Fifteen families who allege that construction work by the Vattanac company caused their homes to collapse into the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh plan to occupy the company’s plot of land if they are not compensated by Sunday, villagers said Thursday.
The families say that the work being carried out by the company next to their houses in Kilometr Pram Muoy commune caused the riverbank to tremble on May 3 before a 20-meter-long section slid into the water.
However, Vattanac has avoided efforts by the villagers and local authorities to recover $7,000 per home for rebuilding.
“I will go set up tent at Vattanac construction site if they still have no resolution for us by this week,” said Ruos Soksan, one of the villagers.
Another villager, Or Mom, said the families had no choice but to occupy Vattanac’s land if they did not receive compensation.
“They moved my makeshift house, so I will go to Vattanac’s area to rebuild it. This is the result of them not helping us,” Ms. Mom said.
