Lakeside women turn entrepreneurs

Khouth Sophakchakrya, Phnom Penh Post, Dec. 30 2011

 

Photo by: Touch Yin Vannith

Boeung Kak lakeside resident Tol Srey Pau makes a purse at the home of community representative Tep Vanny yesterday.

Many women living in communities around the capital’s Boeung Kak lake who have lost employment after spending years shielding their homes from the impact of a real estate development have begun creating handicrafts in order to support their families.

About 30 women divided into four groups arrive daily to work in shifts on seven sewing machines in the house of former Village 22 representat-ive Tep Vanny, producing handbags for sale.

“We are hopeful and confident that our houses will not be lost. That is why we initiated to create some jobs for income,” Tep Vanny told the Post yesterday.

In 2007, local firm Shukaku Inc was granted a 99-year lease on 133 hectares of land around the lake for a real-estate development project.

After years of protests by residents, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced in August that a 12.44-hectare onsite area would be set aside for families that had refused compensation.

Local officials have recently begun issuing land titles to hundreds of remaining families, but some say they remain excluded from the resettlement deal.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director of Housing Rights Task Force, said HRTF, a charity in New Zealand, along with German development agency GIZ, had provided seven sewing machines worth a total of US$2,000, and another charity had recently donated $1,200 for more machines.

Representatives from GIZ could not be reached by the Post for comment.

Villagers defy ban on repairs

Khouth Sophakchakrya, Phnom Penh Post, Dec. 29 2011

Photo by: Hong Menea

A Boeung Kak lake resident shouts at security guards after a group of guards, police and local officials warned residents to stop rebuilding their homes yesterday. More than 100 Boeung Kak residents protested yesterday against a group of about 20 Daun Penh district police officials who enforced a ban on residents making repairs to their houses. Slesh Mosa, 47, a resident of Daun Penh district’s Srash Chork commune, said he had decided to repair and partly rebuild his 20-square-metre house because it was very old and not fit to live in, but had met with swift opposition from authorities.

“The authorities, led by deputy district governor Sok Penhvuth, stopped me,” he said. “They wanted to take my equipment, such as a saw, a hammer, an axe and nails.” The large crowd of protesters had prevented police confiscating the tools, Slesh Mosa said. Slesh Mosa said he had asked permission to repair and rebuild parts of his house in 2007, but the government had not allowed it because it was the part of the Boeung Kak area earmarked for development. “They said I had repaired my house without asking permission,” he said. “But the government has given 12.44 hectares of land for the villagers who agreed to develop at the site, so right now I can repair my house.”

After 100 residents heard of the ban and flocked to Slesh Mosa’s house to protest, district governor Sok Penhvuth led police from the site, departing with a warning that he would return if residents defied the ban. “If you don’t listen to me . . . I will lead my officials to come here again,” were the words he had used, Slesh Mosa said. After authorities left, Slesh Mosa resumed his work, saying he was not scared of the possibility of police returning to arrest him and warned authorities to leave his house alone. “I will commit suicide by cutting my neck in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Hall if the authorities destroy my house,” he said.

 

 

After Eviction, Unemployment And Debt Soar

Abby Seiff, The Cambodia Daily, Dec. 17-18 2011

City Hall Hands Out Boeng Kak Land Titles

Chhorn Chansy, The Cambodia Daily, Dec. 12 2011

First Boeung Kak titles bring hope

Khoun Leakhana, Phnom Penh Post, Dec. 12 2011

Photo by: Mai Vireak

Residents from the area surrounding Boeung Kak lake gather on Saturday to mark international Human Rights Day.

Phnom Penh municipal hall issued the first set of land titles for 259 families living around Boeung Kak lake on Saturday, bringing hope and relief to some, but leaving many concerned for those still waiting. In accordance with a government sub-decree issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen in August, families from villages 6, 23 and 24 in Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune were granted land within a 12.44-hectare resettlement area set aside for 794 families who had refused offers of compensation. Kong Chantha, 54, of village 24, told the Post yesterday that she was delighted after receiving a land title from municipal authorities.

“I was very happy because this certificate [land title] is a new hope for my family in the future,” she said, adding that she and other residents had spent almost four years demanding land titles. In 2007, developer Shukaku Inc – run by ruling party senator Lao Meng Khin – signed a 99-year lease with the municipality for 133 hectares of land around the lakeside for a real estate development. Rights groups estimated more than 20,000 people faced relocation due to the project. Remaining residents from villages 1, 6, 22 and 24 have continued to protest since the resettlement deal was announced, after they were initially cut out of the deal.

Last week, a protest in the capital turned violent, with several villagers injured and four – including Kong Chantha – arrested and charged by the municipal court with insulting and obstructing public officials. Villagers remained concerned yesterday about families who had not yet received land titles and with ongoing development in the area. Vong Sok Heng, a representative of village 6, said more than 30 families in his village had not received titles because their measurements of their plots of land were inconsistent with those of the authorities’. “The authorities did not correct [the difference] in land size after measurement,” she said.

Tol Srey Pao, of village 24, said the authorities planned to build a sewage system and roads in the area in the future, which could again affect local residences. Kiet Chhe, deputy administrative director at municipal hall, said the provision of land titles for lakeside residents was not yet complete.  “At the end of December, the municipal hall will continue to issue land titles for other Boeung Kak lake residents,” he said. Deputy commune chief In Saphorn said land titles would next be provided for roughly the same number of families in villages 20, 21 and 22.

More Lawsuits to Come From Former B Kak Residents

Hul Reaksmey and Zsombor Peter, The Cambodia Daily, Dec. 05 2011