Agro-star Company accused 12 families in Kampong Cham province’s Cheung Prey district of falsifying documents to grab its 48.95 hectare land that it had been occupying over 10 years.
The accusation of the company came after the 12 families had secretly filed a suitcase with the National Authority For Land Depute Resolutions to claim the said land located at Sro Mor village and Sangke Porng village, accusing the company of grabbing their land, they claimed they had been farming since 1994.
The national authority on April 23 submitted a letter to the premier, asking the premier to grant the families the land where the company made an agro-industrial investment.
With the endorsement from the premier on the letter of the national authority, the council of ministers issued a notification, informing all relevant authority and institutions in Kampong Cham province about the premier’s endorsement to grant the land to the families.
Having heard the information, the company made a request to the premier to inform him about the real information. On May 11, 2009, the council of ministers released a notification to suspend the implementation of the previous notification, and appointed mixed diplomats led by the national authority to find solution to the land dispute and to ask for new decision from the premier.
A source from an official of Cheung Prey District Hall said on April 03, 2009, a mixed working group led by the agriculture ministry marked the location using the GPS, but the work was interrupted by the families, posting poles on the site. Moreover, when the group asked each of them to mark their land, they said they had forgotten where their land was.
Sources from the nearby residents said Mr. Se Hok Sim, representative of the families, said, “In the 47. 85 hectare land case, the 12 families of his side are 100 per cent sure to win, since the inspection by the mixed diplomats is done only as a token action to satisfy the demand of the Agro-Star company. In fact, the 12 families have already been helped by a handful of high-ranking officials in
Regarding the allegation, Mr. Se Hok Sim rejected, saying he only based his hope on the head of the government.
It is noticed that the Agro-Star company is a local investment company, which had been authorized by the CDC to invest on the 2, 400 hectare economic land concession, situated in Kapong Cham province’s Cheung Prey and Bateay districts in 1994, but the land concession was later reduced to 1, 992.56 hectare due to the overlapping of the residents’ land in 1999.
