Carving up the Cardamoms: Conservationists fear massive land grab in Cambodia
by Gerald Flynn & Andrew Ball & Phoung Vantha on 1 July 2021

*Conservationists have expressed concern over a recently published regulation that makes nearly 127,000 hectares (313,800 acres) of previously protected land potentially available for sale or rent to politically connected businesses.
*Known as Sub-decree No. 30, the order is ostensibly meant to redistribute land to communities that had previously lost control of it after it was taken over by the Ministry of Environment and conservation NGOs to manage as protected areas.
*But activists and experts point to several features of the regulation — the proximity of some of the requisitioned land to concessions held by powerful magnates; the inclusion of uninhabited primary forest; the opacity of the land-titling process promised to local communities — that suggest it’s another form of land grabbing.

A new regulation signed into law in March this year but only unveiled publicly in May will see almost 127,000 hectares (313,800 acres) of previously protected land in Cambodia made available for sale or rent, prompting fears among conservationists about a land grab for some of the country’s best-preserved ecosystems.

On paper, Sub-decree No. 30 , signed March 2 by Prime Minister HE, transfers ownership of 126,928.39 hectares from the Ministry of Environment and the various conservation NGOs that assist in the management of the protected areas, to the Koh Kong provincial administration. Ostensibly, this transfer of land, measuring half the size of Luxembourg, is meant “for distribution to people, while retaining partial land as private property to be held by Koh Kong Provincial Administration.”

It’s seen as a readjustment of the protected areas, the mapping of which saw thousands of Cambodians lose their homes as the government and conservation NGOs took control of land that had housed many communities for generations. As such, this latest sub-decree presents an opportunity for many communities living in cleared sections of the protected areas to acquire land titles — but it also presents an opportunity for tycoons with connections to the Koh Kong provincial land management committee, chaired by Governor Mithona Puthong of HE’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

Puthong’s father, Yuth Puthong previously also served as governor of Koh Kong, while his grandfather, Say Puthong, was a senior politician who helped shape HE’s leadership in the 1980s. In short, the family is deeply entrenched in the political networks of power brokers in Cambodia.

Sources familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, have warned that just half of the 127,000 hectares listed in the sub-decree will actually go to landless families. Ten percent is expected to be held for future land titling, while conservationists say that as much as 40% — roughly 50,000 hectares (123,600 acres) of protected areas — will be sold off to wealthy tycoons with business interests across Koh Kong.

Overall, nearly 70% of the land reallotted by the sub-decree is forested, with 25% covered in primary forest, according to satellite data visualized on the forest monitoring platform Global Forest Watch. Many of the plats, particularly those in Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary and Botum Sakor National Park, are still largely swathed in old-growth rainforest. Several also encompass coastal mangroves.
Full article: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/carvi ... -cambodia/

Again tradgic news for many, the one's that once had, but now have their lands taken from them, being put in the hands of the one's who already have plenty, and also long-term leasing for foreign investors.

More on this topic: a Mongabay investigation into the Koh Kong land grabs, with many interesting details.
Long read.
The great Koh Kong land rush: Areas stripped of protection by Cambodian gov’t being bought up
by Gerald Flynn on 7 October 2021

-A regulation issued earlier this year in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province purported to take land from protected areas and grant the land titles to families living in the area.
-But developments since then, and interviews with residents and brokers, paint the scheme as a massive land grab orchestrated by the country’s political elite.
-Politicians and companies have been snapping up the newly degazetted land, among them a firm suspected of being a front for pulpwood giant APP.
-Among those said to be profiting from the land grab is Ly Yong Phat, dubbed “The King of Koh Kong,” a politician and businessman with a long history of quashing the rights of those who occupy land he desires.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — In July, conservationists in Cambodia sounded the alarm over a regulation that saw eight protected areas in Koh Kong province collectively lose territory twice the size of Phnom Penh, the country’s capital.

Officials said the move, affecting nearly 127,000 hectares (314,000 acres) under Sub-decree No. 30, was meant to grant land titles to communities living throughout the protected areas.

But an investigation spanning six districts of Koh Kong supports conservationists’ concerns that the sub-decree would be abused by Cambodia’s wealthy elite.

