Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive on Wednesday denouncing forest encroachment and ordering courts across the nation to confiscate state land illegally grabbed by private interests.
The directive orders courts to issue warrants to begin the confiscation.
The warrants, which must be issued before the end of May, will include a time limit of 30 days for involved parties to contest the confiscation.
If the orders are contested, provincial and municipal governors will forward cases to the newly formed National Authority for the Resolution of Land Disputes.
The directive also states that RCAF, military police, police and other relevant authorities must cooperate to resolve the land disputes and protect state forests from encroachment.
Forestry Administration Director Ty Sokun said Thursday that almost 300,000 hectares of land across Cambodia are in private hands but rightly belong to the state.
“I believe this measure will be successful because it is the government’s order,” Ty Sokun said, adding that the government is already in the process of confiscating 20,000 hectares from encroachers on Siem Reap province land.
Banteay Meanchey provincial Governor On Sum said that he had already invited all companies and other large private landowners to meet with authorities so that they can report on the size of their land.
“They can continue farming on their cleared land, but ongoing encroachment and the clearing of trees in the state’s forests must cease,” said.
Acting Banteay Meanchey Cabinet Chief Chuong Prasoeuth said that 18 landowners had already been ordered to return more than 4,000 hectares of land illegally purchased from villagers and RCAF officers.
“We told them that forestry officials will confiscate it all for state property, and they have to pay $1,000 per hectare for land they cleared,” Cabinet Chief Chuong Prasoeuth said.
