Condensed from "K Speu Families Fear Legal Action From Sugar Firm," copyright Kuch Naren of the Cambodia Daily, published in the Cambodia Daily, Oct. 27, 2010. All text below is copyright Naren/the Cambodia Daily.
Two families from Kampong Speu's Omlaing commune said yesterday they feared legal charges after they rejected offers for their land by a sugar company this weekend. The company, owned by Cambodian People's Party Senator Ly Yong Phat, has been involved in an ongoing land disputes with residents of the area.
Villager Meas Nhen, 41, said on Sunday a RCAF [Royal Cambodian Armed Forces] soldier identified himself as a worker for Phnom Penh Sugar Company and urged her to accept $500 in exchange for her 30-by-200-meter plot of farmland.
Another villager, Kheand Savorn, 30, said he had also refused a similar compensation offer for his 73-by-200-meter plot of land made by company workers Sunday.
Mr. Savorn said he was worried about the consequences of his refusal. "I am really concerned the company will order the court to press charges against me and other villagers who refuse to sell their land.
"Two other families have been charged for land encroachment, although they gave the court documents to prove legal ownership of the properties," he said.
About 700 familiars in Omlaing commune are involved in a land dispute [with] Mr. Yong Phat, who has been granted a 10,000-hectare sugar concession on land claimed by local families.
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