"Civil society groups call for transparency in development projects", 24 September 2021

Several civil society groups said … that grassroots communities lack access to information on significant development projects affecting their communities including economic land concessions, often with a serious impact on people’s livelihoods.

At an online national conference held by the Coalition for Partnership in Democratic Development (CPDD) … on the subject of “disclosure and transparency on sub-national administration budget and economic land concession”, the civil society group said that grassroots communities are routinely kept in the dark over commune budgets for development and infrastructure.

Advocacy and Policy Institute director Lam Socheat, …, said that the lack of access to information negatively impacted community livelihoods, as relevant authorities rarely shared reports or data related to major investments and economic and social land concession projects.

“The right to access information is fundamental to freedom of expression, a human rights-based approach which has an impact on people’s daily livelihoods,” he said.

In addition, he said, authorities at all levels almost never shared Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports for development projects to grassroots communities, who often faced forced evictions or inadequate compensation as a result of these projects.

… Ministry of Information undersecretary and spokesman Meas Sophorn, who attended the meeting, maintained that Cambodian people have access to a wide range of information through traditional broadcasting as well as social media…

But Khoeut Leakena, a representative of an indigenous minority group in Kampong Thom province, said that this access rarely extended beyond handpicked members of the community.