New twist in Cambodian sugar firm saga
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Rachel Will
The Phnom Penh Post
Taiwanese food supplier Ve Wong,
one of two sugar company owners locked in a long-running battle with
villagers in Koh Kong’s Sre Ambel district, has made an eyebrow-raising offer – to give the disputed land back.
The company’s offer, posted to
the non-profit Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s website, comes with one major caveat: proof
that the disputed hectares – part of a large economic land concession
area granted to the firm in 2006 – were acquired illegally.
“If there is any evidence
proving [VE Wong subsidiaries] illegally acquired the land from
residents, the companies are willing to return [the land] and compensate
all relocation costs of all affected families,” the statement reads.
However, supporters of the villagers in their more
than six-year battle with the sugar conglomerate were not convinced.
“Unfortunately, we have heard similar
promises from KSL Group before, to no effect,” retorted
the Clean Sugar Campaign Tuesday on the “Boycott Blood Sugar” website.
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