Saturday, June 5, 2010

Minorities Face Continued Conflict with Plantations

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Ratanakkiri, Cambodia
Friday, 04 June 2010

Pheng Krong worked one day sawing at a piece of wood for construction of a new house. The 37-year-old farmer of the Brov ethnic group had plans to replace his small wooden house in Ta Gnach village, in Ratanakkiri’s Ta Veng district. What he did not have plans to do, however, is work on a patch of farmland 2 kilometers down the road.
That’s because that land has been overtaken by a rubber plantation concession.
“I no longer develop on my land because I feel I can’t live here longer,” he told VOA Khmer recently. “The villagers here do not care about planting or farming on their land any more because it will be a waste of time.”

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