New homes provided to Kandal families affected by new airport development
So Visal | Publication date 21 May 2021 | 20:16 ICT

The Kandal provincial authorities on May 21 handed over 171 homes to people affected by the construction of a new international airport in Kandal province's Kandal Stung district.

The affected individuals had been living on embankments inside the premises of the new airport in Boeung Khyang commune's Ta Prohm village, the provincial administration noted in an announcement.

Provincial governor Kong Sophorn admitted that construction would have some environmental and social impact, but billed the project as an opportunity for economic development, not only for the nation, but for locals.

Measuring 5m by 8m, the homes were built on 5m by 20m plots of land.

The new airport will be a 4F class airport, occupying 2,600ha in Kandal Stung and slightly protruding into Takeo province's northernmost Bati district. It will be the main airport serving the capital, replacing the current Phnom Penh International Airport, which sits on a 400ha parcel of land.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... evelopment

Airport Protesters Vow to Block Road Next Week as Governor Refuses to Budge
2 min read

Khut Sokun
| Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:42 pm

More than 100 villagers have planned to block the entrance to the Kandal province construction site of Phnom Penh’s new international airport, as they hold out to be compensated at market prices while the governor threatens legal action.

The Kandal Stung district villagers have staged repeated protests to block bulldozers that have been brought out to clear residents’ rice fields. The total airport development — also encompassing “Airport City” commercial projects — spans 2,600 hectares in Kandal as well as Takeo province.

They gathered again on Thursday, saying the bulldozers had cleared 1.5 hectares of villagers’ farmland.

Un Soeun, 69, said she had been blocked from farming her 0.3 hectares, and was facing financial difficulties.

“The state needs this land to develop the airport, so as a solution they must address the impact,” Soeun said.

Korng Khorn, 71, said people were not opposed to a development, but wanted compensation to reflect market prices.

In the past, villagers have pointed out the gulf between the $80 to $120 per square meter they say the land is going for now, and the government’s offer of $8 per square meter. Authorities have said the $8 price was set before the airport development was announced.

Lonh Vanna, 38, a resident of Boeng Khyang commune with 0.8 hectares, said the villagers would protest again on Sunday, and then next week block the road entrance to the airport construction site.
https://vodenglish.news/airport-protest ... -to-budge/

Violence, Around 30 Arrests at New Phnom Penh Airport Development
3 min read

Mech Dara
| Sun Sep 12, 2021 9:38 pm

Around 30 people were arrested in one morning amid violence, villagers and local officials said, as unrest around Phnom Penh’s new international airport development project in Kandal province continued to escalate.

The project, a joint venture between the civil aviation authority and tycoon Pung Kheav Se’s Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation, has met mounting resistance over the last few months as authorities and developers have tried to bulldoze holdouts’ rice fields to clear the way for the development. People who own land in the area say they want compensation in line with market values, not the $8 a square meter on offer.

On Sunday morning around 9 a.m., about 100 people gathered at the disputed site raising banners and yelling through loudspeakers, according to around 10 villagers who spoke to VOD. Most, however, said they were terrified after the day’s events and declined to be named.

The villagers brought a tractor to block the road. Soon, police said that the protesters hurled rocks at them, and retaliated with water cannons and smoke grenades, according to the villagers, some of whom said officers also fired their guns into the air.

Authorities began to arrest the protesters, and the villagers fled through rice fields and streams to get away, they said. Some houses in the area were dismantled, they said.

Bou Leap, 45, said police later dragged her husband, Soy Ra, 50, away from their house. She alleged that officers beat her husband, and confiscated the family’s tractor and motorbike.

“When I tried to help, they prevented me and threw me into the air,” Leap said. “He was alone, there were about 10 of them, and they accused my husband of attacking them. He was sitting on the ground, they used their elbows and knees to hit his back and all over, and his face was bleeding and they dragged him away.”

Boeng Khyang commune chief Nay Chandy said police and military police had arrested around 30 people throughout the day. The protesters had attacked the officers during the protest, he said.

“They used slingshots to shoot metal and rocks and hit many authorities. Some were bleeding and swollen in their head, so the authorities arrested them. If they had just used loudspeakers, it would have been OK,” he said.

“I went there and I saw two or three buckets of rocks as big as elbows, so the authorities arrested them.”

He said the dispute was about compensation, and although some families had taken money or resettlement land, others had yet to accept any offer.
https://vodenglish.news/violence-around ... velopment/