Temple families resist relocation

And so it continues as I thought it would. The villagers don't want to move, but it doesn't matter because the authority goes above and beyond provincial authority. They will more than likely be evicted with little to no compensation (just like in Phnom Penh), all in the name of cultural heritage. This should not be allowed, but it happens because the dollar is perhaps considered more important to the officials than even the welfare and livelihood of their own people.

Today also happens to be the day that my in-laws are meeting with the Apsara Authority (see What's the Apsara's Authority? from July 2009)to seek approval to rebuild their house which was blown down last week in a storm. The previous request last week brought out a truck full of officials with weapons to threaten the family with eviction if they attempted any "new" repairs on the house.

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

A woman cooks outside her home in Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district in February. Her home is one of hundreds that have been marked for removal.

Wednesday, 27 October 2010

By Rann Reuy

MORE than 250 families in Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district yesterday rebuffed entreaties from officials to relocate to make way for UNESCO and Preah Vihear National Authority offices.

A notice from the authority dated October 18 said 70 families from Kantuot commune’s Svay Chrum village would need to move by Saturday, with the remaining families expected to clear out not long after.

The families have been offered 2 million riels (US$475) in compensation as well as 50-by-100-metre plots of land in Thamacheat Samdech Techo Village (Samdech Techo Nature Village). The same village has taken in hundreds of other families that have been moved to make way for development at Preah Vihear temple, which was enshrined as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.

Residents said yesterday that they had been living on their land since 2000, and that they had previously been promised by local officials that they would never be evicted.

“Samdech Techo village has no market. It is far, it has a dirty road, and the land is small,” said 45-year-old Sao Yat.

Another resident, 43-year-old Keo Nith, said she did not want to part with her 5 hectares of rice fields, which she described as productive.

“They might control this area,” she said of the PVNA and UNESCO officials, “but we are asking to live here.”

Provincial officials yesterday visited the site and attempted to negotiate with the residents, who responded by saying they would not move. Long Sovann, the deputy provincial governor, said the decision to kick them out had come from higher than the provincial level.

“This is the national principle. It is not the provincial decision,” he said.

He then referred further questions to PVNA General Director Hang Soth, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Preah Vihear: Families told to make way for UNESCO

Somehow I'm not entirely convinced that making room for a UNESCO office will be the end of enroachment on this village's land. Only $475 and a small plot of land in exchange for their homes? Even in Cambodia that amount isn't enough build a new home. UNESCO should be more proactive and actually build homes for these people rather than just pay them off. If the villagers protest they will most likely end up with nothing. So sad...

Tuesday, 26 October 2010
By Thet Sambath

A GROUP of 275 families in Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district have been instructed to relocate by Saturday to make room for offices for the Preah Vihear National Authority and UNESCO, officials said.

Mol Mab, the chief of Choam Ksan’s Kantuot commune, said fewer than 1,000 hectares of land would be cleared, and that affected families would be given 2 million riels (US$475) each as well as 50-by-100-metre plots of land in Thamacheat Samdech Techo Village (Samdech Techo Nature Village). The same village has taken in hundreds of other families that have been moved to make way for development at Preah Vihear temple, which was enshrined as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.

Prak Sarann, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, expressed concern that the famlies would no longer have any farmland. But provincial deputy governor Sor Thavy said the families were only required to move their homes and would continue to have access to their existing farmland.

Temple body plans public forum

I'm not sure I'm convinced that a meeting with the APSARA Authority will improve how it treats villagers within the Angkor Park borders. However, it will hopefully be a valuable sounding board to make their rules about building or restoring property within villages near the park area.

Thursday, 26 August 2010 15:03 Rann Reuy

Siem Reap provinceAPSARA Authority officials plan to hold a public forum “as soon as possible”, in order to explain rules concerning the construction of housing by villagers in Siem Reap’s Leang Dai commune.

Chrun Sophal, director of the authority’s communications department, said yesterday that, following an internal meeting, a forum would be held to discuss building restrictions in Leang Dai, which falls within the bounds of the Angkor temple park.

“We will hold the forum after meeting the Siem Reap governor [today],” he said. “We are trying to balance natural resources, the environment and the preservation of culture.”

In a letter dated July 23, opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ke Sovannarith criticised the Apsara Authority, which maintained the temple park, for preventing the commune’s 1,255 families from building new market stalls, a kindergarten and other facilities.

Contacted yesterday, Ke Sovannarith said that she supported the initiative to hold the forum because villagers were not sure what they were permitted to build. “The problem is not just in Leang Dai, but in other places as well,” she said. “The Apsara Authority should call all affected villagers to listen.”

In March, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights organised a similar public forum, at which Apsara officials defended the rules aimed at preserving the Angkor temple park.