PM Hun Sen Orders to Gift Protected State Land to Long-term Occupants

• Samphors Sao
• 3 July 2020
• Local News
• 6442 Views

Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered responsible ministries to provide land plot ownerships for any citizens living in a wildlife reserve and protected areas for more than 10 years.

According to the PM’s official Facebook page on 03 July, the decision was made during the cabinet meeting of the same day.

“The Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Land should work on giving out the land for people who have been living for more than 10 to 20 years on the preserved or protected areas, for instance, Koh Kong and Preah Vihear,” said PM Hun Sen.

“The government owns the lands only on the map. However, in fact, those citizens have been building homes and have had children on the land for decades,” he added.

PM Hun Sen also added that the work must be thorough, accurate, and must be completed within the next few months.

“We [the government] know that this is a big concern of the people, and we want to address that. We don’t want to let our citizens get scared, starve, and migrate to other countries anymore,” said Samdech Hun Sen.

However, PM Hun Sen also urged those people not to expand more land and preserve some forest and nature nearby for public use.

Besides, PM Hun Sen also warned that for those corrupt officials who conspired to take state land and occupy people’s land will be punished heavily, and those titles which have been issued unlawfully will also be void, according to RFI.

On the same day, the plenary session of the cabinet meeting also passed two draft laws, including the Law on State Property Management and User and Law on Commercial Gaming Management. More importantly, the government also allowed all casinos to reopen after closing for several months due to COVID-19 pandemic. (Read more and more)

• Laws and Regulation