Public land lease
Concessions
Government, plantation managers trade blame
The managers of some of Cambodia’s most controversial agribusiness plantations on 21 July blamed their many land disputes on the government, accusing officials of failing to educate communities about the benefits of their giant farms. Rights groups blame economic land concessions for some of Cambodia’s worst problems, ...
Protest leader arrested in Mondolkiri after reoccupation attempt
An anti-eviction protester who police claim orchestrated several large-scale reoccupation attempts on a planned rubber plantation in Mondolkiri province was arrested on 11 July, police and a rights monitor said. About 500 families living on the land were evicted in 2012, three years after the Pacific ...
NGO releases ELC figures to help with ‘shortcomings’
The NGO Forum on 28 June released an extensive and updated accounting of economic land concessions in Cambodia, suggesting that in a 20-year period, 267 ELCs totalling 1,532,783 hectares were granted. The data collection, from 1995 to the end of 2015, was conducted by the Research Advocacy ...
Most ELC disputes still unresolved
More than two-thirds of the 158 land disputes triggered by large-scale plantations over the past two decades have yet to be fully resolved, according to a new report by the NGO Forum on Cambodia. Drawing largely on incomplete government records, the umbrella group’s Statistical Analysis of ...
Public had no say in Tak SEZ, NHRC finds
The National Human Rights Commission will report to the government after its investigation on 23 May into alleged human rights violations in the Tak Special Economic Development Zone. Its conclusion was that the main problem in the dispute was the lack of opportunity for public involvement in the ...
Investor excitement builds ahead of MTSH listing
Investor appetite is high for shares in Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Limited, which will on 20 May become the second company to list on the Yangon Stock Exchange, securities firms say. MTSH, established in 2013 by a nine-shareholder consortium, will list 3.9 million shares at a base ...
Four sentenced for roles in Preah Vihear ELC protest
The Preah Vihear Provincial Court on 17 May sentenced four men for burning a contentious fence during a 2014 protest against an economic land concession in Kulen district held by the FP Malaysia (Cambodia) Plantation. Lor Chan, the provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc said,“Even though the ...
Govt approves development of Champa Nakhone SEZ
The government has granted approval for the development of the Champa Nakhone Specific Economic Zone in Pakxe district within the Special Economic Zone of Champassak province. The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Sonexay Siphandone, Company President Mr Laty Sisouphannavong and other provincial ...
No more land concessions in Champassak
No more state land will be released under concession for planting rice, coffee, rubber, cassava or maize in Champassak province, as most areas suited to agriculture are already being utilised. Champassak agricultural authorities in Laos advised that prospective investors should go to the province of Saravan ...
Villagers torch ELC guard posts in land dispute protest
More than 200 people from five villages in Preah Vihear and Siem Reap provinces burned two rubber company guard posts to the ground on March 21, in protest of the planned clearing of at least 1,000 hectares of disputed farmland and forests, including land on ...
