The families evicted from their homes in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district last week rejected a preliminary offering of compensatory land in Kandal province on Sunday, saying that the barren alternative offered by the municipality was a poor substitute for their razed homes.
In compensation for their homes that were bulldozed by police in two villages in Phnom Penh Thmei commune Tuesday, each of the 234 families was offered a 7-meter by 15-meter plot of land in Kandal’s Ang Snuol district, villagers said Sunday. Located in a rural area with no access to roads or clean water, the land was deemed unacceptable by villagers.
“We need a good location, not bad land like the municipality showed us last week,” said Born Proeun, a motorbike taxi driver who spoke on behalf of the villagers. “We need land that has streets, a water supply and electricity. We don’t need land with nothing.”
The land is also located near a Chinese graveyard, which the villagers believe is bad luck, villager Leng Vuthy said Sunday.
Municipal Cabinet Chief Mann Chhoeun did not answer multiple calls for comment Sunday.
The homes were bulldozed Tuesday in what police said was compliance with a 2002 court order awarding the land to a woman named Lim Khy. Nine villagers were arrested for illegally occupying the land and fighting with police who were enforcing the order. One was released Wednesday and the remaining eight were released Friday after Investigating Judge Thong Ol agreed to drop the charges, Russei Keo district Police Chief Ly Lay said Sunday.
Today, villagers will lobby the municipality for a second solution, in which one of the four plots of land that they previously occupied in Thmei and Pong Peay villages would be handed over to the displaced residents and carved into equal spots for each family.
“If the municipality wants to solve this problem peacefully, they can cut one hectare of disputed land [out of a total 3.5 hectares] to divide…because we don’t want to stay far away from the city,” Born Proeun said.
