Evictees living in squalor again

Thursday, 29 April 2010 15:03 MAY TITTHARA AND WILL BAXTER

Photo by: Will Baxter

Borei Keila resident Prak Sophea, 49, sits in a wall-less, ground-floor dwelling where she has lived since being evicted from an apartment. She is waiting to be assigned a home by the government.

SUN-BAKED rubbish and raw sewage amalgamate in the lane that runs past Prak Sophea’s wall-less dwelling, threatening to spill into the space she has been forced to occupy with another family since being evicted on Sunday from temporary housing in Prampi Makara district.

“I cannot bear the bad sanitation, especially when it is raining,” she said. She explained that poor drainage results in flooding that sends sewage into her new home.

The 49-year-old widow, who learned in 1998 that she was HIV-positive, had been occupying a ground-floor room in a dilapidated building in the district’s Borei Keila community since June 2009, waiting for City Hall and a private development company to give her permanent housing. The company, Phanimex, has been tasked with providing on-site relocation units for 11 HIV-affected families, including Prak Sophea’s, who were evicted from prime real estate in front of the Ministry of Tourism building last year to make way for a public garden.

Lake plan prompts protest

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:02 Khouth Sophakchakrya

Photo by: Pha Lina

Boeung Kak lake residents protest in front of City Hall on Monday.

ROUGHLY 50 protesters who say they face eviction due to development work at Boeung Kak lake gathered in front of City Hall on Monday after learning that authorities had approved plans for the controversial project behind closed doors.

The protesters decried the fact that city officials have approved development plans before many of the roughly 4,000 families that stand to be affected have finalised compensation arrangements.

“We need land titles for our homes, and we want the development to be fair and transparent,” said protester Lim Samnang.

He added that the demonstrators became particularly alarmed after hearing that the development plans, which have never been publicly released, could be closer to completion. Officials told the Post on Sunday that the plans were approved during a private meeting last Thursday.

Residents of Borei Keila refuse to occupy new relocation housing

Thursday, 08 April 2010 15:04 Chhay Channyda

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Long Sem, 49, sits in his home in Borei Keila on Wednesday. More than 120 families in the community have refused to accept housing that was inaugurated by Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chukteman.

PHNOM Penh Governor Kep Chuktema on Wednesday presided over a ceremony marking the opening of onsite relocation housing in Prampi Makara district’s Borei Keila community, but more than 120 families slated to move in say rooms in the building are too small and have refused to register for them.

The new building, designed to house 174 families, is part of a redevelopment project funded by the private developer Phanimex.

City Hall has promised free housing to families that are being relocated to the building in exchange for the valuable inner-city land they currently occupy. Phanimex has been promised a portion of that land in exchange for constructing the relocation housing.

Nuth Sokly, a representative of the 124 families who have declined to relocate, said they were upset that the new housing was significantly smaller than their current homes, and claimed it lacked electricity and water.

Borei Keila families petition Hun Sen for better housing

Monday, 26 April 2010 15:01 May Titthara

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Sin Sambath, 51, moves into his new home on the first floor of a building offering on-site relocation housing in the central Phnom Penh community of Borei Keila on Sunday.

MORE than 120 families facing eviction from their homes in Phnom Penh’s central Borei Keila community sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday requesting either US$40,000 in compensation or $20,000 and ground-floor apartments measuring 4 metres by 12 metres, representatives said Sunday.

The families have so far refused to register for on-site relocation housing offered by City Hall, saying the units in the building – which was opened on April 7 – are too small, and that those who do not receive ground-floor apartments will be unable to support themselves by running businesses out of their homes.


[note: refusing to participate in the ballot is an all-or-nothing gamble for these families. The City has a history of waiting out the resisters until there are so few left nonviolent resistance can easily be ignored or swept aside. This community is showing courage. Do they have the strategy to go beyond this?]

“They promised to provide us with 4-metre-by-12-metre [homes] with electricity and water supplied, but now they want to provide us with only 3.8-metre-by-9-metre [homes] without electricity or water,” said representative Nuth Sokly. “How can we accept it?”

Secrecy remains as city passes lake plans

Monday, 26 April 2010 15:03 Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Irwin Loy

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

A lakeside resident calls out to friends on the other side of a pipe as it begins pumping sand into Boeung Kak in August 2008.

PHNOM PENH authorities have approved development plans for a controversial real estate project at Boeung Kak lake, a city official said Sunday, as some observers continued to decry government secrecy surrounding a project that could displace thousands of families.

Mann Chhoeun, the city’s deputy governor, said officials approved plans for the development of Boeung Kak lake during a meeting Thursday – a decision that was reached behind closed doors.

He added that the plan will now be sent to the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the investment board chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has final say on developments of this scale.

Govt unveils plans for public housing project

Thursday, 25 March 2010 15:03 Chhay Channyda

GOVERNMENT officials say they are in the process of developing a public housing system – the Kingdom’s first since before the Khmer Rouge era – that would see poor families lease houses on state land for periods of up to 50 years.

But housing rights advocates said Wednesday that current plans for the system did not appear to safeguard many poor families from forced eviction.

Group 78 representatives hold news conference demanding land titles

PHNOM PENH Feb 5. This morning community representatives from the Group 78 community held a press conference highlighting their rising concern over the lack of information recieved from the government of Cambodia regarding plans for their community. Displayed in English and Khmer a letter requesting land titles for the residents of Group 78.

In attendance were community members, members of the Cambodian and foreign press, the UN, Mu Sochua of the Sam Rainsy party, local and
international NGO's. About 60 people were present. For photographs of the event go to http://picasaweb.google.com/peaceandjustice.cambodia