The Phnom Penh Post
VILLAGERS in Kandal province sent a letter rejecting a deal paving the way for the destruction of a pagoda situated on disputed land yesterday, one day after an article was printed granting the pagoda a two-month reprieve.
Tuol Tamark pagoda sits on land in Kandal Stung district that officials say was purchased by the Heng Development Company in 1996.
Representatives of 2,676 families say, however, that they have a legal right to the disputed 1,044 hectares because they have been farming it since 1986.
On August 15, representatives from the Heng Development Company set an August 30 deadline for villagers and monks to tear down the pagoda.
An article in the Nokor Wat Daily newspaper printed on Monday, however, said the pagoda, located in Ampov Prey commune, could remain standing until the conclusion of Buddhist Lent in late October.
The owner of the Heng Development Company is Sieng Chanheng, the main financial backer of Nokor Wat Daily and whose daughter is its
publisher.
Kong San, a pagoda committee member, said yesterday that a letter had been sent to the Ministry of Cults and Religions, the provincial Department of Cults and Religions and the company rejecting an arrangement in which the pagoda would be destroyed in exchange for US$10,000. The abbot who allegedly brokered the deal last month, San Kimsong, has since gone missing, Kong San said.
“All of us did not agree to tear down the pagoda, but the abbot agreed to let the company tear down the pagoda in October,” Kong San said.
Tuol Tamark pagoda sits on land in Kandal Stung district that officials say was purchased by the Heng Development Company in 1996.
Representatives of 2,676 families say, however, that they have a legal right to the disputed 1,044 hectares because they have been farming it since 1986.
On August 15, representatives from the Heng Development Company set an August 30 deadline for villagers and monks to tear down the pagoda.
An article in the Nokor Wat Daily newspaper printed on Monday, however, said the pagoda, located in Ampov Prey commune, could remain standing until the conclusion of Buddhist Lent in late October.
The owner of the Heng Development Company is Sieng Chanheng, the main financial backer of Nokor Wat Daily and whose daughter is its
publisher.
Kong San, a pagoda committee member, said yesterday that a letter had been sent to the Ministry of Cults and Religions, the provincial Department of Cults and Religions and the company rejecting an arrangement in which the pagoda would be destroyed in exchange for US$10,000. The abbot who allegedly brokered the deal last month, San Kimsong, has since gone missing, Kong San said.
“All of us did not agree to tear down the pagoda, but the abbot agreed to let the company tear down the pagoda in October,” Kong San said.
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