Boeung Kak lake dispute ‘closed’
Phnom Penh City Hall on April 27 washed its hands of the decade long contentious Boeung Kak lake issue, saying it was closing its conflict resolution process, leaving seven families who had refused to accept the government’s offers in the lurch. Following the signing of a deal with CPP senator Lao Meng Khin’s Shukaku Inc in 2007, City Hall handed over 133 hectares of state land to the firm to build a still-incomplete satellite city. As the firm started to fill in the 90-hectare lake, residents were forced to leave due to flooding and forced evictions. Some residents accepted compensation or apartments at the Damnak Trayoeng relocation site outside the capital, and in 2012 Prime Minister Hun Sen carved out 12.44 hectares from the Boeung Kak project site to resettle affected residents. All but seven of the 700 families accepted the plots of land.
