ... Yorng Saring, one of the villagers protesting, said that 370 families reside within the concession area, adding that some had been there since 2000. ...