Boeung Kak: A Disastrous Decade



Fri, 3 February 2017
Ananth Baliga and Khouth Sophak Chakrya

Ten years ago this week, Phnom Penh City Hall and the development firm Shukaku Inc announced an agreement to transform the Boeung Kak lake area into a sprawling mixed-use development. In the years following, thousands were evicted and a protest movement grew among the disgruntled residents. Post Weekend looks back at how Cambodia’s most notorious land dispute unfolded and at what will emerge from the sand.

The sand banks have been slowly rising around Kith Chantha’s rickety wooden shack. His home is no more than a few planks of wood held together by nails, with a front yard strewn with garbage.

To one side, Chantha has the towering Al-Serkal Mosque as a neighbour. But apart from that he is surrounded by mounds of sand and construction equipment on what used to be the sprawling 90-hectare Boeung Kak lake.

“They filled everything with sand,” he says. “I cannot do farming and have resorted to collecting garbage and selling it.”

Chantha is one of close to 30 families at Boeung Kak lake who are continuing to battle Phnom Penh City Hall, seeking compensation or plots of land in order to make way for planned development activities.

This Monday, February 6, marks a decade since the city publicly acknowledged that it had leased 133 hectares, including the lake’s 90 hectares, to a little-known development firm called Shukaku Inc, which is associated with powerful ruling party Senator Lao Meng Khin.

Since then, the lake has been filled, close to 4,000 families have been forcibly evicted or resettled, and only recently has Shukaku started developing the land into what it calls “Phnom Penh City Center The Pearl of Cambodia”.

Chantha has had to thwart company security guards multiple times from tearing down his house. But he feels it is only a matter of time.

“Two weeks ago, a big crane came here to put poles in the ground. They were right behind my home,” he says.

This recent construction activity has also hindered Chantha’s movements. His house is now surrounded by metal and concrete fencing, leaving him with two options – traverse concrete walls to reach the street or slip through a small section of barbed wire.

“Sometimes my children have to walk through the barbed wire or jump over the wall to get to school,” he says. “We are completely cut off.”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weeke ... ous-decade

Something I have never been able to understand about this Boeung Kak problem, is how can someone with a 99 year lease sell some of that land, and just who has the right to make a '' land title'' for that land so it can be sold.

Can I lease a building and land and then sell it to someone else ? NO.

Duncan wrote:
Can I lease a building and land and then sell it to someone else ? NO.

Technically, Isn't that what every bar owner does when they sell?

kiwiincambodia wrote:

Duncan wrote:
Can I lease a building and land and then sell it to someone else ? NO.

Technically, Isn't that what every bar owner does when they sell?

No, cause the bar owner never ever receives or has in his possession a hard or soft title.

Duncan wrote:

kiwiincambodia wrote:

Duncan wrote:
Can I lease a building and land and then sell it to someone else ? NO.

Technically, Isn't that what every bar owner does when they sell?

No, cause the bar owner never ever receives or has in his possession a hard or soft title.

But that is my point, they are selling something which they don't officially own, they are leasing the property and selling the ''business'' located on the property.

I used to stay in a 2 dollar room on the lake in 2010 there was khmer women/ backpackers and nigerians all over the place .

Duncan wrote:Something I have never been able to understand about this Boeung Kak problem, is how can someone with a 99 year lease sell some of that land, and just who has the right to make a '' land title'' for that land so it can be sold.

Can I lease a building and land and then sell it to someone else ? NO.

No different from leasehold properties in other countries. You buy and own the house etc but pay a lease for the land it stands on.

timmydownawell wrote:

Duncan wrote:Something I have never been able to understand about this Boeung Kak problem, is how can someone with a 99 year lease sell some of that land, and just who has the right to make a '' land title'' for that land so it can be sold.

Can I lease a building and land and then sell it to someone else ? NO.

No different from leasehold properties in other countries. You buy and own the house etc but pay a lease for the land it stands on.

OK, you can sell the lease [ and the building you put on ] but you cannot subdivide the land that you don't own, cause you don't have a title with your name on.

From what i understood they werent supposed to sell it. Its supposed to stop countries from buying 99 year leases and selling it. But everyone knows what happened and knows whos in charge of the sell.

phrammoianchor wrote:I used to stay in a 2 dollar room on the lake in 2010 there was khmer women/ backpackers and nigerians all over the place .

2002/03 there were just backpackers, crack heads and moto drivers selling drugs. I think the Nigerians arrived around 06 ish when Thaskin kicked them all out of Thailand over a weekend. I could be wrong. There were loads in 2011. Little Lagos.