Indigenous community members in Preah Vihear province sought intervention for their communal land, which has been allegedly cleared by a company said to belong to a senior provincial official — a claim that has been denied by another official on the basis that it involves individual developers instead.
Fifteen Kuy indigenous minorities urged relevant officials to intervene to stop the clearing of the land where they cultivate rotational farming, and which is also their ancestral land.
According to them, the individuals involved in the forest land clearance are linked to Preah Vihear deputy governor Ouk Kimsan, who allegedly owns private firm Santana Agro Product Co Ltd. The company has cleared several hundreds hectares of forest and was involved in a clash with the residents of two villages, Dang Plet and Narong, in Chheb district in January.
“All of us cultivate [rotational farming] in that area,” said Kong Nai, 46, during a press briefing in Phnom Penh on March 3. “We are losing natural resources, forest products […] and our generation will have nothing to rely on [livelihood].”
Some 200 to 300 indigenous families have cultivated approximately 1,000 hectares of forest community land in Chheb II commune but it was now under threat of being lost, he lamented.
Another indigenous person, Sem Sreyneath, shared a similar sentiment on the deforestation happening in the area.
“When they clear all that land, our villagers will have no land to cultivate and land for cows and buffaloes, including livelihood which relies on forest products,” he said.
According to Ministry of Commerce records, Santana Agro Products Co Ltd was registered in 2017 with Kimsan as its sole director, who was made deputy provincial governor in 2022.
Santana Agro has been allegedly embroiled in logging and land-grabbing activities, as accused by the indigenous commune in Preah Vihear, Mongabay reported.
Another deputy governor of Preah Vihear Kim Chanpanha denied the villagers’ claim of the land dispute involving Kimsan because there were “no documents” that show he bought the land, rather the land was purchased by individuals.
“What is their true intention of protecting land where other people have cultivated,” he said, declining to reveal the identity of the developers who purchased 600 to 700 hectares of land.
“We have looked into the issue, the villagers [in the village] sold the land to outsiders [developers] and now they cleared their land,” Chanpanha said.
However, he encouraged all parties involved, including the villagers who occupied the land for cultivation, to self-declare their land area and size with the authority in order to ascertain their interests with developers.
As of now, there are 58 families who have declared the size of their lands, totalling 293 hectares, he said, adding that the land claimed by villagers to be community land is located within the Prey Preah Roka protected area. Some parts of the protected area were designated for cultivation.
Echoing Chanpanha, Chheb II commune chief Chean Chan shared that the villagers ”misunderstood” that the “disputed land” is connected to Kimsan.
“It is not his [Ouk Kimsan] company. He went to assess the impact with the villagers,” he said, explaining that the provincial authorities instructed Kimsan, as the deputy governor, to conduct an impact study and prepare over 1,000 hectares of land for developers.
“That land is connected to the villagers. They will be compensated with money, and if they do not agree to sell, they will not be forced to do so,” Chan said.
Cambodia Indigenous People Organization (CIPO) provincial coordinator Koem Bunthang expressed concern that the rights of indigenous people have been violated, particularly that their land for cultivation has been occupied by private companies and individuals.
“We are concerned about them losing their tradition, culture, and forest products, including land for cultivation,” he said.
Ouk Kimsan could not be reached for comment.
