The Phnom Penh Post
RIGHTS groups met with Kampong Speu provincial governor Kang Heang on Thursday in a bid to resolve a land dispute between farmers and the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat.
Meanwhile, Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmakers called on the government to review the terms of the 9,000-hectare land concession awarded to the company. Rights groups say this concession could be illegal if, as suspected, Ly Yong Phat is also the beneficiary of an adjacent 10,000-hectare concession.
The Kingdom’s 2001 Land Law states that land concessions in excess of 10,000 hectares are illegal.
Chan Soveth, a senior investigator for rights group Adhoc, said members of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee met Thursday with the provincial governor and court officials to seek a solution for the hundreds of villagers who fear they will be pushed off their farmland by the plantation.
“We urge the provincial governor to solve the villagers’ land dispute in a just way and lift charges against their village representatives,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmakers called on the government to review the terms of the 9,000-hectare land concession awarded to the company. Rights groups say this concession could be illegal if, as suspected, Ly Yong Phat is also the beneficiary of an adjacent 10,000-hectare concession.
The Kingdom’s 2001 Land Law states that land concessions in excess of 10,000 hectares are illegal.
Chan Soveth, a senior investigator for rights group Adhoc, said members of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee met Thursday with the provincial governor and court officials to seek a solution for the hundreds of villagers who fear they will be pushed off their farmland by the plantation.
“We urge the provincial governor to solve the villagers’ land dispute in a just way and lift charges against their village representatives,” he said.
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