Twelve Families in Stung Treng Protest over Land

About 12 families, who live in disputed Siem Pang village, Sekong commune, Siem Pang district, Stung Treng province, disagreed with the district authorities to order them to remove all fences from their land and hand it over to the authorities.

On July 5, 2010 these villagers were called to join in the meeting at the district office. The objective was to tell them that the authorities were planning to build new office structures; such as Information Department, Rural Development Department and Land Department, so forth; therefore the authorities would require the land for the plan. However these people refused to hand it over for they had owned the land for a long time. They reported that the district used to have a reserve plot of land of 700 meters wide and 2,000 meters long; but during 2009-2010 the authorities shared this land together and sold out. So there was no reason for them to agree with the authorities.

According to Kri Vanna, one of those victims said, former District Governor Sok Sovann provided each family with a plot of 40-by-50-meter land in 1997 so that the villagers could use it to earn supplementary income. Now Mr. Sok Sovann is a Siem Pang district council member. Anyway it was a kind of forestland, where fish could lay eggs during rainy season.

Interviewed with the media, Mr. Si Suon, the new district governor denied the villagers’ claims. He accused them of only resettling in the above area in early 2010 when there was a road construction into Siem Pang district. He also said that the area was planning to build up a market and to use as administrative site. However, he said, if the people really did not have enough land, he would keep some for them.

On August 3, 2010 Ho Sam Ol, an Adhoc monitor in the province, specified on the phone that he was informed by villagers that the authorities really wanted the land from these 12 families. Actually the land was given to them, but suddenly the authorities are demanding it back. He added that he has not investigated the case detail yet because his organization has not received any complaints from the villagers or the requests for intervention.