Hun Sen warns private companies over land disputes
Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) to revoke licenses and seize land of private companies if found to be encroaching upon people’s land, media reported April 24.
Addressing private companies’ requests at the 13th Government-Private Sector Forum yesterday, he warned that private firms’ business license will be annulled if they cause trouble or infringe upon others’ land, reported Samleng Yuvechun Khmer.
“The CDC must monitor these companies and revoke their licenses if they encroach on land owned by the people. I will give incentives only to the private sector for investments which benefit the people,” The Mekong Times quoted the premier as saying at the event.
His warning was likely aimed at the Phanemex firm and 7NG Group which have been involved in land disputes in Lvea Aem and Khsach Kandal districts in Kandal province respectively, opined Samleng Yuvechun Khmer.
Deputy Sam Rainsy Party Secretary General Mu Sochua expressed doubts that the premier’s measures would result action against the private firms in an interview with Voice of America. She alleged that, without support from high ranking officials, such firms would not have been able to force people off their land in the first place. “Senior government officials and local authorities are behind some of those companies,” Mu Sochua claimed.
In 2007, there were 98 separate land disputes affecting 5,242 families, according to a report from the local human rights group Licadho. The group asserted that many cases involve “powerful individuals and companies … often acting with the complicity of government and state officials,” noted The Mekong Times.
(Source: Corruption Monitor Bulletin, Issue 6, May 2008)