In the News: Will more houses be destroyed?

Monday, 08 December 2008
Written by Chhay Channyda 
The Phnom Penh Post

Day-and-night filling by Boeung Kak developers has remaining residents worried more houses will be destroyed

RESIDENTS of Village 4 on the edge of Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak lake live in constant fear of losing their homes after another house collapsed on Saturday, with two more likely to topple soon, locals say.

Srah Chak commune chief Chhay Thirith said he was not aware of the latest house collapse. When contacted on Sunday, he said he will “look into the case later”. 

Resident Hok Lang’s house partially collapsed on November 19, forcing the 11 residents to now live in cramped conditions in the remaining front section.

According to Hok Lang, when the house collapsed, she was away in her hometown, leaving her children behind. No one was injured in the incident, she said.

“We are worried more houses will collapse if no solution to this problem is found,” she said, adding that authorities have ignored residents’ complaints and have tried to force them to accept US$8,500 per house in a compensation deal or a house at a relocation site.

In a letter written to Kep Chuktema, governor of the Municipality of Phnom Penh, on Thursday, four international human rights organizations slammed the development of Boeung Kak lake, claiming it breached the 2001 Land Law.

The letter, written by the International Federation for Human Rights, the Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, said that the sand-filling of the lake by private developer Shukaku Inc, started on August 26, has “worsened flooding and caused destruction of some homes”.

It went on to note concern with the prevalence of forced evictions – evictions carried out without adequate notice, consultation with those affected, legal safeguards or assurances of adequate alternative accommodation – which violate Cambodian law and Cambodia’s international human rights obligations.

The letter stated that “recent research by Amnesty International and local partners indicates that 150,000 people in Cambodia are living under the threat of forced eviction, including up to 70,000 in Phnom Penh alone”.

In The News: Lake Family’s House Collapses into the Water, Filling Blamed

 

Police Block investigators as House Sinks into Lake at Boeung Kak. (c) John Vink / Magnum (from ka-set)

Family’s house Falls into Lake, Pumping Blamed, Legal Investigators blocked from interviewing the family.

 From CambogeSoir:

“On Thursday 27 November, cops prevented Cambodian and foreign investigators from Licadho to meet with a family living on Boeung Kak Lake which is currently being filled in for a major real estate development project.”

In the evening of Wednesday to Thursday, Sun Ratanak’s home on stilt sunk into the lake water. Chea Nara (a Licadho investigator) said that he and his colleagues were prevented from meeting the family of the victims. “We can only get into the location if we ask the authorization from the Phnom Penh governor,” Chea Nara reported.

From Ka-Set:

(Selections of the article translated from French by saveboeungkak)

Original Article in French Here

“Touch Narot, Phnom Penh Police Commissioner says he is surprised that journalists are so concerned by what he considers a small issue.  ’People (journalists) should not all rush to Boeung Kak over a little story like this, the collapse of a little house in this development zone.  The owner of this house should go negotiate compensation with the company…’”

The article also highlighted the use of police to block investigators, and Shukaku’s methods:

“‘There was no reason to send in armed officers of the Intervention Police.  Where is the harm in taking photographs of the damage?  Today we saw how an invisible company used the authorities to harrass people who were doing their job.  No Cambodian law forbids taking photos and filming!’”

“Rather than conducting a mass eviction that would produce strong reactions and resistance, the company prefers to wait until all the houses disappear one after another into the water…’”

-Ka-set, quoting Naly Pilorge,  Director of LICADHO

In the news: Rights groups are uncertain controversial Boeung Kak project will meet the standards of its own environmental report

 

Children at Boeung Kak.

 

 

From the Phnom Penh Post Article (21 November 2008)

Highlights: Local rights groups highlight flaws in Developer’s arguments, question environmental commitment.

“… SHUKAKU Inc, the local developer filling in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak lake as part of a commercial and housing development, has manipulated its own environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) to justify construction, say local housing rights groups.
“… housing rights advocates have dismissed the argument that filling in the lake constitutes effective environmental management. 

“It’s a completely false argument,” said Hallam Goad, advisor to housing rights advocacy group Sahmakum Teang Tnaut. 

“The lake is polluted, for sure – partly through human effluent and partly through other kinds of waste materials – but you need to clean the lake, not fill it in.”

Goad also criticised sections of the report that claim the development “will not cause negative impacts to infrastructure systems”, or that it “will improve the traffic system in Phnom Penh” and attract up to US$2 billion worth of investment. 

“All I can see is that the $2 billion is the value of the real estate they will create by filling in the lake, which will go straight into their own pockets. In comparison to the key open space in the city, it doesn’t make any sense at all,” he said.

