Villagers in Kampong Thom’s Kraya commune wait among the ruins of excavation equipment burned during a clash last week with authorities. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
BESIEGED villagers locked in a bitter land feud were granted an 11th-hour reprieve from their looming eviction on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to reach a peaceful resolution.
Hundreds of families from Kraya commune in Kampong Thom’s Santuk district braced for violence after a brutal clash with military police last week left several vehicles incinerated, two people hospitalised, seven arrested and an entire community cordoned off from the outside world.
Instead, the eviction date was postponed by authorities for seven days in the hope of negotiating a nonviolent conclusion.
“We did not stop the evicion. We postponed it in order to give villagers a chance to organise representatives for negotiating a peaceful resolution,” said Kampong Thom provincial Governor Chhun Chhorn. “We don’t want to use violence to resolve this problem. We need to find a friendly resolution that complies with the law.”
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