City Hall says Tuol Kork families must move by end of the month

Photo by: Phar Lina

Members of Tuol Kork district’s Boeung Kak 1 commune gather on Tuesday outside their homes, which they have been told by local officials they must vacate to make room for development

(CAAI News Media)

Wednesday, 06 January 2010 15:03 Chhay Channyda

THIRTEEN families in Tuol Kork district’s Boeung Kak 1 commune have been told they will be evicted from their homes this month to make way for a road upgrade through their land.

Authorities have told the families to consult with Phnom Penh Municipality about receiving new land in Dangkor district by the last week of January, accusing the residents of living on a public road.

But resident Im Veasna, 33, said the municipality’s land offer is inadequate.

“They said they will give us a plot of land, but they will not give us any money at all,” Im Veasna said.

“The new relocation site is like a big field where there is no access to basic infrastructure.”

He said the families would be willing to leave if City Hall paid them “fair compensation” – a figure he pegged at US$4,000 per family.

But Tuol Kork District Governor Seng Ratanak insists the relocation site – where 100 families previously displaced from Tuol Kork have been living since 2004 – is adequate.

“It is not isolated,” Seng Ratanak said. “There are villages, and villagers can grow vegetables.”

The 13 families, he said, were demanding too much money.

“They have no land titles to the land they live on,” Seng Ratanak said.

“If they request land titles, authorities will not approve them because they live on the road. They have to move.”