A land conflict took place in 3 villages, Pou Les, Pou Treng and Pou Chorb in Dak Dam commune, O’ Rang district, Mondulkiri province between a group of 334 families and Vision Hiland Co., Ltd over land. The event primarily stared on October 25, 2006 when the company secretly cleared community forest.
In complaints sent the national authorities; such as the Cabinet of Prime Minister, Office of the Councils of Ministers, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the National Authority for Land Conflict Resolution, the villager representatives accused Vision Hiland Co., Ltd, which belonged to a Korean businessman, of encroaching the community land by cutting down forest, spiritually protected forest and destroying shifting farmland in between O’ Play and O’ Pol in Pou Les village, Dak Dam commune, O’ Rang.
They also described the story that in 2004 the company started installing a temporary mill there. After that they logged and cleared out forest land to make boundary. Two years later, on October 21, 2006 Deputy Provincial Governor Keo Horn, Mr. Svay Sam Eang and the company representative came to the area in order to collaborate with the local authority to inform villagers about the company project. They said that Vision Hiland Co., Ltd had been granted an economic land concession of 1,000 hectares only on grassland and sparse forestland. However, on October 26, 2006 when a group of 15 community representatives patrolled in the forest area, they encountered the company was cutting down the community forest. That affected 6 protected places and 3 tomb areas of their ancestors. At that time the people also stopped them.
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