Tuesday, July 03, 2012
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| An aerial view of the filled-in Boeung Kak lake in April. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post |
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Tuesday, 03 July 2012
Shane Worrell and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
More than enough vacant plots exist within
Boeung Kak lake’s 12.44-hectare concession area to house those denied
land permits, a new NGO report says.
Sahmakum Teang Tnaut claims to
have found “a viable and practical”
solution for households excluded from the unmarked land
the prime minister promised the community in August – and residents and
other NGOs have welcomed it.
According to Outside the Lines:
Households Excluded From 12.44Ha Boeung Kak Concession, the NGO has
mapped the area based on boundaries outlined in the relevant sub-decree.
“We identified 70 households
that appear to be excluded from the concession area, as well as 401
vacated plots within the 12.44 hectares,” STT programs coordinator Ee
Sarom said. “Our report shows it would be eminently possible to allocate
land for the excluded households within the concession.”
The report states that the 401
plots make up 17 per cent of the concession.
“[This] indicates households excluded from
the 12.44 [hectare] concession could be given a vacant plot within it,”
it states.
The findings are part of a
solution STT hopes could end the Boeung Kak dispute, which has been
raging since 2007, when a 99-year lease of the land was awarded to CPP
senator Lao Meng Khin’s Shukaku company.
STT’s report also suggests
changing the boundary of the concession area slightly.
The proposals have won support
from villagers, including Heng Mom, one of 13 women released from Prey
Sar prison last week after being jailed for protesting on May 22.
“We asked the Phnom Penh
municipal authority to exchange our land plots when they claimed our
house was on Shukaku’s land,” she said, adding she still wanted this.
Doung Kea, 43, a resident of
Village 22, said the 12.44 hectares was a “gift” from Hun Sen that
villagers had a right to.
“So if the authority is still
claiming our houses are not in that area, they should move us into the
12.44 hectares,” he said.
Villager Chan Puthi Sak
described the proposal as a “win-win” solution. A coalition of NGOs also
supported it.
“[This] proposal is a viable
option as a solution for part of the Boeung Kak land dispute,” Housing
Rights Task Force’s Sia Phearum said.
The municipal authority declined
to comment.
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