Thursday, 15 October 2009 15:02 Rann Reuy
A MEETING between residents of Boeung Kak’s Village 1 and commune authorities on Wednesday failed to resolve an ongoing standoff over compensation payouts for those set to be displaced by a 133-hectare development at the site.
Authorities are lobbying for the residents to accept the compensation packages already offered to the lakeside’s Villages 2 and 4, but residents are holding out for higher offers from the government.
Srah Chak commune chief Chhay Thirith said at the meeting that he did not have the right to make a decision about the offer but would take residents’ proposals to district-level authorities and City Hall.
He said that of the 297 families in Village 1, some 45 families have accepted compensation, either US$8,000 in cash or resettlement in the city’s Dangkor district, and that any villagers wanting higher compensation offers were “encouraged to negotiate with the company or City Hall” directly.
One resident, who did not wish to give him name, said that residents had no problem making way for public works.
“If the state takes the land to develop by itself, we would consider it,” he said, but added that residents should not be evicted for the sake of a private development.
In August 2008, developer Shukaku Inc began filling the lake with sand in preparation for a commercial project.
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