More houses in Andong

via CAAI

Thursday, 16 December 2010 15:01 Chhay Channyda

Residents in Andong village in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district who were evicted from their homes in Chamkarmon district in 2006 are to get an additional 25 homes after a US-based NGO contributed US$25,000 to the municipality.

People for Care and Learning provided the funding on Monday to city officials as part of an ongoing project to provide improved conditions for residents currently living in temporary housing, said Mann Chhoeun, deputy director of the National Committee for People and Development and the head of the Urban Poor Development Fund.

He said residents in Andong have to date received about 300 homes among 1,500 villagers, and the UPDF and the municipality have called on donors to provide assistance for building more homes.

Mann Chhoeun blamed the shortfall of housing in part on families that were not among those evicted in 2006.

“There were only 700 residents moved from Sambok Chab that we had to build homes for, but other poor families from the provinces … always move in so that we have to raise funds for more houses,” he said.

He added that each family who receives a house is required to pay $1,000 over five years, as well as a monthly payment of 90,000 riels to the UDPF.

Sok Chham, chief of Andong village, said living conditions in the area have improved because of better infrastructure.

“Doctors regularly visit here, and authorities have just created access to clean water in the last few days, but we have to purchase electricity from private firms at a cost of 3,000 riels per kilowatt,” he said.

More than 1,000 police officers, many of whom were armed and wearing riot gear, descended on the Sambok Chab slum, known as the “birds nest”, in June 2006 to evict the families, who were relocated in Andong village.