In the News: Angry Boeung Kak residents say water supplies have been cut

In the Phnom Penh Post

Thursday, 09 October 2008

“Residents living under threat of eviction say their lives got even more difficult when their supply of running water was turned off last month”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008100922048/National-news/Angry-Boeung-Kak-residents-say-water-supplies-have-been-cut.html

In The News: Music With A Message

Ka-Set, Monday September 29 2008: Messenger Band : Sept ouvrières tissent en chantant le fil de leur quotidien au Cambodge (Messenger Band: seven workers weave by singing the wire of their daily life in Cambodia) by Zineb Dryef and Ros Din

(translation to English by Babelfish)

“A song dedicated to the inhabitants of Boeung Kak:
The group recently recorded a title with Kong Nay, the “Ray Charles” of Cambodia, one of the players of chapei – traditional lute – most famous of the country. “Land and Life” is diffused on YouTube. The clip already recorded a few thousands of visits. This song highlights the group is dedicated to the inhabitants of the lake Boeung Kak, threatened for expropriation. The images of violent expulsions of those of those in rural Cambodia:

“Us, the Cambodians of the cities and the campaigns, have a recognized, pleasant, luminous ancestral cultural heritage. Water, forests, land where in harmony the people and their animals live. But all changed, our villagers have problems. For dollars, we lose our houses and our land”

http://ka-set.info/actualites/cultures-et-societe/cambodge-messenger-band-groupe-chanteuse-ouvriere-confection-textile-droits-usine-080929.html

[Over 2000 viewers so far.]

Tags: cambodia,eviction,housing,property

In The News: Displacement and development

(left: sunset at Boeung Kak)

The Phnom Penh Post has just published a special supplement, “Displacement and Development” in the September 29th edition.

The article has this to say about filling of Boeung Kak:  “…now architects and urban planners are saying the loss of the lake to commercial development will tarnish the city once regarded as the “Pearl of Asia”, ceding one of its last remaining green spaces to colourless urban sprawl. Urban-planning experts contacted by the Post said the project was irresponsible and could trigger unforeseen environmental consequences, despite  City Hall assurances that the 133-hectare Boeung Kak development has been vetted for its environmental impact.

Article Link: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/Special-Supplements/Displacement-and-development.html

Police in Boeung Kak: suppressing dissent, intimidating residents.

Police move quickly to remove signs of dissent in Boeung Kak.

Above: Armed policeman removing a “Stop Forced Evictions” protest banner displayed on a house.

Armed police, Phum 4 community. (Click for full image)

Police in Phum 4 community.

Police with AK-47s.

Tags: cambodia,eviction,housing,property

In The News: Villagers’ Injunction Refused by Court

Phnom Penh Post, September 24, Page 5
“Meanwhile, At Another Phnom Penh Lake…”

“Phnom Penh Municipal Court refused to file an injunction to stop the filling of Boeung Kak lake, despite continuing protests against development.” … “the lawyer who filed the request on behalf of villagers facing eviction from their lakeside homes rejected the court’s judgement and said he would continue to fight the case.”
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008092421811/National-news/Boeung-Tompun-residents-must-pay-to-stay-in-new-govt-initiative.html

Tags: cambodia,eviction,housing,property

On the Scene: Photos

and reportage courtesy John Vink:

“The company which is going to evict some 4000 families from around the Boeung Kak lake has started its sand pumping operations to fill the lake again.”

(c) John Vink

http://johnvink.com/news/2008/09/22/boeung-kak/

Photo reportage is welcome from all, please email to saveboeungkak – at – gmail – dot – com

This photo accompanied the article from Ka-Set: Le remblaiement du Boeung Kak a repris, des riverains déboutés de leur plainte (The filling of Boeung Kak begins again, of which the residents have complaint)
by Chan Soratha, September 22

http://ka-set.info/breves/breves/cambodge-boeung-kak-lac-phnom-penh-cour-justice-080922.html

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Not Boeung Kak, but eviction-related:

(Villagers Outside National Assembly) http://johnvink.com/story.php?title=Cambodia_Quest_For_Land2

(Tonle Bassac Eviction)
http://johnvink.com/story.php?title=Cambodia_Quest_For_Land3

(Dey Krahom)
http://johnvink.com/story.php?title=Cambodia_Quest_for_Land4

(Dey Krahom) http://johnvink.com/story.php?title=Cambodia_Quest_for_Land5

Photos of villagers marching to bring their complaints to the Prime Minister.
Click for flash slideshow (‘March of the Damned‘) or photo set.

Tags: cambodia,eviction,housing,property

In The News: Protest in Takhmau outside PM’s House

The Cambodia Daily, Thursday, September 18, 2008, page 28: Protesters Meet Official, City Says Lake Filling To Continue

“Five representatives of the demonstrators were eventually escorted inside the compound for discussions, where Hun Sen’s Deputy Cabinet Chief Lim Leangse said he would forward the villagers’ demands to the premier.” ….  “It is [the villagers'] right to protest, but we cannot solve the problem the way they want, ” Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong said.  “We still continue our negotiations with the villagesrs, but the development cannot stop.”

Tags: cambodia,eviction,housing,property