Violent Kompong Speu Standoff Only a Test, Official Says

kompong speu province – Last week’s attempt to fill in Boeng Chhouk lake on the edge of Kompong Speu town—a move that sparked a violent standoff be­tween villagers and police—was just a test, Chbar Mon district Gov­ernor Sok Satoun said Tuesday.

The landowners were merely gauging how much villagers were opposed to having one of their primary drainage areas done away with, he said.

Last Wednesday, dump trucks began dropping fill-dirt in the lake—which is actually a grassy bog enjoyed by cattle. Then about 300 villagers gathered in the low-lying 3-hectare area to block further deposits.

Seng Vanna, a villager who was there, said that when military police ordered the workmen to dump their loads anyway, burying some of the protesters, the crowd was enraged. Rocks and sticks sailed. Police batons came out. At least two villagers and three policemen were injured.

At the time, authorities claimed that they needed to fill the lake for future construction.

Sok Satoun said the landowners are now satisfied that the villagers are seriously opposed to losing their “lake.” He said au­thor­ities would not allow further fill­ing until an agreed-upon drain­age canal is dug.

Pen Vanchan, a resident of Kraing Phoul Tep village in Rkar Thom commune, said he remembers Boeng Chhouk lake being dug by the US engineers who built National Route 4 in the late 1950s. He said they used the dirt to build up the road embankment.

“Before the lake was dug, there were very few houses here. When the flood came, it took

10 days to subside,” he said.

Now there are 210 people living near the lake and six other villages that count on rainwater running into it, he said. It was these villagers who protested the land fill.

“One flood in 2000 was 3 me­ters high,” Pen Vanchan said, pointing to the bottom of his stilt house, which stands roughly that high. “That time the water subsided in four days. If we didn’t have the lake, it would prolong the flood. If the flood comes only for four days, it is OK because the crops can survive.”

A number of villagers, including Pen Vanchan, said about 80 other locals, who wanted titles to the land the lake sits on, sought the help of a businessman named Sao Sethy, who by his own ad­mis­sion has helpful friends in the Council of Ministers.

Pen Vanchan and his group said Sao Sethy collected thumb­prints from the 80 for land title application but then fraudulently used those prints as documented ap­proval for him to sell the property.

Sao Sethy said Tuesday he was asked to broker a deal, in which villagers requested only 100,000 riel (about $25) for each family.

All parties agree that Sao Sethy then arranged for the land to be sold to two business partners, You Oun Thorn and Long Ly. These two businessmen then turned the real estate over to a group of 30 families for $300,000.

You Oun Thorn and Long Ly could not be contacted Tuesday, as their whereabouts are un­known. Sao Sethy said he collected a $10,000 commission from his two buyers, less than he deserved. “I spent a lot of money on that job” get­ting titles from the Coun­cil of Min­isters, he said. “I should get more.”

Lay Kim Heang, director of the Kompong Speu provincial De­partment of Land Manage­ment, Urban Planning and Con­struc­tion, confirmed those transactions took place and that the

30 families have legal land claims. He said the lake property, once filled, will be zoned for an undisclosed number of two-and-a-half story residential buildings.

No representatives of the current property owners, the 30 families, could be reached.

Residents of Rkar Thom commune are not convinced that the proposed canal will satisfy their drainage needs. They are watching vigilantly for more trucks carrying fill-dirt. Various missiles, rocks and sticks mainly, are at the ready.

Even commune Chief Uch Sabeoun, who profited neatly from the latest transaction, said he had opposed losing the lake, as local farmers used it as a rainy season water source for irrigation.

Because the Council of Min­isters granted land titles, Uch Sabeoun had no choice but to ap­prove the sale, he said. “I re­ceived $2,000 from the 30 families because I worked hard approving the sale. I did not use this money in my own interest, but to renovate the district office,” he said.

Asked if he thought the lake would be filled soon, Uch Sabeoun said, “It will be impossible because lots of villagers will gather there and they are prepared to fight the landlords.”