KI Media: Group Calls for Halt to Railway Development Projec...

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Group Calls for Halt to Railway Development Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc_phYTHihU

Friday, 17 February 2012
Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC

“The government should put a halt to the relocation of people until proper resettlement is in place.”

Bridges Across Borders says a project funded by the Asian Development Bank is displacing families to inadequate relocation sites and should be halted until proper sites can be found.

Cambodia’s railroads are in terrible condition, and renovation of rail lines could improve the movement of goods not only in the country but across the region.

However, thousands of families will be moved from their homes along the railway in the process.

Bridges Across Borders says the project is forcing families into deeper poverty, with some forced to take on debt from local money lenders in order to reconstruct their homes.

“The government should put a halt to the relocation of people until proper resettlement is in place,” said Eang Vuthy a project manager for Bridges Across Borders.

In all, more than 4,000 families will be affected by the project, a joint venture between an Australian company and Cambodia’s Royal Group that seeks to rehabilitate 650 kilometers of railway infrastructure. Around 1,200 families will have to move from home along the rails.

More than 80 percent of those interviewed by Bridges Across Borders said they had not received adequate compensation. Many said they were not consulted ahead of time.

Relocation and inadequate compensation have turned into long-running, violent protests for other displaced residents in the capital over the past few years, with real estate values increasing and more development projects under way.

Many of those who will be moved for the railway will have to leave the urban centers where they work, making it harder to earn a living, Eang Vuthy said.
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Anonymous said...

there's no deny that khmer people must develop cambodia in all fields; however, i think gov't should not abandon these people who are affected by the railway rebuilding, etc. instead, gov't should provide them with some kind of compensation whether a resettlement, a new housing with adequate roads, sanitation, schools, medical facilities, etc, etc, you name it. it is wrong to abandon the affected people. and people shouldn't take advantage of gov't either e.g., they must be having lived there for so long, not just move there to take advantage of recent development, etc. it's hard to tell because both gov't and the affected people sometime do take advantage of each other. of course cambodia must rennovate the national railways as deemed inevitable in the future. i'm not there, so i don't know the real story; all i'm saying is that gov't should help these affected people in some way as most of them are very poor to start with.