Land row families demand titles
Nearly 100 citizens representing 429 families at the center of the Techo Aphivat land dispute gathered at Kampot provincial hall on February 8 demanding resolution of the row and for land titles to be speeded up. However, the authorities said these citizens are not resident there and urged them to apply for concessions in other areas. Protester Hou Sen said members of more than 400 families had lived on more than 400 hectares for many years in Ta Ken village, Chey Sena commune. But in 2008, Military Brigade 31 went to burn houses and clear their farmland. Authorities later developed the area into Techo Aphivat commune. “They told us to go and live somewhere else, but we do not know where to go. So the citizens disagreed with them and want to live in the same place,” he said.
