Officials chart disputed land in Omlaing

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:02 May Titthara

OFFICIALS in Kampong Speu province’s Omlaing commune on Tuesday began measuring plots of land owned by families embroiled in a land dispute with the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, though some residents refused to allow the measurements, which they said would not include sections of land already cleared by the company.

Officials no-show for land talks

Thursday, 22 April 2010 15:02 May Titthara

OFFICIALS in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district failed to show up on Wednesday for a meeting scheduled with villagers involved in a land dispute with the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, exacerbating suspicisions that they are primarily interested in arriving at a resolution that favours the company.

Ly Yong Phat given land in national park

Thursday, 22 April 2010 15:03 Cheang Sokha

THE government has granted more than 4,000 hectares of protected national park land in Koh Kong province to an agriculture company owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat, who has been at the centre of several land disputes stemming from controversial land concessions.

In accordance with a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and dated March 12, Ly Yong Phat’s company, the LYP Group, has been given a 10,000-hectare Koh Kong land concession, 4,100 hectares of which cuts into Botum Sakor National Park.

Land Dispute: Summoned villagers ask for time

Monday, 08 March 2010 15:04 May Titthara

Land Dispute
Six village representatives in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district who have been summoned over a land dispute with a company owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat have written a letter to the provincial court asking that they be given more time to hold discussions with local officials. On Friday, the court summoned all six to answer to allegations that they became violent with employees of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, who last week arrived under military police escort to survey the land. The representatives have said they were camping out on the land so that it would not be appropriated by the company. “Today, we are together joining with the provincial police to send a letter to provincial court asking them to settle our problem in our district before taking the case to the court,” said Nov Chhon, one of the representatives. More than 200 families live on land in Omlaing commune that is also part of a 9,000-hectare concession to the company. Khut Sopheang, the prosecutor handling the case, declined to comment on the representatives’ letter on Sunday.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010030833231/National-news/land-dispute-summoned-villagers-ask-for-time.html

Kampong Speu villagers awaiting representatives’ release

Monday, 29 March 2010 15:05 May Titthara and Will Baxter

ABOUT 200 villagers from Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district have vowed to greet two community representatives who are scheduled to be released Monday from Kampong Speu prison and escort them back to their homes, villagers said.

Meanwhile, a group of 400 villagers will be standing by to protest if the pair are not released by authorities as promised.

Court calls 16 Kampong Speu villagers

Tuesday, 23 March 2010 15:05 May Titthara

Photo by: Photo Supplied

Villagers in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district have been summoned to court to answer questions related to the burning of a Phnom Penh Sugar Company office building, the remains pictured above, last week.

KAMPONG Speu provincial court has summoned 16 villagers from Thpong district’s Omlaing commune to appear in court Wednesday to answer questions related to the burning of an office belonging to the Phnom Penh Sugar Company last week, provincial court officials said.

Court clerk Seng Chamroeun Rith said the summons orders were issued Friday and that the 16 were bound by law to appear. “If they don’t appear in court, the court will issue an arrest warrant for them,” he said.

Since Thursday’s incident, about 100 soldiers have been sent to guard the disputed land, which is part of a 9,000-hectare concession granted to the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat.

Khem Vuthy, a villager who received a summons order Monday, said, “I am not afraid, so I will appear in court on time because we were just trying to prevent our rice paddies and farmland from being taken.... The court should settle our problem by finding a middle ground.”

Kampong Speu farmers warned over rallies

Friday, 12 March 2010 15:05 May Titthara

Kampong Speu Province

Photo by: May Titthara

Farmers gather outside Kampong Speu provincial court, where six villagers involved in a land dispute were questioned Thursday.

SIX villagers in Kampong Speu province were questioned in provincial court on Thursday over allegations they incited 1,000 people to protest, prompting claims that authorities are trying to intimidate those involved in a land dispute with a well-known businessman.

The six were accused of inciting villagers during the protest late last month, which saw 1,000 Omlaing commune farmers express concerns that they could lose their rice fields to a sugar company owned by Ly Yong Phat, a senator with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

Phal Vannak, an Omlaing commune villager who was among those questioned on Thursday, said court officials ordered him to agree not to incite further protests.

“They ordered us to give thumbprints and stop doing it,” Phal Vannak said through tears. “If I do it again, I will face arrest. They let us go, but I am still afraid.”

Kampong Speu villagers seek firm land boundaries

Tuesday, 20 April 2010 15:02 May Titthara

KAMPONG Speu villagers embroiled in a dispute with Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat met with local officials on Monday to reiterate their demand that clear boundaries be set between their farmland and land granted to the senator’s sugar company.

Meanwhile, about 300 villagers from Omlaing commune staged a protest near the site of the company’s 9,000-hectare land concession, located in Thpong district’s Omlaing commune, with the aim of preventing future clearing operations, villagers said.

On Monday evening, about 400 Omlaing villagers blocked National Road 52 to express their frustration with the company, said Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for the rights group Licadho. He added that he worried that tension could spill over into violence.

Villagers to appear in court over Kampong Speu row

Thursday, 11 March 2010 15:04 May Titthara

  

SIX village representatives in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district said they would appear in provincial court today to answer to allegations that they became violent with employees of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, which is owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat, during a series of standoffs last week.

More than 200 families live on land in Omlaing commune , which is also part of a 9,000-hectare concession granted to the company. Ly Yong Phat has said they will not be evicted.

On Monday, the representatives sent a letter to the provincial court to ask to settle the dispute with local officials before today’s session, but Nov Chhon, one of the representatives, said Wednesday that they had received no response.

Nov Chhon added that he would be happy to answer any questions posed to him during the session.

“I will explain to the court the reason why we did not allow company staff to grab our land,” he added, referring to incidents in which company staff appeared along with military police officers in an attempt to survey the land last week.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010031133450/National-news/villagers-to-appear-in-court-over-kampong-speu-row.html