The Phnom Penh Municipality has ordered local authorities and residents living along National Road 6A in Russei Keo district to cease all land transactions and construction so the land can be used for a satellite city, officials said Sunday.
The government needs 387 hectares along the side of the road to give to the Malaysian company Sunway, which plans to conduct major urban development there, officials said.
The development, which would affect Chroy Changva, Prek Liep and Prek Tasek communes, will displace residents, Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said.
He did not say when they might be moved.
A notice signed by Kep Chuktema on Friday stated that local authorities whose residents wish to continue development or construction projects “must get approval from the municipality first before signing documents for selling, buying, transferring land title-holders or building new construction.”
Kep Chuktema said by telephone that the notice is intended to inform residents to stop filling, selling, buying and constructing anything in the area.
Deputy Municipal Governor Chhun Sirun said more than 50 hectares of land have been reserved for relocating residents who cannot find new places to live. The 50 hectares are also located in Russei Keo, he said. A committee will visit residents door-to-door to list the families that are unable to move, he said. But, he added, “Development is still the plan.”
Mith Samnag, a Chroy Changva commune clerk, said the development would affect more than 500 homes in his commune’s Doem Kor and Kien Khlaing villages.
“I am not aware of the notice but we’d heard that development will take place very soon in our area,” he said. “We have not conducted a study to see how many families will be affected or ordered to move.”
Mith Samnag said residents in Chroy Changva commune were not yet aware of the municipality’s notice.