While the sub-decree was signed into law in March 2021 and made public in May this year, a Mongabay investigation has revealed that an opaque network of land brokers has been buying up land in former protected areas listed in Sub-decree No. 30 as early as January 2021, and appears to have been orchestrated in part by National Defense Minister Tea Banh and his brother, Tea Vinh, the head of the Royal Cambodian Navy.

[Tltr Conclusion]
Whether that land was ever genuinely designated for distribution among long-suffering communities has been questioned by those familiar with land rights issues in Koh Kong.

“It’s highly unlikely that justice to communities will be done,” said Sarah Milne, an environmental and social scientist and senior lecturer at Australian National University whose work has centered on Cambodia for nearly 20 years.

“The government does not have a track record in securing meaningful community tenure arrangements,” she said, adding that the relocation efforts in Koh Kong and the social land concessions appeared more likely to benefit logging companies than local communities.

Milne said local authorities have long been “notorious land dealers” on account of their control over soft land titling within the communities they’re supposed to represent, but warned that the social and ecological consequences of unchecked greed will be devastating for Koh Kong and Cambodia.

“If all of the forest is cleared, this is going to be disastrous for the environment: biodiversity, water quality, coastal systems, and Indigenous people too,” she said. “A lot is now at stake here.”

Full article: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/the-g ... bought-up/

Many (not all but the majority) of these hard done by villagers don’t own the land at all, although they have occupied it for a long time, when no one cared.
Some have titles but they are either fake or from a dodgy Sangkat chief who’s long been dead or moved on.
Unfortunately there’s no squatters rights here - in the UK if you’ve been living on land/house for 7 years, and have been registered there plus getting utilities, you get to claim it. May have changed.
They don’t have the money to get a hard title even if they could because it’s based on the land price from the Sangkat.
Same happened in Sihanoukville. Our neighbouring land owner lived there for 25 years. Built houses lots of family groups etc but they didn’t own it. They all got booted off and everything was cleared.
He worked at EDC and even he couldn’t do anything. The actual owner was some nobody from PP but she had LMAP hard title. Simple. The owner even gave them money to go.

They tried to fight it but he admitted he didn’t own it.

When the big pump was going on in 2016/17 there was a big rush to occupy land in the hope to get titles. This happened all over SHV province but especially in Otres up past the Wat in the hills. Loads of families moved up there and some were paid to squat by military types. Build a house, wall and done. (This also happened in the big land/lake clearing in PP - families move in say they’ve been there years in the hope to get titles or compensation. It’s been reported, to what extent I don’t know but I know one family who tried it on. They’re not even poor!).
It’s mostly soft up there and there was a big land grab in 2018/19 with riots and shootings. The vast majority of them were from the hill.

Just saying don’t read too much into these lad grabs. Most are just the rightful owners exceecising their supposed rights…and some are cunts who don’t care and have cash.

Local journalist detained over incitement.


National October 1, 2021
Local journalist detained over incitement
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea / Khmer Times

Yuon Chhiv is charged with incitement to commit a felony.

Koh Kong Provincial Court today charged and detained a local journalist accused of inciting a felony committed in the province.


A court document obtained by Khmer Times, identified the accused journalist as Yuon Chhiv, the publisher of an online newspaper named “Koh Kong Not News” living in Khemarak Phumin city.

Chhiv was charged with “incitement to commit a felony” under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code.



If convicted, he faces six months to two years in prison and a fine of between $250 and $1,000 to put in the state’s budget.

The accused has been sent to the provincial prison pending trial.

Koh Kong provincial police officer Major Nuon Bunthoeun told Khmer Times that Chhiv was arrested yesterday in accordance with a provincial court’s warrant.

He added that the accused was arrested after he posted a live commentary on his online newspaper’s Facebook page criticising land grabs by powerful people in Koh Kong and saying that: “The Deputy Governor of Koh Kong Province Mr Sok Sothy is the most brutal person and abuses the people in Koh Kong.”


https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50945617/l ... ncitement/

I took a ride over a few years ago, there were a few large government billboards along road NR48 after the view point of Trapeang Rung, basically saying it was illegal to sell land that didn't belong to the person who was selling it.

AndyKK wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 10:44 am I took a ride over a few years ago, there were a few large government billboards along road NR48 after the view point of Trapeang Rung, basically saying it was illegal to sell land that didn't belong to the person who was selling it.

People need to be told this stuff.