Returnees on UDG Site to Be Evicted

The Environment Ministry plans to evict some 200 families in Koh Kong province who last month moved back to the site of their former homes on a $3.8-billion Chinese-owned development in protest over compensation, a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

The families, who in 2011 relocated from their homes inside the planned coastal tourism mecca to barren plots about 20 km inland, moved back last month after learning that about 22 holdouts had negotiated thousands of dollars more in compensation than they had.

Environment Ministry spokesman Sao Sopheap said on Wednesday that the 200-odd families would not be allowed to stay in the area much longer, given that they ceded the land to China’s Union Development Group (UDG) five years ago. 

“We will give an explanation to those people and then tell them they are staying there illegally, as they have no right to stay on that land because they already received compensation,” Mr. Sopheap said.

“We will use force to implement the law to evict those people from the land if they refuse, because their return has created problems for the government.”

The spokesman declined to say when authorities would take action, adding only that it would be soon.

UDG manager Ly Takhai said the company was happy to wait for authorities to carry out evictions.

“We have no plans to evict those people for the moment, because we are waiting for the decision from the government, as this is the duty of the government. It’s not the duty of the company,” he said.

Ung Virak, whose family was among those that returned to the development site, said the number of families living under tarps in the area was now at 195—up from 174 last month.

Mr. Virak said the families were prepared to fight for as much compensation as the 22 holdouts, who received a 2-hectare plot of farmland and between $3,000 and $20,000 for their old homes.

“We have built shelters on the land and we have posted about 30 people under the tents to guard and protect the land,” he said.

“If the company and the authorities use violence against us, we will respond.”

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