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| Villagers embroiled in a land dispute with the KDC company at their homes in Kampong Chhnang province in September last year. (Photo by Drek Stout) |
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| Suy Sem (front row) sitting next to Chea Kheng, his wife |
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post
The Kampong Chhnang provincial court yesterday ordered the KDC
company to produce proof of ownership for 105 land titles in the Kampong
Tralach district, the subject of a land dispute that dates back to
2007.
Long Lun, attorney for 70-year-old Chat Batt from the Lorpeang village, who claims KDC unlawfully grabbed her land without payment, said yesterday he welcomed the court’s decision, which will force the company to prove their debated ownership of the land.
“The court also requested cadastral officials to file all relevant land measurements,” the attorney said.
In 2007, Lorpeang villagers claim that the KDC company, owned by Chea
Kheng, wife of the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem, took
more than 500 hectares of their farmland with no payment or agreement. The company insists the land was purchased properly.
Since then, almost all of the working-age men in the village have
gone to Thailand to work on fishing boats because they no longer have
any land to farm.
Twenty-two families affected by the land dispute have filed
individual complaints against KDC seeking the return of their farmland.
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