"Kampong Speu indigenous group concerned over land loss", 18 July 2019

The Suoy indigenous people of the Kor Dauntey community in Kampong Speu have expressed concerns over the loss of reserve land for future generations after allegedly receiving a $2,500 per hectare offer…

Samrith said that while his and around 100 other families had rejected the offer, another 100 wanted the money to help support the community…

Bin Khoeun, a community elder, said the Ministry of Environment had in 2007 set aside 3,083ha of land in the Phnom Oral wildlife sanctuary for Kor Dauntey community Suoy people to build houses, use for farming and hand on to their children.

… “Now people are asking to buy around 10ha of land, claiming they will help with development, such as building roads and bridges."…

Kor Dauntey community chief Phal Noeun acknowledged this was the case but said villagers had not agreed.

The prospective buyer, Chan Y Muoy who is also known as Yeay Ma, had also not confirmed her interest…

Yeay Ma denied wanting to buy 10ha but said she needed to purchase some of the villagers’ land located in front of hers to build a road…

… Chea Hean, the director of the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation, said communal land was for joint use, with no one having the right to sell it.

… Oral district governor Muong Thy said … that though the government had allowed the community to manage the land for their livelihoods, they had no right to sell it to anyone who was not a member…