Ministry Revokes 11 More Commercial Concessions

The Ministry of Environment has canceled 11 economic land concessions granted to companies that it says have failed to develop the land per their agreements with the government, the ministry announced on Friday.

According to a notice dated Thursday, the 11 concessions covered a total of 54,704 hectares in Kompong Speu, Kratie, Mondolkiri, Preah Sihanouk, Banteay Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Kompong Thom, Oddar Meanchey and Battambang provinces.

Environment Minister Say Sam Al said at a press conference Friday that ministry officials visited the concession areas and found that the firms had either failed to follow through on their development plans or had run into problems with people living on their concessions after they cleared the land.

In May, the ministries of environment and agriculture announced a new push to pressure companies with controversial economic land concessions to follow through on their commitment to develop the vast swaths of land they are leasing from government.

Last month, the Environment Ministry announced that eight concessions in Koh Kong and Preah Sihanouk provinces had been canceled.

“We will continue to observe, inspect and estimate in order to solve this problem,” Mr. Sam Al said on Friday.

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