Phnom Penh Post
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Villagers cut off by concession
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
Access to Preak Smach village is monitored by the military. At a checkpoint on the road through Kiri Sakor district, armed officers interrogate those attempting to enter the area. After an hour of often hostile questioning last Friday, an investigator from rights group Adhoc was refused access.
Residents of a nearby village, however, pointed to a trail through the forest that was wide enough for a motorbike. It led to the coast and a boat to the village on Koh Sdech where families who say they have been living on the island since 1983 are facing eviction to make way for a tourism development that will cost, according to Chinese media reports, US$3.6 billion.
The tranquil scenery, expansive beaches and calm sea belied the anxiety that pervaded the village, as well as a rising defiance.
“If this had happened in the past, I would join the Khmer Rouge to protect my land,” said Sim Navy, adding that she was furious with the government for granting the land she lives on to a Chinese company.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Residents of a nearby village, however, pointed to a trail through the forest that was wide enough for a motorbike. It led to the coast and a boat to the village on Koh Sdech where families who say they have been living on the island since 1983 are facing eviction to make way for a tourism development that will cost, according to Chinese media reports, US$3.6 billion.
The tranquil scenery, expansive beaches and calm sea belied the anxiety that pervaded the village, as well as a rising defiance.
“If this had happened in the past, I would join the Khmer Rouge to protect my land,” said Sim Navy, adding that she was furious with the government for granting the land she lives on to a Chinese company.
Readmore
Monday, November 28, 2011
Prison through the eyes of a child
May Titthara
“Every day, I see only the prison roof and the trees inside the fence,” says Dong, a five-year-old boy who was born inside Prey Sar Correctional Centre 2.
“I have never known anything outside this prison,” Dong said during an interview last week.
The interview followed a request to the Interior Ministry and, subsequently, to the prison chief.
They agreed, on the condition that no photographs be taken and no tape recording be made.
Dong said he lived with his mother in the prison because they had no relatives.
He and the 10 other children in the prison leave the cells every Monday to Friday morning for classes an NGO has arranged for them inside the prison.
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Kingdom’s three-year land rush
May Titthara
The government has granted more than 7 million hectares of land to private companies through concessions since 2008, with 222 private companies claiming more than 2 million hectares alone in economic land concessions, rights group Adhoc said yesterday.
Ouch Leng, head of Adhoc’s land program, said that data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and government sub-decrees revealed that the government had granted about 2,153,408 hectares in economic land concessions to private companies.
He added that the total figure reached 7,021,771 hectares out of a total 17,651,500 hectares in the Kingdom since 2008, if mining and forest concessions for logging purposes are included.
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Villagers try diplomatic route
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
Villagers told the Post they wanted an end to land disputes caused by companies that had “seized their land”, adding that they would “rather die” than go home without a result.
They said authorities had ignored their pleas for help while the companies had used the court system to have villagers who complained about the acquisitions arrested.
The Phnom Penh Post
About 300 villagers from Kandal province locked in land disputes with private companies delivered petitions to embassies in Phnom Penh yesterday, before protesting in front of the provincial hall and calling for Prime Minister Hun Sen to help them.
Villagers told the Post they wanted an end to land disputes caused by companies that had “seized their land”, adding that they would “rather die” than go home without a result.
They said authorities had ignored their pleas for help while the companies had used the court system to have villagers who complained about the acquisitions arrested.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Maid ban finally complete
By May Titthara & David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post
The Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies announced a temporary ban on the sending of all domestic workers to Malaysia amidst another under-age trainee scandal – this one involving a firm owned by the wife of a senior member of Cambodia’s international police department.
On Monday, the Ministry of Labour gave recruitment firms permission to send already contracted domestic workers with travel documents to Malaysia, contradicting a blanket suspension announced by Prime Minster Hun Sen three days prior.
But ACRA president An Bunhak announced at a press conference yesterday that his association would effectively regulate itself – halting all transfers to Malaysia in the wake of yet another labour firm raid that involved allegations of forced detention and underage recruitment.
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The Phnom Penh Post
On Monday, the Ministry of Labour gave recruitment firms permission to send already contracted domestic workers with travel documents to Malaysia, contradicting a blanket suspension announced by Prime Minster Hun Sen three days prior.
But ACRA president An Bunhak announced at a press conference yesterday that his association would effectively regulate itself – halting all transfers to Malaysia in the wake of yet another labour firm raid that involved allegations of forced detention and underage recruitment.
Readmore
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Lakeside families face summonses
By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
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The Phnom Penh Post
Eight families whose homes were demolished at Boeung Kak lake last month appealed to Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene in their case yesterday amid the rubble of their former homes and a flurry of summonses they say are intended to silence their dissent.
The families, who on October 4 filed a complaint against real estate developer Shukaku Inc, owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin, said they have received separate summonses to appear for questioning today and Wednesday in the Shukaku case, while the company has not been asked to appear.
The families, who on October 4 filed a complaint against real estate developer Shukaku Inc, owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin, said they have received separate summonses to appear for questioning today and Wednesday in the Shukaku case, while the company has not been asked to appear.
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