The great land giveaway

More than 2 million of the Kingdom’s nearly 18 million hectares of land – roughly 12 per cent – was given out to 225 private companies in economic concessions last year, according to an annual report released by rights group Adhoc yesterday. The concessions put 606 communities at risk of eviction, the report states. Adhoc president Thun Saray said yesterday at the report’s release that the 2,276,349 hectares of land concessions were distributed to companies by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to be used for agro-industry development. “This shows that Cambodia barely has any more land to grant as an economic land concession. In one year, the government granted over 1 million hectares to private companies like this,” he said. …

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