"NRWPO call for probe into alleged land grab in sanctuary", 21 August 2019

The director of the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO) requested the Ministry of Environment … order an investigation into an alleged land grab in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Oral district’s Trapaing Chor commune in Kampong Speu province.

NRWPO director Chea Hean said some people, in collusion with local officials and powerful individuals, used machinery to clear hundreds of hectares of land belonging to the wildlife sanctuary…

“The people involved in the land grab include village and commune authorities and the commune council who are looking for brokers to purchase the wildlife sanctuary land,” Hean said…

Kampong Speu provincial governor Vey Samnang said if his administration received a formal complaint, it would investigate and enforce the law…

“However, if we consider ethics and morality, the organisation should not have demolished the four houses,” Samnang said, adding however that not all reports about land grabs are true.

Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra said: “Protected land is state public land, and the use or allocation of land within protected areas must be approved by the government.

“Therefore, no one has the right to clear, sell or certify possession of land in protected areas.”

… Pheaktra said at least 20 people had been detained recently in Preah Sihanouk, Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom, Koh Kong and Kampong Speu provinces.